Former gatekeeper’s lodge to Wanstead Infant Orphan Asylum (now Snaresbrook Crown Court)

Gatekeeper’s lodge, built around 1841, originally served Wanstead Infant Orphan Asylum, now the site of Snaresbrook Crown Court. The lodge is constructed of coursed, squared, and hammer-dressed Sneaton stone with Bath and Caen stone dressings, tiled roof coverings, and a London stock brick chimney.

The building is a single-storey lodge with attic rooms arranged in a T-shaped plan. It is located at the former entrance drive to the asylum. The north front, facing the driveway, features a projecting gabled bay with a two-light metal-framed casement window under a Tudor arch, a single-light window, and a canted bay window. The tiled roof has a central corbelled chimney stack with several flues arranged in a cruciform pattern; the lower section is of stone, and the upper section is of London stock brick separated by a string course. The east elevation, facing Hollybush Hill, comprises a gabled cross-range with a projecting entrance porch under a hipped tiled roof, containing a three-light casement window and a glazed timber doorway with side lights, and the main gable end with two-light casement windows to the ground floor and attic. The south elevation is dominated by the gabled cross-range at its centre, which is punctuated by two ground floor windows and one attic window. The west elevation presents a two-light attic casement window, a stone coping with moulded kneelers to the gable, and a square-headed doorway flanked by windows relating to the cross range.

The lodge is entered on the east side via the porch of the cross range, which has a tiled floor. Inside, there is a tiled hallway and two ground floor rooms accessed through flush timber doors. These rooms have wooden floorboards, skirting boards, picture rails and ceramic tiled fireplaces. A pantry is located adjacent to the staircase. The quarter-turn staircase has stick balusters and a wooden handrail, leading to the attic landing. The attic rooms are accessed through four-panelled doors with brass door knobs and feature wooden floorboards, skirting boards, and fitted cupboards.