After the Dissolution, the manor at Stowe was given to the bishops of Oxford. John Temple bought the land in 1589 having previously been a tenant.

Sir Richard Temple laid the foundations of the current house and in 1668 began developing the garden. He built a walled kitchen garden, formal gardens and created fishponds at the bottom of the valley.

In 1714, Sir Richard’s son, Viscount Cobham, commissioned Charles Bridgeman to make changes to the landscape including the building of the Octagon pond.

Vanbrugh was appointed by Cobham in 1719 to design several garden buildings including the Rotondo and Lake Pavilions.

After falling out with the Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, in 1733, Cobham retired from politics. He focused his time on creating an Arcadian landscape at Stowe – with political overtones. In 1734, Cobham commissioned the leading exponent of this new style, William Kent, to design the eastern part of the garden which became known as the Elysian Fields.

In Greek mythology, the Elysian fields were the final resting place reserved for heroic mortals. Kent designed the Shell Bridge, the Grotto, the Temple of Worthies and the Temple of Ancient Virtue, to honour four great Greek men – Socrates, Lycurgus, Homer and Epaminondas. Close to this immaculate building was the ruin of the Temple of Modern Virtue with the headless statue of the then Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. The National Trust is currently ‘restoring’ this ruin.

Other buildings by Kent include the Hermitage, the Pebble Alcove and The Temple of Venus. Venus was the traditional Roman goddess of love and beauty but she was also the guardian of the garden.

The Palladian Bridge was built in 1738 and is attributed to James Gibbs. The 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, was heavily influenced by the ‘Ancients’ and the style became increasingly popular in England. There are three other Palladian bridges in England – at Wilton, Stourhead and Prior Park.

In 1741, Lord Cobham employed ‘Capability’ Brown to develop the rest of the eastern section. This became known as the Grecian Valley and was where Brown designed the Grecian Temple and the Gothic Temple.

Cobham opened his gardens to the public in 1744.

Cobham died in 1749, and Stowe was inherited by his nephew Earl Temple. Temple moved various buildings including the Lake Pavilions and the Fane of Pastoral Poetry and added the Oxford Bridge and Corinthian Arch.

The estate declined through much of the 19th and 20th centuries. In July 1921, the Temple family sold Stowe.

The house has since become a school while the gardens are owned by the National Trust.