Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

A low-angle outdoor shot shows two single-story stone buildings, set against a backdrop of dense green trees and a bright blue sky with scattered white clouds. Both buildings are constructed from light brown, dressed sandstone blocks, giving them a grandiose appearance. To the left, some exposed red brickwork is revealed, suggesting an attempt at infilling. The nearer building, on the left, features a dark, wooden door and a small, arched window near the roofline. To the right, further back, is a smaller, similarly styled stone building, also with a dark door. Both buildings have a classical pediment-like design above their main window openings, indicating an architectural influence. All windows and doors have been boarded and painted black. In a couple of places the sandstone is stained black which might be soot from a fire or the black paint. The foreground is a grassy area with some patches of dry or sparse grass, suggesting a mix of maintained and wild growth. The overall impression is one of neglected historical buildings nestled within a natural landscape with minimal maintenance.

The West Lodges of Ormesby Hall

A blistering day, not ideal for digging holes, yet that was the task—installing bollards to keep after-hours dog-walkers from turning the entrance grass verges of the National Trust’s Ormesby Hall into a car park. Still, it offered a good excuse to admire the West Lodge gates, which manage to look imposing even from the rear1National Trust Heritage Records Online. Record ID: 31098 / MNA145332. West Lodges, Ormesby Hall. https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA145332.

Pity about the lodges themselves. They serve no real purpose now. Too small to be useful, they stand idle and attract local youths who break in and try to set fires. Hence the crude, ugly boarding thrown up by the National Trust—more deterrent than decoration.

According to Pevsner, the architectural historian, the lodges date from the 1770s. Their Adam style echoes some of Ormesby Hall’s interior. The Hall itself was built earlier, by Dorothy Pennyman, before her death in 1754. It then sat empty for sixteen years until Sir James Pennyman finally took up residence. The stylistic mismatch, if only I could see it, makes more sense with that revelation2Pevsner, Nikolaus. “The Buildings of England – Yorkshire – The North Riding”. Penguin Books. Reprinted 1985. ISBN 0 14 071009 9.

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