The Shell Bridge

A little further on is a Bridge of rough stone designd in a Ruinous manner. From under it runs a Serpentine River of a good Breadth; the Ground on each side gradually ascending and well laid down, with the Forest Work that crowns the Banks a Top, make this as agreable to my Eye as any part of the Gardens. - 1738, Unknown visitor

The Shell Bridge is located in the gardens of Stowe House in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. Actually a dam between the Alder River and the Worthies River or River Styx, the structure features stone dressings encrusted with shells. - AsNotedIn

Captain Cooks Monument

Dedicated to explorer, navigator and cartographer, Captain James Cook (1728-1779), the Captain Cooks Monument is located in the Elysian Fields gardens of Stowe House. The sculpture is a globe set on a pedestal decorated with brass strips that represent latitude and longitude. Around the equatorator is a quotation, in gold leaf, from Horace's Archytas Ode (Book I, Ode XXVIII): Te maris and terrae numeroque carentis arenae mensorem, or "you were the man who measured sea, earth, and sand without number."

Charon was the mythical ferryman who carried souls across the River Styx to the beautiful meadow of perfect happiness, the Elysian Fields. If one is buried with a coin placed under the tongue they will be able to pay Charon, without the fare, the lost soul wanders the banks of the Styx for a hundred years looking for the free entrance. Today's visitors can mimic the journey by starting on the west bank of the Styx river and cross the Shell Bridge to the other side. - AsNotedIn