The Mussenden Temple Downhill
Built in 1783 and named after the cousin of Bishop Hervey, builder of the Downhill estate, the Mussenden Temple is a fine piece of Neo Classical architecture. Deliberately sited at the edge of a cliff, the building encapsulates perfectly the Eighteenth century idea of the ‘sublime’ pitting the creation of man against the wildness of nature. This is reinforced by the quote around the frieze: ‘SAUVE MARI MAGNO TURBANTIBUS AEQUORA VENTIS’ – ‘Tis pleasant to watch from land the great struggling of others when winds whip up the waves on a mighty sea’.
Built in 1783 and named after the cousin of Bishop Hervey, builder of the Downhill estate, the Mussenden Temple is a fine piece of Neo Classical architecture. Deliberately sited at the edge of a cliff, the building encapsulates perfectly the Eighteenth century idea of the ‘sublime’ pitting the creation of man against the wildness of nature. This is reinforced by the quote around the frieze: ‘SAUVE MARI MAGNO TURBANTIBUS AEQUORA VENTIS’ – ‘Tis pleasant to watch from land the great struggling of others when winds whip up the waves on a mighty sea’.
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