Description

SO 86 SE WESTWOOD CP WESTWOOD PARK

4/243 Nos 1 and 2 The Gatehouse
about 50 yards east of
- Westwood House
14.3.69
GV I

Gatehouse. Probably 1660-70 for Sir John Pakington as part of the major
alterations to his grandfather's hunting lodge, Westwood House (qv) to convert
it into the main family home, restored by Sir Reginald Blomfield early C20.
Red brick in English bond with sandstone ashlar dressings and cross-gabled
plain tiled roofs. Flemish inspired style. Two square lodges, linked by a
sandstone archway with bold open strapwork decoration and, above, a wooden
strapwork lantern with two-stage ogee cupola. Each lodge is two storeys on
a chamfered plinth; square with rebated corners, and external chimmeys
each side with paired, diagonally-set stone shafts. Three-light mullion and
transom windows with leaded casements on both floors, beneath ornately
shaped gable with kneelers and many cut finials, and with a blind oculus in
the apex of each. Sandstone archway between has a dropped keystone, cast
iron gates with elaborately detailed upper rail and above is a fretwork
of arcades and circles incorporating the Pakington gerbes and mullets.
Lantern is supported on posts with swept braces forming a round archway;
the lantern is formed of open strapwork panelling and has a two-stage,
fishscale-tiled, ogee cupola with cut finial. Inner sides of lodges facing
drive have plain chamfered doorways set within the gates. The gatehouse
forms a dramatic entrance to the house and is an important element of
the overall composition helping to alleviate the abruptness with which
the house rises out of the surrounding countryside. The original relation-
ship was even more impressive, as shown in Kip's illustration of the estate,
c1698, for the gatehouse was linked to the main pile and the two surviving
garden pavilions (qv) by low walls to form a diamond-shaped forecourt,
itself related to the overall planting of the park. The two westernmost
pavilions and the enclosures were removed during the C18.
(CL xii, 689; Lxiv, 50, 94; cxiii, 1689; cxxxiv, 738; VCH III (i); BoE).

Listing NGR: SO8762363943

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17530511

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy