Sculpture

architecture, bridge, Chinoiserie, eyecatcher, Folly, Pagoda, Pleasure Gardens, Sculpture, Summerhouse, Temple

Follies for breakfast.

Posted on by Editor

In the 1980s follies played a part in promoting a new breakfast cereal: special packs of Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain contained picture cards featuring ‘Gardens to Visit’. The twenty cards were illustrated with views of gardens in Britain and Ireland, all of them open to the public, and five follies or quirky garden ornaments were among the cards to be collected. As the blurb on the box announced ‘Most of us are enchanted by the magic of a beautiful garden’.

architecture, garden history, Gloucestershire, landscape garden, Sculpture, Summerhouse

Pope’s Seat, Cirencester Park, Gloucestershire

Posted on by Editor

In the vast park of Cirencester House, adjoining the town of the same name, a pretty rusticated temple sits in an opening called Seven Rides. This is the point where avenues cut through the woodland meet, giving long vistas in each direction. It was named Pope’s Seat after the poet, Alexander, who designed it for his friend Lord Bathurst.

Pope’s Seat as photographed by Henry Taunt in 1883. Courtesy of Oxfordshire History Centre POX0150400

Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was a good friend of Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl of Bathurst (1684-1775), who in the early eighteenth century was laying out pleasure grounds and parkland at his seat on the edge of the town of Cirencester. By 1742 Lord Bathurst’s demesne was described as ‘a fine park […] adornd wth several beautifull buildings’. Pope is said to have offered advice on this landscaping and designed this alcove, which was named in his honour – ‘POPES SEAT’ is engraved on a stone above the entrance.

The Flâneuse is delighted to announce that a diminutive new version of the summerhouse has been added to the Cirencester Park landscape. Bristol based woodcarver Andy O’Neill started his working life as a graphic designer, before a desire to work outdoors led to a new career as a tree surgeon. Then, combining his creative and arboricultural talents, he began to create sculptures with a chainsaw.

Andy O’Neill working on the sculpture. Photo courtesy of the Bathurst Estate.

When a decaying cedar had to be felled in Cirencester Park, Lord Bathurst saw the opportunity to use some of the timber to create a bench on the Broad Avenue, which runs for around six miles through the estate. In consultation with Andy it was decided to decorate it with Pope’s Seat in miniature.

The bench with Hamish Mackie’s Andalusian Stallion in the background. This front looks down the Broad Avenue to the town of Cirencester.
A glimpse of the statue through the alcove’s open arch.
The back of the ‘new’ Pope’s Seat which looks up the Broad Avenue towards where its much older big brother stands.
The seat enjoys a peep to the Queen Anne Monument.

Pope’s Seat is listed at grade II*. It and other fascinating ornaments can be seen when exploring Cirencester Park. For more information visit https://www.bathurstestate.co.uk

For more on Andy’s work see https://wildwoodcarving.co.uk

Sculptor Hamish Mackie has four sculptures on display in Cirencester Park this summer. There’s more on the estate website (link above).

Thank you for reading and do get in touch if you have any thoughts you’d like to share. Scroll down to the foot of the page to find the comments box.