Gate piers near Hamstead Marshall (3)
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Gate piers near Hamstead Marshall (3) by Stephen Richards as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Gate piers near Hamstead Marshall (3)
Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: Unknown
Gate piers of Hamstead Marshall House, a major Berkshire mansion built in 1661-65 and destroyed by fire in 1718. They are of brick, with shell-headed niches and topped by urns. Designed by Edward Pierce in 1663. The far set of piers is this one: Image Grade I listed. Eight of the nine sets of gate piers stand in situ, indicating the extent of the former house and gardens. They are now a rather poignant sight, isolated in the middle of fields and parkland like orphaned children. Pevsner described them as 'pathetic', others have described them as 'clumsy', 'the finest piers of their kind in England', and as expressing 'a sense of vanished magnificence'. The ninth set, which stood outside the main entrance, was moved in the late C18th to nearby Benham Park (Image]). Information partly from "Craven Country, the story of Hamstead Marshall" by Penelope Stokes.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.397613
Longitude
-1.398973