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Temple of Harmony

Shown within Somerset
Building
Town	Goathurst
Country	England
Client	Sir Charles Kemeys-Tynte
Coordinates	51°06′08″N 3°04′14″W / 51.102350°N 3.070529°W / 51.102350; -3.070529
Construction
Started	1767
Design team
Architect	Thomas Prowse

The Temple of Harmony is an 18th-century folly in the grounds of Halswell House, Goathurst, Somerset, England.

It is a 1767 replica of the 1st-century Temple of Fortuna Virilis in Rome.^[1] It was built for Sir Charles Kemeys-Tynte in 1767 to designs by Thomas Prowse, with features by Robert Adam and Thomas Stocking. The Temple was dedicated to the memory of a mutual friend, Peregrine Palmer, formerly MP for Oxford University (d 1762).^[2]

It has a slate roof and pedimental end gables, and is surrounded with Ionic columns. The Temple stands in Mill Wood, a 17-acre (7 ha) pleasure garden in the grounds of Halswell House.

The Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust (SBPT) acquired the Temple in 1993 in a derelict condition, having been used for many years as a cattle shelter. It has now been restored, with grants from English Heritage and others, and is a grade II* listed building.^[3] Its dimensions at its base are approximately 21 feet by 37 feet (6.4 m by 11.3 m), and it now has the addition of a long retaining bolt that runs through the structure from one side to the other, helping to keep it together.

John Walsh's marble statue in the temple depicting Terpsichore, the Muse of joy in the dance and lyric poetry, was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Prowse after his death in 1767. This was copied in 1999 and the copy is now located here. The original is in Somerset County Museum, Taunton.^[4]

It is owned and managed by the Halswell Park Trust and is occasionally opened to the public.

References

1. ^ "The Temple of Harmony, Goathurst". Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust. http://www.sbpt.info/restoration3.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-05.  
2. ^ "Landscape park, Halswell House, Goathurst". Somerset Historic Environment Record. http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=10188. Retrieved 2006-11-05.  
3. ^ "Temple". Images of England. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/details/default.aspx?pid=2&id=269306. Retrieved 2006-11-04.  
4. ^ "Landscape park, Halswell House, Goathurst". Somerset Historic Environment Record. http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=10188. Retrieved 2006-11-05.  

External links

• The Temple of Harmony from the Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust
• Temple of Harmony at Follies and Monuments
• Halswell