Description

785/0/10156 SHIRE LANE
13-OCT-09 Stone Garden Shelter at High Elms Coun
try Park

II
Garden Shelter. Constructed in 1913 for John Lubbock, Lord Avebury (1834-1913) as a 79th Birthday gift from Lady Avebury.

DESCRIPTION: It is built into the centre of a low stone garden wall situated to the south west of the mansion and faces south west. It is a rectangular structure built of snecked stone rubble with slate roof. The slates were mainly missing at the time of inspection. It has a curved pediment which originally had a large clock fixed to it and a cambered stone arch flanked by moulded stone lintels behind which is an alcove to contain a seat. The iron railings were added later in the C20. On the rear wall is an inscription in a stone panel fixed above the seat by Lady Avebury.

" 30 APRIL 1913

A BIRTHDAY GIFT TO GREET HIM WHEN HE CAME
HOME FROM THE WERY TOWN. FOUR SCORE SAVE ONE
HE HEARD AND SMILED HIS THANKS, BUT AH! THE FLAME
OF LIFE BURNED LOW; SOON WERE WE LEFT ALONE
YET LOVE SURVIVES, AND WHILE THIS CLOCK DOTH CHIME
IT TELLS OF LOVE OUTLASTING MEASURED TIME."

HISTORY: The High Elms estate belonged to the Lubbock family from 1809 to 1938. The main house was rebuilt by the Third Baronet, John William Lubbock (1803-1865). His son John Lubbock (1834-1913), who was created Lord Avebury in 1900, inherited the family bank and High Elms estate in 1865. Lubbock had an interest in natural history, which had started with his introduction into Darwin's inner circle and was a member of the Royal Institution, the Geological Society and the Royal Society. He was a Liberal MP for Maidstone between 1870 and 1880 and between 1880 and 1900 represented London University. He championed early closing bills in the 1870s, drafted the Bank Holiday Bill of 1871, the first secular holiday in British history, which was popularly known as "St. Lubbock's Day", and pushed through a bill to preserve Ancient Monuments in 1873. He was also an advocate of voting reform and was one of the founders of the Proportional Representation Society in 1884. When he was translated to the peerage in 1900 he chose the title Avebury after the ancient druidical site which he had long fought to save from being destroyed. Lady Avebury had this garden shelter built as a present for his 79th birthday. Unfortunately Lord Avebury died four weeks later and a memorial inscription on a stone tablet was erected.

SOURCES:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry on John Lubbock.
Ken Wilson "A place in the Country...High Elms, Downe, Kent." 1982.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: Stone Garden Shelter at High Elms Country Park is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It was constructed for Lord Avebury in 1913, contains a memorial inscription to him, and is one of the few structures at his home High Elms directly associated with him, following the destruction of the main house.
* Lord Avebury is a figure of national importance in social reform and heritage history.
* It is one of a number of structures within High Elms Country Park, some of which are already designated at grade II.

Reasons for Listing

The stone shelter, High Elms Country Park is designated for the following principal reasons:
* It was constructed for Lord Avebury in 1913, contains a memorial inscription and is one of the few structures at his home High Elms directly associated with him, following the destruction of the main house in 1967.
* Lord Avebury is a figure of national importance in social reform and heritage history.
* It is one of a number of garden structures at High Elms Country Park, some of which are designated at Grade II.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672646

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

• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)