Waddesdon's twelve-metre 'Wedding Cake' is coming down. By 2036.

The "Wedding Cake" in the grounds of Waddesdon Manor, near Aylesbury, is to be taken down. A planning condition gives January 18, 2036 as the latest date for the three-storey, twelve-metre sculpture and its floodlights to go, and Buckinghamshire Council has now agreed what must happen to the patch of ground it leaves behind.

Under the latest consent, the concrete slab and foundations go too, along with the gravel, the paths and the hardstanding. The enclosed area must then be made good with soil and laid to grass within six months of the sculpture being removed. That is a change from the position in February 2026, when the council allowed the work to come down earlier than first planned and the base and paths could have stayed on as a setting for changing sculpture exhibitions until 2036.

The sculpture, by the Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, was announced in 2023 and featured Lisbon's ceramic traditions. It is clad in tiles from the Viúva Lamego manufactory, and its eleven-metre diameter was settled on for a reason that will please anyone who likes a practical answer: it was the smallest circle that could be built from the manufactory's standard 14cm square tiles. Visitors were invited to walk its levels and balconies.

Planning documents record that the Rothschild Foundation asked for the sculpture to be removed as soon as possible, because faults in the tiles and ornaments raised health and safety concerns. A council officer's report said no workable solution had been found.

The work stands beside the Grade II-listed Dairy, inside Waddesdon's Grade I historic park and garden and the village conservation area, so the paperwork matters. The council's heritage officer said the revised plans would preserve that historic setting. The Gardens Trust did not wish to comment, archaeology raised no objection, and nobody from the public wrote in.

The decision notice does not say when dismantling will start. The 2036 deadline stands, though the earlier application indicated the Foundation hoped it would be done sooner than that.