Comments on: The Gothic Temple, Painshill, Surrey

By: Editor

Editor — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 08:16:12 +0000

In reply to Christine Upton. Thank you Christine for your kind words. I very much appreciate you taking the time to get in touch.

By: Christine Upton

Christine Upton — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 11:38:23 +0000

I’m a mostly silent reader of your many interesting posts. Just wanted to say thank you for them all, including this one with a pleasingly happy ending.

By: Editor

Editor — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 19:34:19 +0000

In reply to Iain KS Gray. Hello Iain. Thank you for sharing these memories. It’s a delight to hear from people who have followed the restoration from the earliest days.

By: Iain KS Gray

Iain KS Gray — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 17:39:26 +0000

We visited Painshill in 1980, not quite as trespassers, and worked our way through dense undergrowth till the Gothic temple was in front of us shrouded in tarpaulin and wooden scaffolding. To its right we could see the ruins of the grotto which had been used for target practice by soldiers during the war. Our visit was prompted by an article in the Sunday papers. Some years later we picnicked by the grotto with Diana Reynell while she was doing the restoration. We’ve been back a good many times as the wider restoration of the follies took place but we still remember that magical first day.

By: Editor

Editor — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 08:20:20 +0000

In reply to David Winpenny. Good morning David. No doubt Walpole was correct, and the Goths did not build garden ornaments, but I’m very pleased that Hamilton did as I’m an admirer of this structure.

By: David Winpenny

David Winpenny — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 06:50:18 +0000

The Gothic Temple always puts me in mind of Horace Walpole’s comment: ‘In all Gothic designs, they should be made something that was of that time, a part of a church, a castle, a convent or a mansion. The Goths never built summer houses.’ You can see what he means.