Stowe was owned, enhanced and expanded by one family for almost 350 years. Two key characters Lord Cobham and his nephew, Earl Temple were extremely rich and powerful men at during the 18th century, together they created one of Europe's most influential landscape gardens. There are over 40 monuments and temples in the 300 hectares site. The gardens were canvass’s for the great and the good of the age including Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, the twenty six year-old for whom Stowe was his first major commission. When Earl Temple, succeeded his uncle Lord Cobham in 1749, he was widely acknowledged as the richest man in England. Much of the money went on refining the garden and giving the house its magnificent fronts. The family money was gradually frittered away over the generations until the estate was sold at the end of the First World War. Stowe school was founded on May 11th 1923 and maintenance of the Stowe landscape became a national responsibility in 1954. The governors formally conveyed the garden to the National Trust in 1990. You can learn much more about Stowe by visiting the websites on the top right of this page. | 
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