The Pyramid Gate, also known as the Pyramid Gatehouse, is a historic building at

Castle Howard Castle Howard is an English country house in Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, north of York. A private residence, it has been the home of the Earl of Carlisle, Carlisle branch of the House of Howard, Howard family for more than 300 years. Castle ...

, in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, in England. The gate was designed by

John Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restor ...

in 1716, and was completed in 1719. It forms part of a sequence of structures on the main route to the house at Castle Howard, and is north of the Carrmire Gate and south of The Obelisk. It is a variation on a design which Vanbrugh unsuccessfully proposed for gates at

Kings Weston House Kings Weston House () is a historic building in Kings Weston Lane, Kingsweston, Bristol, England. Built during the early 18th century, it was remodelled several times, most recently in the mid-19th century. The building was owned by several ge ...

. Vaughan Hart describes its crowning pyramid as "evok ngthe idea of death at the very entrance to the estate". Walls were added either side of the gatehouse by Thomas Robinson in 1756. The left wing suffered a fire in 1923, and its interior was later entirely replaced. At the time, the building was used as a hotel. The main house was badly damaged during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and so in 1949

George Howard, Baron Howard of Henderskelfe Major George Anthony Geoffrey Howard, Baron Howard of Henderskelfe, Justice of the peace, JP (22 May 1920 – 27 November 1984) was a British landowner, soldier, and peer from the aristocratic Howard family. He inherited Castle Howard, in Henders ...

, temporarily moved into the

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

. The building was

grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1954.

The gate is built of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

on a

chamfer A chamfer ( ) is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

, and has a pyramidal stone slate roof surmounted by a pyramid. It contains a round arch with an impost band on consoles, and a band, above which is a coat of arms. There is

machicolation In architecture, a machicolation () is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key ...

over the arch with a keystone and an inscribed plaque, reading "Carolus Howard comes Carliolensis hoc condidit anno dni mdccxix". The flanking wings have two storeys and eight

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, the second and outer bays projecting under a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

with a ball

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. In the ground floor are round-arched

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s forming an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated video, pinball, electro-mechanical, redemption, etc., game ** Arcade video game, a coin-operated video game ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade video game's hardware ** Arcad ...

with an impost band and keystones. The upper floor contains sash windows in the left wing, and casements in the right wing. At the rear is a balcony on a Tuscan column, an L-shaped flight of stairs and a machicolated square turret.

References

{{coord, 54.11617, -0.91432, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1719 Castle Howard Gates in England Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire John Vanbrugh buildings

See also

References