Garden Wall With Gateways and Folly Tower Attached to West and East of Caerhays Castle

Details

ST MICHAEL CAERHAYS
SW 94 SE
3/133 Garden wall with gateways and folly
- tower attached to west and east
of Caerhays Castle

GV I

Garden walls with gateway and folly tower. 1808, by John Nash, for J.B. Trevanion
Slatestone rubble with granite and Pentewan stone dressings.
Plan: The wall is attached to the service buildings of Caerhays Castle to south west
with gateway leading to the entrance front (to north). The wall is continued to
enclose a garden in front of the entrance front, and returned, with another gateway
in a range running from north west to south east, with corner towers. At the south
east corner there is a circular plan folly tower. The wall is returned to enclose
the garden to south of Caerhays Castle and is attached to the house to south west.
Exterior: At the south west side, there is a 2-centred arched gateway with embattled
parapet over. The walls extends uphill, embattled, about 5 metres high. At the
western corner there is a square plan corner tower, roofless, with 2-centred arched
doorway and battered walls. Along the upper ranges of the wall, there is stone
coping. The northern corner has a corner tower with loops and 2-centred arched
doorway. Along the eastern range, the wall is embattled, with a polygonal embattled
eyecatcher, with loops. There is a second main gateway with round arch and C20
wooden gates, embattled parapet over; the wall runs in an arc to each side with
battlements and loops; running down to south east there is a flight of stone steps on
the inner side of the wall, leading down to the folly tower at the south east corner
of the garden.
The folly tower is of circular plan, in 2 stages, with plain string courses and
lancets at staggered levels. There is an embattled parapet with wide merlons, and
set on top a smaller tower as a top stage, with corbelled embattled parapet and loops
with splayed cills. There is a slight batter at ground floor level. On the garden
side there is a doorway leading to a stone newel stair inside the tower.
The south eastern range of the wall forms a retaining wall to the garden along the
garden front of Caerhays Castle; the wall is embattled, and battered on the outer
side with raking buttresses.
The garden walls and towers form an integral part of the design of Caerhays Castle,
as part of the asymmetrical Gothic design.
Sources: Pevsner, N.: Buildings of England: Cornwall 1970. Summerson, J.: The Life
and Work of John Nash, Architect. 1980.


Listing NGR: SW9717841652

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

71631

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, (1970)
Summerson, J, The Life and Work of John Nash, (1980)

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 8 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly,

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