After you cross the bridge over the source of the Evenlode River and on the way to Gateway to Nowhere cache, Sezincote house and gardens come into view .
Sezincote is a wonderfully individual house most incongruous to this environment. A large turquoise onion dome is the first clue to its typically Muslim architecture, which is delightfully combined with a strong Hindu flavour. Thought to be the only Moghul building to survive in Western Europe, these imaginative designs were quite the fashion in the early 1800s, and reflected the growing importance of India within the realm. Coupled with the fact that the estate was bought by Colonel John Cockerell on his return from Bengal, it is not difficult to see why the house adopted this 'Indianised' influence.
John Cockerell died only three years after buying Sezincote, and it was his brother, Charles, that commissioned Samuel Pepys Cockerell to complete a house that would make him feel at home, having also worked for many years at the East India Company. The result is a harmonious blend of the cultural influences, creating a decorative house with a long, curved Orangery to one side, that is both pleasing and restful to the eye. Furthermore, the gardens provide a real sense of mystique and tranquillity with their water features, temples and statues, and put the house nicely into context. Humphrey Repton was known to have assisted in the design of the gardens but it is unclear whether the entire project can be attributed to him.
However, imagine trying to get planning permission for that dome these days!