Off to Buckinghamshire...

Sunday, July 3rd:
Today we packed a picnic lunch, went over to Jill and Howard's and Howard drove the 4 of us plus George their dog to Buckinghamshire and specifically Stowe Landscape Gardens.  The garden covers approximately 400 acres.  It is said to be the largest and most important landscape garden in England.  There are 4 main lakes one covering eleven acres.  The mansion was purchased in 1922 and turned into a public school(we would call it a private school in the states.)

You can see on the right they are adding on to the building to enlarge the school.
History:
"The Stowe garden was begin in the 1680's by Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet, who rebuilt the Tudor house he had inherited and laid out a series of terraces and orchards.  His son, Richard, later Viscount Cobham, enlarged and developed this layout from 1713 till his death in 1749, to create one of the most famous gardens in England."
Various architects and landscapers were hired to design the various structures on the property as well as choosing various trees and other plants for the gardens.  It looks very natural as though it was just found like it is.
Here are a few of the structures.
Temple of Friendship where Viscount Cobham entertained his male friends.  There was a kitchen in the lower floor of the building.

 This one is called the Queen's Temple.

 This is one of the Saxon Deities.

 This was a replica of a gothic temple.

 This is Palladian Bridge, a beautiful stone bridge.

 These structures are the east and west lake pavilions.

 This is a new bridge they've built across this lake, I thought the view was beautiful.

We had a lovely picnic and strolled around for a couple of hours.  The weather was great again, very comfortable for walking.