The Gateway, Nantwich
Encyclopedia
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
former stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
entrance in Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, England, dating from the early 19th century. It is located at on the north side of Welsh Row (at ), on the junction with Red Lion Lane. It is listed at grade II. Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
describes The Gateway as "handsome".
Pevsner considers Welsh Row "the best street of Nantwich". The street has many listed buildings and is known for its mixture of architectural styles, including other Georgian buildings such as number 83
83 Welsh Row, Nantwich
83 Welsh Row is a Georgian town house in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, dating from the late 18th century, located on the south side of Welsh Row . It is currently used as offices...
opposite and Townwell House
Townwell House, Nantwich
Townwell House is an Early Georgian town house in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, located at number 52 on the north side of Welsh Row . It dates from 1740, and is listed at grade II*; in the listing, English Heritage describes the building as "important" and highlights its "good central...
, black-and-white
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
cottages such as the Widows'
Widows' Almshouses, Nantwich
The Widows' Almshouses, also known as the Wilbraham or Wilbraham's Almshouses and as the Widows' Hospital, are former almshouses for six widows in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. They are located at numbers 26–30 on the north side of Welsh Row, on the junction with Second Wood Street...
and Wilbraham's Almshouses
Wilbraham's Almshouses, Nantwich
The Wilbraham's Almshouses, also known as the Wilbraham Almshouses, are six former almshouses in Nantwich, Cheshire, England, located on the north side of Welsh Row at numbers 112–116 . Founded by Sir Roger Wilbraham in 1613, they were the town's earliest almshouses. They remained in use as...
, and Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
buildings such as the former Grammar School, Primitive Methodist Chapel
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Nantwich
The Primitive Methodist Chapel is a former Primitive Methodist church on Welsh Row in Nantwich, Cheshire, England . Built in 1840, it is listed at grade II. The chapel closed in 2001, and the building has been partially converted to residential use....
and Savings Bank
39 Welsh Row, Nantwich
39 Welsh Row is a Victorian former savings bank, in Jacobean Revival style, in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It stands on the south side of Welsh Row at the junction with St Anne's Lane . Dating from 1846, it is listed at grade II. Nikolaus Pevsner describes number 39 as "the first noteworthy...
.
History
The Gateway was built in the early 19th century as the stableStable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
entrance to the Porch House
Porch House, Nantwich
The Porch House, formerly sometimes the Porche House, is a large Georgian house, dating from the late 18th century, in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It is listed at grade II. Located at numbers 64A and 64B on the north side of Welsh Row , it is entered via its former stable entrance, The Gateway...
, which stands behind it at number 64.
Description
The Gateway is a substantial detached Late GeorgianGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
building in red brick with a slate roof. Now divided into two dwellings, it has two storeys with three bays to the front. The Gateway stands immediately adjacent to the street while The Hawthorns, to its left, is set back behind a walled courtyard, so that the entire left face of The Gateway is visible from the street. A wide stone string course encircles the building immediately below the level of the first-floor windows, and there is a wooden cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
at eaves level.
The symmetrical front façade has a central slightly projecting section of a single bay width, which is capped with a pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
. There is a prominent central stone archway leading to the Porch House, which is framed by a large two-storey recess with an arched top outlined in brick. Above the archway, within the recess, is a small window with an arched top. The flanking wings on the front façade each have a similar recess containing a large sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
on the ground floor and a smaller one with an arched top on the first floor. This unit is twice repeated on each side of the building, with slight variations: on the side faces, the first-floor windows nearest the street have horizontal tops, and the windows to the Red Lion Lane face are blind. The main entrances to the two houses are within the archway.
Sources
- Bavington G et al. Nantwich, Worleston & Wybunbury: A Portrait in Old Picture Postcards (Brampton Publications; 1987) (ISBN 0 9511469 6 3)
- Pevsner N, Hubbard E. The Buildings of England: Cheshire (Penguin Books; 1971) (ISBN 0 14 071042 6)