Lychgate About 20 Yards South-West Of The Church Of St John The Baptist

This lychgate, located about 20 yards south-west of the Church of St John the Baptist, was built in 1876 as a memorial to George William Lyttleton, the fourth Lord Lyttleton. It features a timber frame set on a tall chamfered sandstone ashlar base, topped with a plain tiled gableted roof that has overhanging eaves supported by cusped and chamfered brackets. The structure includes arch-braced brattished tie-beams with quatrefoil tracery in the spandrels. Above the tie-beams are two panels with 4-centred heads and three cusped, pointed openings. A pair of gates is located beneath the west archway. The side elevations have three cusped pointed lights, with a cross on a stepped base set in the central light, where the transverse arm intersects with the flanking mullions. All timbers are chamfered, and there are inscriptions on the inner and outer faces of the tie-beams, braces, and wall-plates. Inside the lychgate, there are benches on each side, and above them are stone plaques. The north plaque reads: "ERECTED BY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS/ IN HONOURED MEMORY OF/ GEORGE WILLIAM 4TH BARON/ LYTTLETON 1876"; the south plaque states: "LET US THINK OFTEN OF DEATH/ NOT AS THE END OF OUR LIFE/ BUT AS AN EVENT IN OUR LIFE/ L/." This lychgate is a well-detailed example situated prominently in front of the Church of St John the Baptist, facing the north-east elevation of Hagley Hall, and is included for its group value.