The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 66 NE COBHAM 5/36 The Aviary, Cobham Hall
II
C18 stone and white natural flint. Three round-headed openings. The centre breaks forward with pediment. Brick sides. Roof collapsed.
Listing NGR: TQ6797468916

The building is currently in a ruinous state. A brick retaining wall existed by 1718 but a building was not identifiable until 1758. 1785 accounts of a hothouse have been linked o the building. Architecturally evidence exists from this period of the structure being rebuilt in its current form (late 18th/early 19th century). It may have been an orangery prior to its role as an aviary/fowl house from 1831-1870. In a fourth phase (period D) it became a summer house. Its role as an Aviary is not certain. (1)

The Aviary, a flint and stone-fronted tripartite structure against a retaining wall on the north side of Lady Darnley's Garden. The building was probably initially used as a greenhouse, based upon a reference from 1799. (2)

The bricks used in the building are recycled, some being of 17th or even 16th century date. Work in 2006 during restoration found a stoke hole for the greenhouse, confirming that this was the original function of the building. (3)

Archaeology South-East, 2002, An Archaeological Interpretive Survey of The Aviary, Cobham Park, Cobham, Kent (Unpublished document). Ske13504.

<1> Archaeology South-East, 2002, An Archaeological Interpretive Survey of The Aviary, Cobham Park, Cobham, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE13504.

<2> English Heritage, 2002, Historical Account, Cobham Hall Estate, Part 2: The Gardens and Inner Grounds (Unpublished document). SKE17515.

<3> Alan Ward, 2008, Building recording undertaken in the North Pleasure Grounds and Lady Darnley's Garden, Cobham Hall, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE17814.