Nos 1 And 2 The Gatehouse About 50 Yards East Of Westwood House

Gatehouse, probably dating from 1660 to 1670, built for Sir John Pakington as part of significant alterations to his grandfather’s hunting lodge, Westwood House (listed separately). It was restored in the early 20th century by Sir Reginald Blomfield. The building is constructed of red brick in English bond, with sandstone ashlar dressings and cross-gabled plain tiled roofs, displaying a Flemish-inspired style. It comprises two square lodges linked by a sandstone archway with bold open strapwork decoration, topped by a wooden strapwork lantern with a two-stage ogee cupola.

Each lodge has two stories on a chamfered plinth, with square facades and rebated corners. Brick external chimneys flank each side, incorporating paired, diagonally-set stone shafts. There are three-light mullion and transom windows with leaded casements on both floors, each beneath an ornately shaped gable with kneelers and numerous cut finials, and a blind oculus in the apex. The sandstone archway has a dropped keystone and cast iron gates with elaborately detailed upper rails. Above the gates is a fretwork of arcades and circles that incorporates the Pakington family crest. The lantern is supported on posts with swept braces, forming a round archway, and its construction is of open strapwork panelling with a two-stage, fishscale-tiled, ogee cupola topped with a cut finial. The inner sides of the lodges, facing the drive, have plain chamfered doorways set within the gates.

Historically, the gatehouse formed a dramatic entrance to Westwood House and was an important part of the overall design, softening the abrupt rise of the house from the surrounding countryside. An illustration from around 1698 indicates an even more impressive original layout, where the gatehouse was linked to Westwood House and two surviving garden pavilions (listed separately) by low walls to create a diamond-shaped forecourt, related to the overall parkland planting. During the 18th century, the two westernmost pavilions and associated enclosures were removed. The gatehouse is of group value.