Temple of the Four Winds

The temple was designed by John Vanbrugh, who also designed the house at Castle Howard. Its design was inspired by the Villa La Rotonda, and it was intended as a space for reading and writing, with a cellar below for servants to prepare food. It was constructed between 1724 and 1726, being completed after Vanbrugh's death. Dan Harvey carved the stone doorhead, and the statues may be by John Nost. The building was completed with plasterwork applied from 1737 to 1739, by Francesco Vassali. The temple was originally dedicated to Diana, and there was a corresponding Temple of Venus further down the hill, which is now ruined. The Temple of the Four Winds is atop the hill, crowning a…

The building is constructed of limestone with a lead roof. The central cella is square, and surrounded by four tetrastyle porticos with pediments and angle urns. It stands on a cruciform podium approached by a flight of eight steps flanked by lead statues of sibyls. The doorway has an architrave and an elaborately carved head, and is flanked by sash windows in shell niches. There is a domed roof with an octagonal window, topped by a lantern. Surrounding the building are containing walls, and two flights of steps flanked by a balustrade. The wall has a chamfered plinth and coping, and massive corner buttresses each with a moulded cornice. Inside the building, the niches above the doors…