Gatepost detail

Image: © Lairich Rig Taken: 15 Jan 2016

The gateposts are shown in context in Image and Image Of the two larger posts, the one on the right bears a plaque on the side facing the main road: Image The gateposts are category-B listed; according to their listing text, they were built in 1895, and they are the work of the Glasgow architect James Thomson. My further comments below are observations of my own, not taken from the listing text. The gateposts are at the foot of an avenue leading to Overtoun House; its lower portions (more precisely, the parts below Image) now pass through housing. For the upper half of the avenue, see, for example, Image and Image Image is part of the same avenue. The bridge was completed, and the entire avenue opened, in 1895, the year in which these gateposts were built: see Image and Image The present picture shows a detail from one of the larger gateposts (both of them are carved alike). The carving on this side (the south-west side, which faces the main road) is part of the armorial achievement of Lord Overtoun; compare Image, where the same elements – the coronet (small crown), and the details below it – can be seen, executed slightly differently, on the side of the bridge. The opposite side of both gateposts bears a different carving, a raised arm with the hand holding a laurel wreath: Image This carving is also a detail (specifically, it is the crest) from the arms of Lord Overtoun: in Image, the same crest can be seen appear above the coronet. The coronet itself has six pearls (four visible, two more implied behind), indicating the rank of Baron: in this case, Baron Overtoun of Overtoun. The building beside these gateposts, shown on the right in Image, was originally a lodge for Overtoun House. I noticed that the Overtoun crest (arm with hand holding a laurel wreath) also appears on Image, which leads me to believe that that building, which is a little over 2 kms from these gateposts, was originally another lodge for Overtoun House; it is not far from the foot of Milton Road, which is today the way by which most vehicles reach Image

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