The Temple of Theseus, Exmouth, Devon

In the early decades of the nineteenth century Lord Rolle of Bicton House in Devon, developed land by the sea in Exmouth in a bid to attract tourists. He made ‘commodious gravel walks’ and created gardens with rustic benches, as well as building elegant marine residences. Lord Rolle also granted a lease on a plot of land to one William Kendall, who in 1824 built a ‘very pretty’ house modelled on the Temple of Theseus in Athens.

The property had a lodge in the form of the ‘Temple of the Winds’, also in Athens, a building more correctly known as the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes but colloquially as the Tower of the Winds. It is not in sight in Hallet’s view (above) but appears in the centre of James Fidlor’s View of Exmouth:

Little seems to be known about Kendall (1767-1832). He was a solicitor based in Exeter, a founder member of the Devon and Exeter Institution and a poet. He died in March 1832 and his will shows he had a fine art collection. An account of a sale of his collection after his death includes works by Canaletto, Reynolds and Rubens and a ‘Splendid Landscape by Wilson’, as well as classical statuary, an Etruscan vase and bronze models of the Elgin Marbles. So here is a hint of the interest in classical antiquities that must have been the stimulus to build models of ancient temples at his English seaside home. No other account of his inspiration seems to have survived.

The ‘elegant and substantially built residence’ was offered for sale by private treaty soon after Kendall’s death. The six-acre estate had delightful land and sea views, and the house was described as a ‘chaste model of the Temple of Theseus at Athens’. It seems there was little interest, and the estate was again offered for sale by auction in 1842, at which date it was still owned by Kendall’s executors.

It must have been soon after that date that Henry Ward bought the property (he died in 1848 when the house and grounds were once more offered for sale). He goes down in history as having ‘corrupted’ the Temple by putting in bay windows and ‘sticking on it two lateral appendages’. We learn this from Rev. William Webb’s Memorials of Exmouth published in 1872, by which date the Temple was a feature of the grounds of the Imperial Hotel and the ‘Temple of the Winds’ had been demolished. Webb described the surviving temple as an ‘exact copy of the Temple of Theseus’ – the Flâneuse leaves readers to judge for themselves…

The Athenian temple inspired a number of follies and landscape ornaments, including the Penshaw Monument in County Durham, begun in 1844, which captures the spirit of the original but is not an exact copy.

The Temple of Theseus at Hagley Hall in Worcestershire, was erected from 1759 to a design by James ‘Athenian’ Stuart, who as his nickname suggests had travelled in Greece and specialised in Neoclassical architecture. Like the Exmouth temple, the design of the portico and frieze is inspired by the Greek monument, but the columns on the side elevations are omitted.

Exmouth’s Grade II listed Temple remains within the grounds of the Imperial Hotel, and at 200 years old is in a somewhat tatty state (the facade is maintained but is a different story round the back). The Temple of Theseus in Athens (more correctly the Temple of Hephaestus), constructed in the 5th century BC, has fared rather better and remains a major landmark in that city.

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