Gate and gate piers to the north of The Grand Descent at Shrubland Hall

Ornamental gates and gate piers probably dating to the third quarter of the C19.

MATERIALS: gault brick laid in stretcher bond and wrought iron, painted green.

PLAN: the gates are located at the edge of the pleasure grounds to the north of The Grand Descent.

EXTERIOR: the highly decorative gates have an overthrow incorporating the wheatsheaf and wings of the Middleton family’s coat of arms, and ribbon end and rolled nib scrolls with well placed waterleaves. The top section is in two parts. The upper part has verticals with foliate decoration at the top and bottom, and across the middle a row of circles with Tudor roses at the intersections. In the lower part, the uprights have a distinctive diagonal slant with ribbon end and rolled nib scrolls, and twisted arrowheads. The lock rail consists of a row of horizontal ovals with Tudor roses at the intersections. The lower section contains the same diagonal uprights as already described. The dograil below has short uprights, alternating with banded decoration and scrolls.

The tall, square, panelled gate piers are surmounted by two-stepped caps and elongated, flat-topped pyramidal finials, finished in cement render. On either side, the railings have a dograil and twisted arrowheads to the uprights, and extend for approximately 2m. They are ramped up to the main gate piers and terminate in shorter, square piers finished in cement render. The pier on the east side is surmounted by a large ball finial but the finial on the west side has been lost.