The Gloriette

The Gloriette (1964-65, listed Grade II 1971) was designed in 1963 as part of the Piazza development but of this only the fountain and portico were kept. The portico was revised in 1964 and renamed the Gloriette, after the purely spectacular classical confection that closes the great vista at the Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna. His purpose here was not to match up with earlier structures but rather of providing a piquant contrast whereby both old and new would gain in interest, as Clough explains: "the Palladian Gloriette vivaciously contradicts the more sober, old, converted stable block across the way." It derives from his rescue in the 1930s of the Colonnade by Samuel Wyatt (1737-1807) at Hooton Hall in Cheshire at the instigation of Sir Charles Reilley, including eight massive Ionic columns. "For nearly thirty years I forgot all about this rather rash and extravagant purchase until I had my Gloriette idea by which time these bits and pieces could nowhere be found. Ultimately they were tracked down and actually dug up from under a garden that had been made on top of them."

Architectural historian Richard Haslam (RIBA Monograph Series 2) writes of the Gloriette: "This complex little work needs explaining, lest it be dismissed as the last word in facade building. Its diminutive depth and the disparity of its elevations result from Clough contriving a surprise for visitors. The main street winds round the piazza, from which it is screened by a wall; the narrow north doorway of the Gloriette invites exploration, and the participant finds himself on a balcony overlooking the village."