Gate Piers Within Osterley Park

The gate piers within Osterley Park were built in 1777 and designed by Robert Adam. They are made of Portland stone with Coade stone insets. Each pier has a rectangular shape standing on a base with a torus moulding. At the height of the frieze, each principal face features a patera made of artificial stone, set within a projecting block that has guttae beneath it. Above the moulded caps are plain low blocks that rise to the center, which once supported lanterns, as seen in photographs from the 1980s. Attached to either side of the piers are short sections of spearheaded railings, which originally had gates connecting to the nearby lodge buildings.

These piers are depicted in a drawing at Sir John Soane's Museum, titled 'Elevation of a Gate and Lodges for Osterley Park. One of the Seats of Robert Child Esq'. They exemplify Adam's elegant style and his inspiration from Roman architecture, with the design of the piers and the paterae resembling sacrificial altars. The piers are significant landscape features within the important parkland of the Osterley Estate, which is listed as Grade II* on the English Heritage Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The lodges and gates served to secure the eastern entrance to the park, although the lodges underwent substantial alterations in the mid-19th century.