Entrance Screen And East And West Front Lodges To Attingham Park

The entrance screen and the East and West Front Lodges to Attingham Park were built around 1805-1807, likely designed by John Nash, with later additions to the lodges. Constructed from grey sandstone ashlar, the entrance screen features five bays arranged in an AABAA rhythm. It has a large central carriage arch, flanked by pedestrian arches and small square lodges. The structure includes a moulded plinth, frieze, cornice, and blocking course, as well as banded rusticated piers topped with swagged urn-finials.

The central round arch has imposts, a moulded architrave, a scrolled keystone, and carved bas reliefs in the spandrels depicting a winged horse on the left and a stag on the right. There are Doric half-columns on either side, a frieze inscribed with "QUI : UTI : SCIT : EI : BONA", and a dentil cornice that projects over the columns with an architrave and carved lion masks. The centre also features a blocking course and a stepped plinth. The outer pedestrian arches have imposts and moulded architraves.

The wrought-iron gates are designed with a radial pattern, featuring a central patera and thistle-head railings. The large central pair of gates has top rails that ramp up to hanging bars with urn finials, while smaller single gates are located in the pedestrian arches.

The lodges are two storeys high and include integral octagonal corner stacks with banded rustication and moulded caps. The front of the lodges has shallow recessed arches with a continuous impost band, moulded architraves, a pair of narrow ground-floor sash windows, and a lunette above on the first floor. The return fronts feature a cill string for the first-floor glazing bar sash and a ground-floor door with four flush panels. Each lodge has a later addition at the rear.

The entrance screen and flanking screen walls were likely part of improvements made to the Attingham Estate after 1800 for the second Lord Berwick, carried out by John Nash and Humphry Repton.