Description

SU 96 NE EGHAM CP BLACKNEST ROAD

3/126 The Temple of
Augustus

GV II*

Roman ruins and road bridge. Remains of Roman buildings from the City of Leptis
Magna (now in Libya) re-erected here in 1827 to 1830 by Sir Jeffry Wyatville
to form a large artificial ruin divided by a carriage road raised at high level
over the Ascot road, constructed so that King George IV could pass under it
through an archway from Windsor Great Park to the grounds of Fort Belveders.
The ruins on the South side are arranged in a semi-circular apse, the ruins
to the north side are arranged in 2 parallel colonnades, the whole forming an
artificial ruin about 225 feet long by 100 feet wide with columns 30 feet high.
Road bridge of 1827 is built of stock brick in Flemish Bond with curved ends
and one horseshoe shaped pedestrian arch. The parapet was rebuilt in 1904.
On either side are incorporated bands of stone fragments from Leptis Magna and
at the North a Roman archway is attached. To the South are arranged in a semi-
circle 15 Roman columns of cipollino marble mainly with Corinthian capitals
and some sections of entablature to suggest a temple of Augustus. Some ten
feet outside the colonnade Wyatville built a tooled ashlar wall with a semi-
circular niche to suggest an outer wall to the supposed temple. To the north
of the bridge are a series of Roman red and grey granite columns arranged in
two parallel colonnades with some shafts laid on the ground in picturesque fashion.
Some have Corinthian capitals, others have plumed capitals and some have entablature
above. Built against the road bridge is a stone round headed arch and wall
with domed niches probably added by Wyatville. The ruins were a gift from the
Bashaw of Tripoli to the Prince Regent in 1816 and originally intended for the
Portico of the British Museum. This vast composition is probably the Most impressive
artificial ruin erected in this country. (See Linstrum 'Sir Jeffry Wyatville
Architect to the King' 1972 (pp 205-207) Pevsner. Surrey P298).

Listing NGR: SU9746568622

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17547990

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)