B r o o k m a n 's  P a r k

E y e  c a t c h e r  A r c h

 

 

 

Brookman's Park Eye catcher Arch is a large, round, entirely brick built archway set in between 2 mighty castellated square towers of 3 stories, with narrow window slits and moulded bands for decoration, rising to possibly 60 ft in height. This beautiful specimen of an eye catcher arch resides in what has now become a residential suburb of Potter's Bar, and only a short distance from the South Mymms services on the "Road to Hell", the notorious M25 motorway that circumnavigates London.

In the 18th century, there was once a small village here called North Mymms and an estate called Gobions or Gubbins, the seat of Sir Thomas More. It is thought that around 1730, Sir Jeremy Sambrooke was the owner of Gobions and he had employed the famous James Gibbs, who might have had a hand in building his manor house, to also construct him a fine gateway to the southern entrance of his estate, although Sir Sambrooke may have put up the folly himself as is also thought, as a commemorative arch in honour of a visit by Queen Elizabeth I, some 150 years earlier.

However, one hundred years later in 1836 the new owner of Brookmans, a neighbouring estate of Gobions, demanded the demolition of the Gobions house to expand the land of his park. Unfortunately for him, Brookman's house was burnt to the ground some sixty years later in 1891.

Being a folly, naturally there has to be another quirky tale connected with it. It is widely believed that a farthing was placed under each brick during its construction. If this is the case, by today's standards the folly would be worth.... I did not have the time to count the bricks during my visit!

The eye catcher is now a home for the local pigeon community with several places to perch and to roost.

Visiting:-

The folly arch stands at the junction of Hawkshead Road and Swanley Bar Lane and is easily found. However there is no public access through the gate as the grounds beyond the arch are privately owned.

Larger Photo here:

 Co-ords 525500 203000 TL 254 030

 

 

Bookmark this Page    

Reproduction of part or all of the contents of any of these pages is prohibited except to the extent permitted below.
These pages may be downloaded onto a hard disk or printed for your personal use without alterations. Any other use needs consent of the web site owner Mr C Curtis :- see Contact Page. These pages may not be included in any other work or publication, or be distributed or copied for any commercial purpose except as stated above.