Gate, screen wall and fence posts. Mid C19. Probably by A. Salvin. (1)
Gate of White Mansfield stone. Anthony Salvin remodelled Rufford Abbey in 1837. The alignment of Salvin’s new entrance porch and the West Gate, which are linked by a tree-lines avenue, strongly suggests they were designed by the same hand. The use of the same coat of arms with its characteristic parrots (of the 8th Earl of Scarborough) on the West Gate and the entrance porch reinforces this interpretation. The ironwork consist of a pair of carriage gates surmounted by an overthrow, and screen wall of railings.
The list description notes the gateway’s Jacobean Revival style. English ironwork of the Early C17 may not have been decorated as the Rufford gates, but the bulb forms and blocking of secondary infill bars certainly conjure images from the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Whereas the design of the overthrow, with it developed scrollwork and garlands, has similarities with Baroque French examples of the Late C17 and C18. Predominantly forged, the ironwork inspires a feeling of being factory made, rather than the product of a simple smithy of the mid 1800s. Construction methods are typical of wrought ironwork made before the C20…Gate frames and infill bars are joined with mortise and tenon joints; rivets are used to attach smaller subcomponents. Some overthrow details deviate in style and material from those of the gates below…PAINT ANALYSIS – The same set of paint layers was found on the railings, the overthrow and the gates themselves, and the different elements have always been painted the same. None of the ornamental details have ever been picked out in a different colour, or in gold. 20 sets of paint layers were found. Original decoration was a very dark grey in colour. The shade was probably as close to black as it was possible to be with the pigment available (at the time). In the Early and Mid C19 pure black could not be used, because the pigment carbon black did not dry properly in oil and had to mixed with pigments that did. Since 1840 the gates have always been painted either grey or black. (2)

Listed buildings slides, 3 slides (Photograph). SNT2648.

<1> DOE, Listed Building Description (Published document). SNT228.

<2> Ingram Consultancy Ltd, 2006, Rufford Abbey. West Gate Screen and Garden Urns. Condition and Photographic Survey. Schedule of Defects. (Unpublished document). SNT5860.