Welcome to Yorkshire
Published on August 19th, 2026
•Rainborough Lodges, also known locally as ‘Lions Lodge’, stand on Smithy Bridge Lane at Brampton Bierlow in South Yorkshire, to the south of a roundabout along the B6097, marking a former historic entrance to the Wentworth Woodhouse Estate. The name reflects the pair of impressive stone lions that appeared to guard the entrance. Now divided into two dwellings, the lodges form part of a distinctive late Georgian gateway that once provided the principal northern approach along an avenue of trees to the estate and the route towards Wentworth Park.
The lodges and associated gates were constructed between 1798 and 1804 for William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, during a period when the Wentworth Estate was being developed and its landscape and approaches carefully formalised. The design is attributed to John Carr of York, one of the leading architects of the period. Built from finely dressed ashlar sandstone beneath graduated Welsh slate hipped roofs, the two square lodges rise to two storeys and are arranged symmetrically on either side of the entrance. Their restrained Neo-Classical design includes tall round-headed sash windows, recessed arched panels, moulded surrounds, Greek-key decoration, festooned paterae and modillioned cornices. Rusticated quoins add emphasis to the corners and reinforce the formal character of the buildings.
The lodges are connected by curved wing walls containing pedestrian gateways and ending in substantial rusticated gate piers. Each pier is crowned by a sculpted recumbent lion, giving the gateway its distinctive local identity. Between the lodges, decorative wrought-iron carriage gates feature elaborate scrollwork and vase-shaped finials, while the outer wing walls terminate in further rusticated piers with blind arched recesses.
Together, the lodges, walls, gates and sculpted lions form a striking ceremonial gateway and an important surviving element of the historic approach to Wentworth Park. However, the significance of this former approach is less apparent today, as much of the surrounding landscape has since been developed for residential housing.
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