North Gate, Preston Hall

North Gate, dating to circa 1740, forms a pair of square gatepiers topped with urns and later ornamental wrought-iron gates. The gatepiers are constructed from coursed rubble with dressed sandstone ashlar dressings.

The northeast (principal) elevation features a moulded base course, alternate reeded pilasters with polished ashlar banding, a projecting architraved neck course with an ovolo moulding and egg and dart mouldings to the cornice, and a large stone urn with foliate detailing at the summit. The southeast and northwest elevations have an architraved base course with alternate banding, but without further ornamentation. The southwest (rear) elevation mirrors the northeast elevation, though with less definition and detail.

The gates consist of a segmental-arched framework containing a pair of open ironwork gates with oval detailing flanked by curled brackets to each centre, and spear tops to the dogbars. An ornamental overthrow features a large oval flanked by a pair of intertwining curved brackets, further brackets with foliate detail, and a leaf finial surmounting the central oval.

This gate is part of a larger group of buildings including Preston Hall, Stables, Lion's Gate and Gazebos. It likely served as one of the entrances to Prestonhall House, which was built in 1700 by Roderick Mackenzie and remodelled around 1740 by William Adam. The main house fell into disrepair and was demolished around 1790 to make way for a design by Mitchell. These gatepiers predate most of the other buildings on the estate, which were designed by Mitchell around 1795. Later, a house named Briery Bank was built to the north of Preston Hall, shown on estate plans from 1806, with formal gardens and adjacent buildings. It's likely the original entrance was used as a driveway from Briery Bank, as a drive leads from the estate exiting near the current gateway location. The gate now stands alone within woodland adjacent to the B6367.