West Lodge to Thornbury Castle and Adjoining Gateway

Summary

A mid-C19 lodge and gateway to Thornbury Castle.

Reasons for Designation

West Lodge to Thornbury Castle and adjoining gateway, constructed in 1855, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons.

* Architectural: a confident, and suitably modest, Tudor Gothic design.
* Historical: links to the Howard Family of Thornbury Castle give added interest, and are shown on the inscribed Howard initials on the building;
* Location and Setting: at the main entrance to Thornbury castle, West Lodge provides a fitting part of the historical ensemble.

History

The construction of Thornbury Castle began in 1511, on the site of a mediaeval manor house, by Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. This fortified Tudor country house was never completed as the Duke was beheaded by Henry VIII in 1521, and the castle fell into disrepair following the English Civil War. The Howard family, the subsequent owners, renovated it in the early-C19, and in 1855 they built the West Lodge. The lodge and gateway are largely unaltered, although a number of interior fittings are modern.

Details

An entrance lodge with attached gateway, built in 1855.

MATERIALS: coursed rubble limestone with ashlar dressings, under a clay tile roof with limestone stacks. The studded plank doors and main gate have iron strap hinges. The interior of the walls are lined in red brick. Fireplaces are constructed of stone and the stair is timber. Flooring is flag stones.

PLAN: the building is square on plan, with a single main range standing on a north-south orientation, and an east-west cross-wing. The north-south range is a single room to the ground floor with a doorway through to the cross-wing where a stair leads to the attic floor bedrooms and bathroom.

EXTERIOR: the lodge is single-storey with attic, and has Tudor Gothic detailing, including single and two-light, four-centred arch-headed casements under hood moulds. The main elevation faces the carriageway (east) and is three bays wide. To the centre is a studded plank door under a four-centred head. To the right is a casement with leaded panes. To the left is a wide projecting lateral stack with offsets and an ornate carved corbel with a single-light opening below (qv. East Lodge, Thornbury Castle). A stone shield carved on the stack bears the Howard arms, and an iron-framed overhanging lamp is fixed above it. The top of the stack is embattled. Both gable ends of the main range have coped verges. The north end incorporates a projecting stack with offsets. The west range has a double-pitched roof with a central valley.

Attached to the south-east corner of the lodge is a rubble stone wall with ashlar dressings and coping. The wall forms part of the gateway to the castle and has a pedestrian door with a studded plank door, under a four-centred head. Above the doorway on its south face is a date stone of 1855 with the initials of the Howard family. Two embattled piers form the gateway across the carriageway, and have armorial bearings. The gate is timber plank with an arcade of round-headed lancet openings above a timber dog rail. The lancets have iron bars with finials. The gate is fixed to the right pier with an iron post and strap hinges. To the right, a short section of wall and a buttress adjoin the wall of St Mary's Church.

INTERIOR: The ground floor has exposed brick walls laid in Flemish bond, with traces of former plaster coverings in some areas. The principal room is accessed directly from the main door in the east elevation, and has a stone chimneypiece in the lateral stack, and a smaller stone fireplace in the corner of the north end. The timber stair in the west range has a room to either side. The attic floor above has exposed, chamfered roof timbers.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

34921

Legacy System:

LBS

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