Though the entrance itself is older, these lodges were built around the same time as the London Road Bridge in 1805. As at the Bridge Coade Stone created the ornamentation, and their mark is visible on the Chimneys and gold painted relief tablets. The lodges used to be joined with wooden gates and house gate keepers. The gates were removed after the avenue stopped being used for grazing.
There are multiple different entrances to Stowe, the home of what was once the richest family in Britain, with each designed to be as impressive as possible.
Archive image of the Stowe Arches with thanks to the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies.