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Brockhampton gatehouse

Here’s another aspect of the very distinctive gatehouse at Brockhampton in Herefordshire, England. It was built from oak that was felled in 1542, more than a century after the main house was erected. The timber was worked in the nearby woods, then brought to a framing yard beside the house, where it was assembled.

 

The now charmingly lopsided gatehouse was never intended to guard the house; instead, it was an ostentatious symbol of wealth, informing people that they were visiting a very important family. Later in its life, in the early 1900s, it was used as a gamekeeper’s store and even a chicken coop.

 

When the family line died out in 1948 the gatehouse, manor house, and a substantial estate of buildings and land, was given to the National Trust, which continues to care for and administer the place today.

 

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Uploaded on June 13, 2023
Taken on June 8, 2023