Widford Lodge To Blakesware Next To Railway Bridge

Widford Lodge to Blakesware is a lodge built for the Gosselin family, dated 1886 on a stone at the north end. It was probably designed by George Devey. The lodge is constructed of red brick and features a red tiled half-hipped roof. It is a small rectangular two-storey building that appears as one storey on the east side due to the slope of the land.

The east front, which faces the drive, is symmetrical and has two prominent parapeted rectangular brick bays flanking a gabled timber porch that rises significantly above the eaves. The porch has a plank door set beneath a red rubbed brick arch, which features a projecting moulded bracket as the keystone supporting a shelf. Above this shelf is a large blue and white ceramic plaque of St Raphael, set in a niche within the brickwork that extends above the eaves. The open timber porch includes turned stumpy balusters and a moulded rail on the lower part, with shouldered brackets supporting a moulded wall plate that returns across the front to hold an arch-braced collar truss with ashlar pieces.

There are two close-set tall central chimneys and two-light casement windows. The lower floor on the west side contains bedrooms. This lodge is an interesting 19th-century building with distinctive planning and decorative features. It is part of a group that includes the ornamental bridge to the north, marking the entrance to the park of Blakesware.