Gatehouse To Former Ridley Hall

The gatehouse, dating to around 1530 (as noted in Leland's Report), is constructed from stone and brick with a roof of large slates. It likely represents a surviving element of the former Ridley Hall. The building features an archway with a floor located above. The front and rear walls are mainly constructed of coursed stonework, while the walls between the arched openings are primarily brickwork.

The south facade exhibits a projecting plinth, ovolo moulded quoins to the archway, plain imposts, and an ovolo moulded segmental arch with a scotia hood mould. A slender ogee cornice separates the stonework from the brickwork above. Above the arch, a carved stone achievement of arms, incorporating the Egerton escutcheon flanked by term pilasters with heads and scrolls supporting horn players and animals, is set within a brick wall and supported by the cornice. The north rear archway is similar in design but lacks the arms in the brick area above the stone cornice and features moulded imposts.

Internally, the ceiling between the two arches features ovolo moulded beams front and rear, a main ovolo moulded beam, and large section stop-chamfered joists supporting an oak boarded floor above. The pitched roof over the gatehouse has been retimbered, although some chamfered purlins remain. Later farm buildings are situated flanking the archway to the east and west. The gatehouse may be a remnant of the “fine Ridley Hall” documented in Leland’s Itinerary of 1530, suggesting it holds significance as one of the earlier Classical Structures in the region.