DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32037#0076
52
WOLTERTON MANOR HOUSE, NORFOLK.
is marked in the general plan, a. A larger plan of the entrance is inserted
in the Plate now under consideration. The elevation of the south side has
been richly decorated, according to the latest fashion of the Gothic or Pointed
style of architecture. Over the great arch are the royal arms of Henry VIII.,
with the proper supporters, a griffin and a lion, of a large size. On two
smaller shields are the arms of Fermor, impaled with tliose of Stapleton
and another family: and a third shield, over the chamber window, bears the
arms of Fermor alone. On the sides of the entrance are statues nearly of
the size of life, now so much broken that their forms are hardly to be
distinguished. Blomefield calls them “ two wild men, or giants, as janitors,
armed with clubs.” These figures, as well as the king’s arms and supporters,
are carved in brick; but the jambs of the gate, and some other parts, are
of chalk-stone. The rest of the materials are brick; the ornaments being
cast in moulds, and then burnt. The elevation is here represented in a perfect
state, though the turrets have been broken down, and the parapet much
mutilated, but repaired a few years since in an inferior style of workmanship to
the original.*
Plate III. — North or inward Front of the Gate-house.
The inner front of the gate-house resembles the other in its general outlines,
but has less of ornamental details. In the spandrils of the great arch are two
shields bearing the arms of Fermor singly, and Fermor impaled with those of
Knevet and other families.
These elevations display great elegance, and are perfectly free from that
incongruous admixture with details of the Italian style, which is found in
many buildings of the reign of Henry VIII. The roof of the gateway is not
vaulted, but only covered by the floor of the chamber over it, which is
approached by a staircase in a turret attached to the west side. The arch
of the outward front was originally closed by a pair of gates, which have
been taken away; but tliere was no portcullis, nor any other means of
defence.
# The view of this gate-house, insevted in Britton’s “ Architectural Antiquities,” Vol. II. p. 92,
slrews the mutilated state of the battlements and turrets in the year 1807: and the plates in
“ Vetusta Monumenta,” Vol. IV., do the same. Of the turrets only one remained standing on the
gate-house; viz, that on the north-east angle : it is given at large in Plate VII. No. 2.
WOLTERTON MANOR HOUSE, NORFOLK.
is marked in the general plan, a. A larger plan of the entrance is inserted
in the Plate now under consideration. The elevation of the south side has
been richly decorated, according to the latest fashion of the Gothic or Pointed
style of architecture. Over the great arch are the royal arms of Henry VIII.,
with the proper supporters, a griffin and a lion, of a large size. On two
smaller shields are the arms of Fermor, impaled with tliose of Stapleton
and another family: and a third shield, over the chamber window, bears the
arms of Fermor alone. On the sides of the entrance are statues nearly of
the size of life, now so much broken that their forms are hardly to be
distinguished. Blomefield calls them “ two wild men, or giants, as janitors,
armed with clubs.” These figures, as well as the king’s arms and supporters,
are carved in brick; but the jambs of the gate, and some other parts, are
of chalk-stone. The rest of the materials are brick; the ornaments being
cast in moulds, and then burnt. The elevation is here represented in a perfect
state, though the turrets have been broken down, and the parapet much
mutilated, but repaired a few years since in an inferior style of workmanship to
the original.*
Plate III. — North or inward Front of the Gate-house.
The inner front of the gate-house resembles the other in its general outlines,
but has less of ornamental details. In the spandrils of the great arch are two
shields bearing the arms of Fermor singly, and Fermor impaled with those of
Knevet and other families.
These elevations display great elegance, and are perfectly free from that
incongruous admixture with details of the Italian style, which is found in
many buildings of the reign of Henry VIII. The roof of the gateway is not
vaulted, but only covered by the floor of the chamber over it, which is
approached by a staircase in a turret attached to the west side. The arch
of the outward front was originally closed by a pair of gates, which have
been taken away; but tliere was no portcullis, nor any other means of
defence.
# The view of this gate-house, insevted in Britton’s “ Architectural Antiquities,” Vol. II. p. 92,
slrews the mutilated state of the battlements and turrets in the year 1807: and the plates in
“ Vetusta Monumenta,” Vol. IV., do the same. Of the turrets only one remained standing on the
gate-house; viz, that on the north-east angle : it is given at large in Plate VII. No. 2.