The Lodges, gates, gate piers and walls to Birmingham University campus, Pritchatt's Road

The Lodges, Gates, Gate Piers and Walls to Birmingham University Campus, Pritchatt's Road

A pair of ceremonial drive gates with pedestrian gates to either side, designed by H T Buckland and W Haywood and built in 1930. The gates were made by the Birmingham Guild. The group comprises lodges set at either side, connected by wing walls and gate piers. The buildings are constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond with ashlar dressings. The lodge roofs are hipped and covered with pantiles, and the gates are of wrought and cast iron.

The layout fronts onto Pritchatt's Road and terminates with piers. Lengthy sections of quadrant walling form a crescent-shaped approach to the central gates, which are divided by rectangular ashlar piers. Further curved walls extend from the lateral piers to join with the single-storey lodges, which are set either side of the driveway to the south of the gates and slightly curved on plan. Additional walls curve inwards beyond them towards the driveway.

Each lodge is five bays wide with a central doorway, approached along a paved path with panels of alternating stone arranged in a grid pattern. The panelled doors each have eight raised and fielded panels with a central bronze knob and an ashlar surround with panels at either side and a decorative cornice featuring alternating raised and fluted panels with curved and pointed cresting. At either side are windows with two casement lights. The window surrounds have canted headers, and there is a band of similar bricks below the top of the wall. Metal pins at either side of the windows indicate they formerly had shutters. Each lodge façade has two symmetrically placed ridge stacks with a stone band, moulded cap and a raised panel to each side. The lodge façades are gently curved away from the drive but are flanked by walls which curve inwards, connecting to the gates on the north side and terminating in piers on the south side with ashlar panels and similar cornicing to that above the lodge doors. Similar piers terminate the walling on the Pritchatt's Road front.

The garden front of each lodge has three wide bays with a recessed door to the centre with stone surround, flanked by small upper windows. At either side, projecting slightly, are flat-roofed bays with three-light casements. The tops of these walls have a soldier course of bricks. Connected to these rear fronts are stretches of Flemish bond walling with ashlar coping which form an enclosed garden for each house. The north and south end fronts each have a two-light casement.

The central drive gates and lateral pedestrian gates have shaped tops and are infilled with panels which have S-shaped bars and cast shell-shaped bosses. They are painted a bronze colour, with signs of original gilding to the cresting. The ashlar gate piers have raised and fielded panels to each side and carved cornicing matching that seen elsewhere on the group. The central piers carry the university arms carved in relief to their northern face. The original bell-shaped lanterns have been replaced by projecting lamps in the later twentieth century.

Each lodge retains its original plan in all essentials. These have a central octagonal lobby from which gently curved corridors lead off in both directions. Door surrounds are moulded, and fitted cupboards with panelled doors survive in both houses. All original chimney breasts and the majority of the original fire surrounds survive. Both lodges appear to retain their original small lean-to glass house at the north end.