Mussenden Temple

Once we cleared the wall of Downhill Demesne, we were greeted by a wide expanse of land. I looked at the map of Downhill in Google maps but I didn’t realize how big the place actually was. Seems like we have underestimated the time to explore this place. We immediately head straight for the temple which we saw from the beach. I thought it was a very strange structure to see here in this part of the world, almost as if it would belong somewhere in Greece. This is Mussenden Temple, named in memory of Frederick Hervey’s cousin, Frideswide Mussenden. The temple itself was patterned after the Temple of Vesta which is used to stand in Rome. While Vesta is god of the hearth, home and family, I couldn’t find out the reasons why an earl and a bishop of all people would choose to build a temple dedicated to Vesta.

The temple here is very attractive. It is a circular building surrounded by columns and a central dome. It is perched perilously close to the edge that it was actually in danger of falling down to the cliffs below. Fortunately, there was cliff stabilization done to ensure that the building to live on for a few more hundred years. While this place isn’t exactly very well known, there are still a few people exploring this place. Not really surprising since this place is not only beautiful but also interesting with this mix of buildings.

[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/Downhill.kmz} zoom=19]