Arno'S Court Triumphal Arch

BRISTOL

ST67SW BATH ROAD, Brislington 901-1/56/428 (North East side) 08/01/59 Arno's Court Triumphal Arch (Formerly Listed as: BATH ROAD (North side) Arno's Court Gateway)

GV II*

Triumphal arch. c1760. Believed to be by James Bridges. For William Reeve. Bath stone. Classically proportioned but with Gothic and Moorish detail, it forms a free-standing wall with tall central round archway flanked by plain arched doors, separated by an impost band from a canopied niche above. The main arch has Gothic moulding with arcaded ornament and imposts; the canopies are carved with fishscale weathered top surface and traceried edge under an ogee moulding, which terminates in a finial, and has blind tracery on the underside; over the main arch projects a panel of stone for an uncarved coat of arms, with a round hood over, running into a string course; the central range is a third higher than the sides and broken forward slightly; the top section contains a niche flanked by terms, and ogee moulding above terminating in a leaf finial; blind tracery and crenellated parapet to sides and centre with Moorish merlons. The niches once contained carvings from the demolished City Gates. Rear elevation much simpler, a carving of the City's coat of arms above main arch. Originally the gateway to Arno's Castle, moved to the entrance to Arno's Court Bath House in 1912. The ovolo mouldings and other evidence lend credence to the theory that the arch may be an original Caroline city gate, but the available evidence supports the 1760 presumption. (Latimer J: The Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century: Bristol: 1887-1908: 377; Grimm S H: Gate at Mt Pleasant, Brislington: 1789-).

Listing NGR: ST6115771582