Survey Data
Reg No
41400719
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Original Use
Gate lodge
Date
1840 - 1860
Coordinates
272909, 344398
Date Recorded
13/04/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached single-storey gate lodge, built c.1850, having canted front (north-east), with extension to rear. Hipped slate roof with timber eaves, clay ridge tiles and red brick chimneystack. Red brick walls laid in Flemish bond having rubble stone plinth course with tooled limestone coping. Coursed rubble stone to extension. Gauged-brick square-headed window openings having render surrounds, tooled limestone sills and timber casement windows. Gauged-brick square-headed door opening to north-west face with render surround and timber battened door opening onto tooled limestone step. Single-arch bridge over stream to south-east of building, round arch having tooled limestone voussoirs, rubble stone to parapet and spandrel walls. Gateway to south-east of bridge comprising cast-iron railings on tooled stone plinth wall, square-plan tooled limestone piers with recessed panels and pointed capping flanking double-leaf cast-iron vehicular gate.
Appraisal
This simple gate lodge forms a group with the adjacent bridge and gateway highlighting the entrance to a former demesne. Built at a later date than the house, this building may reflect improvements which were being undertaken on the demesne at that time. It was not uncommon for the owner of a country house to make dramatic changes to the entrance of the site rather than the house itself, it being a less costly means of changing the way the whole estate was perceived by the outside world. The gateway and entrance features were the estate’s main means of communication with the outside world and this site clearly makes a visual impact on the immediate surroundings. Tooled masonry details to the sills and plinth course enliven the red brick of the building, while the unusual canted façade provides aesthetic interest. These architectural details are complemented by the gateway and the associated bridge.