Gate Piers, Adjoining Walls And Attached Piers At Drakelow Lodge Entrance To Drakelow Power Station

The gate piers, adjoining walls, and attached piers at the entrance to Drakelow Power Station were built around 1900 by Reginald Blomfield for Robert Gresley of Drakelow Hall. They are made of ashlar and coursed rubble. The pair of gate piers stand 15 feet high, each featuring moulded bases and acanthus leaf cornices, topped with large ball finials on deep bases that are decorated with sculptured garlands and flowers. The front face of each pier displays a carved coat of arms set in a Baroque cartouche, from which hang swags of fruit and bows. Each pier has a pilaster strip with a scrolled top on the inside face, from which hang 20th-century iron gates. Curving stone walls with rubble copings extend from either side, rising to the piers and finishing in scrolled brackets. These walls are terminated at the other end by smaller piers that have moulded bases and cornices, also topped by ball finials. Drakelow Hall was demolished in 1934, and Drakelow Power Station now occupies most of the site.