Two Pairs Of Gates Including Gate Piers And Figures Adjoining The East Front Of Wentworth Castle With Iron Railings Enclosing The Garden Between And Balustrades Of Terraces To South

Two pairs of gates, including gate piers and figures, are located next to the east front of Wentworth Castle. These gates, primarily constructed in 1912 for Captain Bruce Vernon-Wentworth, feature early 18th century statues on the southern gate piers that may have been created by John van Nost for Thomas Wentworth, the 1st Earl of Strafford. The materials used include ashlar sandstone, wrought-iron railings, and lead statues.

The gate piers are positioned at right angles to each end of the east front and are connected by wrought-iron panels to rusticated retaining walls with steps that flank the house. The lawn to the east of the house is enclosed by attached wrought-iron railings and a balustraded retaining wall, while a similar balustraded wall runs along the eastern side of the south lawn. Each gate pier features a plinth, a sunken-panelled shaft, and a band beneath the cornice. The southern piers are topped with statues of a griffin and a lion, which are the supporters of the Strafford arms. The gates themselves have decorative scrollwork and lyre motifs, with a scroll-crested top rail and bobbin finials on the bars.

Matching ironwork panels connect to the retaining walls flanking the east front, each wall featuring an outflared flight of nosed steps and a balustrade, although the one on the south is damaged. The ironwork railings slope down to the balustrade across the east front, which has a moulded plinth and separates panels of six balusters with die stops and corniced copings. The balustrade along the south lawn is similar, with its plinth set on a concrete footing and more balusters between each die.

The lead statues may be among those depicted in Badeslade's Prospect of Stainborough from 1730, and a matching pair appears to have been relocated to William Wentworth's other residence, Boughton Hall in Northamptonshire.