Gateway at Stukeley House

Gateway probably dating to the first half of the C17, altered by William Stukeley in 1744.

MATERIALS: roughly squared and coursed limestone with ashlar dressings.

PLAN: the gateway is located at the east end of the north garden wall. This follows the line of the medieval town defences but does not retain any medieval masonry. Parts of it probably date to the C18 or earlier whilst the central section was rebuilt in the mid-C19.

EXTERIOR: the south elevation of the gateway, which faces onto the garden, consists of a massive round-headed arch with pronounced rusticated voussoirs and jambs. It has a heavy dentilled cornice above a plain frieze with a central stone tablet inscribed ‘Beatae Tranquillitati P Wilh Stukeley MDCCXXXVII’. Above is a castellated parapet with a central panel carved with a shield in a circular band and inscribed ‘Anno Victoriae Cullodonianae 1746’. Behind the arch is a half-domed recess with a wide doorway of diagonal planks which has a HL hinge at the top and a H hinge at the bottom, flanked by niches. On the north elevation of the gateway, which faces onto West Street, the door has vertical planks and a cambered stone arch set within a wide, shallow projection.