Deer Shelter in Auckland Castle Park

Deer shelter, about 1760 For Bishop Richard Trevor, probably to designs of Thomas Wright. Gothic revival style.

MATERIALS: coursed squared sandstone with ashlar dressings.

PLAN: rectangular, comprising four linked passages arranged around a central, open quadrangle. There is a central arched entrance to the north-east side and a central tower to the south-west side, the latter containing a first-floor viewing room.

EXTERIOR: the deer shelter is situated on raised ground within the former deer park of Auckland Castle. It has crenelated outer walls with four-centre arched arcades, and there are four diagonal corner buttresses with pinnacles. The long south-east and south-west sides are each pierced by a 15-arch arcade, whose voussoirs rest on the impost mouldings of square piers. Above alternating arches there are blind cross-slits. The north-east side has a full-height central, pointed arched entrance with crocketed pinnacles on the flanking piers, and to either side is a six-arch arcade. The south-west side has a canted, crenelated ground-floor projection with pointed arched windows, flanked to either side by a six-arch arcade. Behind, rises a two-storey, crenelated and pinnacled tower, with a blind quatrefoil flanked by a blind cross slit to each of the first floor faces.

INTERIOR: solid, lower, inner walls create four linked passages (formerly roofed) forming deer shelters with cross arches to the corners. A passage in the north-west side has an opening through its inner face giving access to the central quadrangle. Within the first floor of the tower there is a prospect room for enjoying the view.