IN County Kildare there is a temple built to resemble a fox's earth and its purpose- for a master of foxhounds to escape to in his after life.

The master believed he would be re-incarnated as a fox for punishment of his hunting days so built the temple to escape to if he were pursued by foxhounds- the tunnel being large enough for a fox but too small for a hound.

And this is just one of the unusual buildings dedicated to animals in the latest book by Buckinghamshire author Lucinda Lambton called Palaces for Pigs.

The English Heritage book looks at the British fascination of architecture for animals.

Lambton (Lady Worsthorne) said: “I have a passion for buildings and a passion for animals. They are neck and neck.”

And her knowledge of buildings extends far beyond this book. She has written and presented over 80 films for the BBC and ITV which includes On The Throne- the history of the lavatory.

And she has written and taken the photographs for nine books including Vanishing Victoriana.

Her latest offering has a great many buildings which will be of local interest.

One of the most memorable is the memorial to a horse at Latimer's village green. An obelisk was built commemorating the 126 Buckinghamshire men and women who served between 1899 and 1902 during the second Boer War.

Underneath the memorial is buried the heart of a horse, which was ridden by a French mercenary, and was wounded during battle but was nursed back to health in Buckinghamshire until his death 11 years later.

Also in Buckinghamshire is the cockpit at the Temple of Apollo West Wycombe, the dovecote in Monks Risborough, aviaries at Dropmore and Waddesdon and Lambton's own memorial to her dog, Flint at her home in Hedgerley.

But which one is Lambton's favourite? She said: “I always think the tombstone to the crow and also the tombstone memorial to a trout, or the two rats graves. I love that they were called Gladstone and Disraeli.

“Or a castle for salmon. But they are all amazing. It is too hard to choose.”

Palaces for Pigs is available in hardback, priced £25 and is available from all good bookshops.