Survey Data
Reg No
15401714
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Previous Name
Mearscourt
Original Use
Demesne walls/gates/railings
In Use As
Demesne walls/gates/railings
Date
1680 - 1770
Coordinates
227587, 255062
Date Recorded
23/11/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Entrance gates to Meares Court, erected c.1760, comprising a pair of ashlar limestone gate piers on square-plan (with basemoulds) with ashlar limestone capstones (in the form of full entablatures) over having ball finials. Cast-iron double gates. Pedestrian entrance to the west of main gates, comprising square-headed ashlar limestone doorcase with moulded architraves having cornice over supported on carved limestone brackets, c.1700. Gateway and doorcase set in section of rubble limestone estate wall to the south of Meares Court and adjacent to attendant gate lodge (west).
Appraisal
A handsome pair of ashlar limestone gate piers, of late eighteenth-century appearance, retaining early cast-iron gates. This gateway acts as a suitably fine first impression on entrance to the Meares Court demesne. The highly intricate doorcase built into the estate wall to the west of the main entrance gates is a curious discovery and a rare survivor. It is detailed in a style somewhat reminiscent of Baroque Classical, suggesting a late-seventeenth or early-eighteenth date, and it was presumably taken from an earlier house at or close to Meares Court. The good rubble limestone boundary wall to the west completes the setting.