Screen To Road In Front Of Portway House

This is a screen dating to 1760, originally built in front of Portway House in Warminster. It stands on a low stone wall with moulded coping and small stone piers, and is characterised by tall, square, rusticated piers at each end. These end piers have moulded capitals and are surmounted by stone eagles, with smaller offsets leading to carved scrollwork. The screen itself is constructed of plain pointed iron bars, with panelled standards featuring diagonal and square patterns, each standard topped with pyramid scroll motifs.

A central gateway features wrought-iron piers built upon substantial moulded bases with moulded capitals ornamented with a fret pattern. The wrought ironwork of the gate piers is in the form of pilasters, with panel supports mirroring the screen’s standards. The gates themselves continue the design, incorporating larger panels of diagonal and square bars, framed by narrow key-pattern panels. A complex pyramidal overthrow of scrollwork crowns the gates, culminating in a wrought-iron eagle. The screen retains marks from its maker, Smith.