Stourhead

The landscaped garden at Stourhead in Wiltshire, owned by the National Trust, have been described as being among the best landscape gardens in the world. For me it's not so much the trees, which are splendid, but the magnificent classical 'temples' strategically placed around the lake.

They are 'follies' really, but they are so beautifully designed it's hard to believe their purpose is purely ornamental. The idea was to recreate in stone the visionary landscapes of artists such as Claude Lorrain. In fact the building across the lake here, the Pantheon, could have been modelled on the building in the link, which in turn was modelled on the real Pantheon in Rome.

There is a set of pictures from Stourhead here.