Gates To The Grounds Of Hertford Castle (Hertford Castle Demolished)

The gates to the grounds of Hertford Castle, which has since been demolished, were built in 1912 and designed by architect James Farley. They are made of terracotta and wrought iron. The central feature consists of twin leaf carriage gates adorned with spears, scrolls, quatrefoils, and embattled upper rails, topped with projecting scrollwork to suggest an overthrow. The gates bear the name 'HERTFORD CASTLE'. On either side, there are smaller pedestrian gates that share a similar design.

The gates are flanked by octagonal Gothic-style terracotta piers that include plinths, roll mouldings, cavetto mouldings, and recessed panels with blind moulded trefoil-head tracery. The main piers have octagonal caps featuring modelled lions holding shields with the Borough arms. Other, simpler piers are lower and topped with moulded octahedral caps.

The gateway is set back from the kerb line and is flanked by curved balustrades on both sides, which have plinths and column-on-urn balustrades with a moulded top rail, ending in low octagonal piers. Commemorative plaques indicate that the gates were presented by Osmond Henry McMullen, the Mayor of Hertford, and were opened by James Edward Humbert Gascoyne, Marquess of Salisbury, on July 27, 1912. The Salisbury family are the freeholders of Hertford Castle, and the gates commemorate the presentation of a long lease on the castle to the town at a peppercorn rent.