Entrance Lodge of Arboretum

The Entrance Lodge of the Arboretum, built around 1850, was designed by architect Duesbury, who also created the Town Hall. The Arboretum itself was donated to the town by Joseph Strutt and laid out by Loudon in 1840. The original lodges were designed by E B Lamb in an Elizabethan style.

This lodge is constructed of brick with stone dressings and features three bays, with the central bay slightly projecting. It has a prominent raised feature with coupled pilasters on either side of a semi-circular headed niche that contains a stone statue of Strutt. This is topped by a segmental pediment with obelisk finials at the center and sides. There is a single-storeyed lodge on each side, each featuring a pediment that encloses a scrolled escutcheon, pilasters at the sides, a panelled frieze, a cornice, and a parapet topped by a ball-head and urn finial (one finial is missing). The central window on each side is semi-circular headed and set in a rusticated surround with a cornice. The lodge stands on a stone plinth and has a stone-paved forecourt at the rear, which is enclosed by an arcaded brick and stone wall topped with balustrading.