Pinch'S Folly

This is an archway, likely dating from around 1830. It originally served as the entrance to a builder's yard associated with John Pinch the Younger. Constructed from limestone ashlar, the archway stands approximately 4 metres high and 5 metres wide overall. The semicircular arch itself reaches a height of around 3 metres. A projecting plinth and impost band are supported by four pilasters. A moulded cornice rises to the centre, dividing and scrolling down into volutes, with a shield on the keystone below and an urn on a segmental arched plinth above. Pilasters, fluted to the top and featuring guttae above lion masks, support the cornice at the outer ends. Walls on each side slope downwards from the cornice to the impost band, terminating in half-pilasters below the impost, these also displaying guttae and masks. Banded rustication appears between the pilasters on the main section, while the walls beyond the outer pilasters curve down from the impost band to rest on raised plinths. The Pinch family, Charles and John, resided nearby at Bathwick House, and this ornate archway is believed to have been a striking feature linked to their builder's yard.