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The West Berkshire Historic Environment Record (HER) is the primary index of the physical remains of past human activity in the unitary authority of West Berkshire Council. Limited elements of the West Berkshire HER are available online via the Heritage Gateway, therefore it is not suitable for use in desk-based studies associated with development, planning and land-use changes, and does not meet the requirements of paragraph 194 of the National Planning Policy Framework (2021: 56). Please read the important guidance on the use of the West Berkshire HER data. For these purposes and all other commercial enquiries, please contact the Archaeology team and complete our online HER enquiry form.


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HER Number MWB15792
Record Type Monument
Name Hamstead Marshall gate piers 30m south of east end of church, Park Lane

Grid Reference SU 420 667
Map Sheet SU46NW
Parish Hamstead Marshall, West Berkshire
Map:Show location on Streetmap

Summary

Grade I listed brick and stone pair of pillars in field

Associated Legal Designations or Protected Status

  • Listed Building (I) 1117218: PAIR OF GATE PIERS 30 METRES SOUTH OF EAST END OF CHURCH
  • Registered Park or Garden (II) 1000525: Hamstead Marshall Park

Other Statuses and Cross-References

  • National Monuments Record No.: SU 46 NW 106
    SU 4200 6671

Monument Type(s):

  • GATE PIER (18th century - 1701 AD? to 1750 AD?)

Full Description

LISTED BUILDINGS. ONE PAIR OF 8 PAIRS OF ENTRANCE PIERS, SOME IN GARDEN WALL AND OTHER POSITIONED AROUND SOIL- MARKS OF ADJACENT GARDEN. THE 9TH PAIR WAS REMOVED TO SERVE AS AN ENTRANCE TO BENHAM PARK.

Gate '1' in draft report on Gate Piers, January 2009 <1>

The gate piers and walls are the surviving remnants of the great house built by Lord Craven at Hamstead Marshal from 1661 onwards, replacing or adapting an earlier house of the 1620s. The architect was Sir Balthazar Gerbier (1592-1662) but a great deal of the work must have been undertaken by his pupil William Winde. The design and construction of the gate piers is entirely consistent with construction in the decade or two following 1661, with the exception of gate 7 which appears to be of the 18th century. The house was consumed by fire in 1718. Some work was started in the 1730s by James Gibbs but this was suspended in 1739. Racquets map of 1761 and surveys of 1775 indicates substantial remains of the Craven house and accounts of the 1790s suggest that the restoration works abandoned in 1739 had in fact been completed. The principal gateway (gate 9) was removed to nearby Benham Park in the early 19th century. An account of 1834 makes it clear that the house had been demolished by this point and mentions the presence of 12 sets of 'grand piers'. <1>

Sources and further reading

<01>Rees Bolter Architects. 2009. Gate Piers at Hamstead Marshall - Report and Condition Survey. [Unpublished document / SWB148341]
<02>Historic England (previously English Heritage). 1987. Register of Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England. Hamstead Marshall Park. [Unpublished document / SWB12616]
<03>English Heritage. 2001. Buildings at Risk - The Register 2001. Product Code XH 20174. [Unpublished document / SWB12827]
<04>Tyack, G, Bradley, S and Pevsner, N. 2010. The Buildings of England (Berkshire). p321. [Monograph / SWB147855]

Related Monuments

MWB6291Hamstead Marshall Gardens (Monument)

Associated Excavations and Fieldwork

EWB1241Gate Piers at Hamstead Marshall - Report and Condition Survey