Gate Piers And Part Of Churchyard Wall To Church Of St John The Evangelist

The gate piers and part of the churchyard wall to the Church of St John the Evangelist are dated 1761 and feature 20th-century gates and an overthrow. Designed by Robert and Tabitha Bowers, along with Gertrude Burdett, the gate piers and walls are made of tooled sandstone. The gate piers are rusticated and have a square section, constructed from alternating rectangular and cylindrical blocks, topped with flat caps and ball finials on bell-shaped pedestals. The flanking walls support foliate volutes on either side of the gateway, and the walls have cambered coping, ramping up to four obelisk pinnacles. Each obelisk features blind Gothick tracery on all sides and tall panelled dies. The southwest obelisk has inscribed vertical sundials on two faces, along with the inscription: R B T 1761 GB / UT UMBRA SIC VITA. These walls define the extent of the churchyard of the Eskdale Chapel, which was built by the same patrons to replace the original Eskdale Chapel that was inconveniently located elsewhere in the parish. The 18th-century chapel was later replaced by the current Church of St John the Evangelist, built in 1895.