Ten years later it caught the eye of Lady Meux, a banjo playing barmaid who had married into a very wealthy family of London brewers.
Forever trying to convince Victorian high society of her respectability, she decided to rebuild impressive Temple Bar to grace her Hertfordshire estate at Theobalds Park. More than 2,500 stones weighing nearly 400 tons, were transported from London to Hertfordshire carried on low flat trolleys and pulled along by a team of horses.
When rebuilt at Theobalds just eight months later, a magnificent garden party was held in celebration and special trains brought in large numbers of visitors whose heads would turn as they stood in awe of the majesty of this historic relic.
While under the ownership of Lady Meux guests were regularly entertained in the upper chamber of Temple Bar which was beautifully decorated with “spy” cartoons from Vanity Fair and it is believed that it was here that Lady Meux dined with Edward VII, the Prince of Wales and Winston Churchill.
A gamekeepers lodge was added in 1889.