The pavilion is thought to have been built by a local mason called Richard Shepperd, who was paid £111 12s 4d to construct a building known as the "bowle alley house"; however, the Harpur family's accounts list the "Bowl Alley Surveyor" as a Mr. Wooldridge. Mark Girouard has suggested that, judging by its style, the building may have been designed by John Smythson, who had done work elsewhere in Derbyshire; however this seems unlikely, given that the pavilion gained its Smythson-like appearance through later additions, and the evidence pointing to Sheppard and Woodridge.
