Castellated Bridge South of the Lake at Hewell Grange

Summary

A stone bridge forming part of the landscape park at Hewell Grange, thought to date from the early-to-mid C19.

Reasons for Designation

The Castellated Bridge at Hewell Grange, thought to date from the early C19, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as a good quality stone bridge, carefully composed to form an attractive feature within the designed landscape at Hewell Grange;
* Degree of survival: the bridge survives substantially intact;
* Group value: with the Grade II* Registered Park and Garden, and the large number of listed buildings within it.

History

The castellated bridge stands at the southern end of the lake at Hewell Grange, in a park which had been developed over a number of centuries. The land had passed to the Windsor family following the Dissolution, and in the early C18 the 2nd Earl of Plymouth had a new house built, possibly by Francis Smith of Warwick. The park around the house was laid out mainly from the mid-C18, with advice from Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and others, and in the early C19 with advice from Humphry Repton.

Following the death of the 8th Earl without issue in 1843, the estate passed to Harriet Clive, a sister of the 6th Earl who in 1819 had married Robert Henry Clive. The barony of Windsor was revived in 1855, and Harriet assumed the additional surname of Windsor. She was succeeded in 1869 by her grandson, Robert George Windsor-Clive. Robert did not achieve his majority until 1878, and in the intervening years the estate was under the stewardship of his mother, Lady Mary Windsor-Clive.

A bridge in this location appears to be shown on the Ordnance Survey One Inch map of 1831; it therefore seems likely that the bridge was built in the early C19. It gives access to the area of the park where the kennels and game larder are sited, and also would have formed an attractive feature on the S drive into the park. The use of the castellated style became popular in Britain during the later C18 and early C19, and its use here would likely have been intended to gently complement the Picturesque landscape in which it stands.

Hewell Grange was sold in 1946, following the death of the 3rd Earl of Plymouth (the title having been revived in 1905), and the bridge passed in to private ownership.

Details

A stone bridge forming part of the landscape park at Hewell Grange, thought to date from the early-mid C19.

MATERIALS AND PLAN: the bridge is constructed of ashlar stone and crosses the stream which flows out of the lake at Hewell Grange. The bridge is orientated roughly SW-NE.

DESCRIPTION: the bridge is a single span, and has stone parapets on both sides, which are splayed outwards at each end. The parapets are surmounted by angled coping stones of slightly differing heights, which give a castellated effect to the appearance. At each end, the parapets terminate in square piers which have pyramidal capping stones.

The castellated effect is more pronounced on the external faces of the parapets, where the stones have raised edges. The arches of the bridge have large central keystones which connect with a projecting course of stone above, at the base of the parapets.

Sources

Other
Hewell Grange Historic Landscape Appraisal (Parklands Consortium, 2001)

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