North Lodges And Adjoining Gates And Gate Piers

North Lodges and adjoining gates and gate piers are a pair of entrance lodges dating to 1901, designed by John Belcher for Vernon Watney. They form part of the wider estate works carried out between 1901 and 1906 at Cornbury, and mark the principal entrance to Cornbury House from Charlbury on the north-east edge of Cornbury Park. Constructed in limestone ashlar, the lodges have hipped stone slate roofs with lead flats. They are built in a Queen Anne Revival style and are one storey and attic in height, featuring corner pilaster strips and a stone dentil eaves cornice. A central stone stack rises from a flat roof, and flat-topped stone dressings provide window surrounds. The front and back elevations each have three bays, with 9-pane windows in glazing bar sashes, the outer windows featuring moulded architraves, pulvinated friezes, and moulded cornices. Circular datestones, inscribed "VM/MW" and "19/01", are moulded and carved above the central windows of each lodge. The inner side elevations have a glazing bar sash and a two-panelled door with raised and fielded panels, a moulded architrave, pulvinated frieze, and moulded cornice. A single glazing bar sash is found on the outer side elevation. The gate piers are characterised by plinths, a flat string course, triangular pediments, round-arched niches to each side, and carved festoons above the string course. Attached to the inner walls of the lodges are flanking sections with banded rustication and carved scrolled tops. The central wrought-iron gates include top bars curving to the centre, spearhead railings, arrowhead dog bars, a scrolled lock bar with lion masks and rings, husks in the lower panels, and central repousse wreaths above. Panelled stanchions with repousse work and scrollwork flank the gates. Smaller flanking pedestrian gates mirror the design of the main gates. Wrought-iron lanterns are attached to the north-east sides of the gate piers. The building’s interior has not been inspected.