Stourhead garden was created by Henry Hoare II in the 1740s. The River Stour was dammed to form a great lake. Around the lake Hoare laid out a landscape garden to entrance his guests with stunning views and pacify them with serene walking pleasure.
As the garden developed, he added classical features, such as the Temple of Flora, the Pantheon, the Temple of Apollo and Gothic ruins to enhance the series of splendid and unexpected vistas.
Pics are up on Flickr. In addition, there's a couple of videos I made on You Tube. They're having a extra special (as in Ralph Wiggum special) art exhibit there at the moment called Beauty and the Beast, which largely features the rape of the existing art around the lake with ill-judged modern art pieces such as a polystyrene version of one of the existing statues, a flattened Mini propped up on a tree, some rubber tubes masquerading as a fake island (liked by the local birds at least - though they had crapped all over it), a few cheaply made water bottle labels inspired by thirteen conversations the artist had with people in the gardens or a bronze bust called the Head of Christ carelessly plonked in the middle of a tribute to Greek, Roman and Egyptian gods. Only one piece seemed to garner some positive reviews (and I'm including the staff of the gardens in this - the guide in the Parthenon who had to sit with the Head of Chris for hours was positively scathing) was David Toop's musical additions to the Grotto - which is what the two videos are of.
wassup with your cam, sir. the pictures all seem blurry. purty regardless