The North Lodge, also called the Stone Lodge, was designed as an eyecatcher to be seen from within the estate and as approaching the house from Market Drayton. It also served as a residence for a servant; censuses from 1841 and 1851 record that James Beeston and his wife Jane were living at the lodge, Beeston having been employed for the construction of Pell Wall from 1824 and listed in the censuses as a male servant in 1841 and a labourer in 51 (Jenkins, pp. 19-20).

Drawings 27 to 29 show Soane's preliminary designs for the lodge. The designs in drawings 27 and 28 employ a semicircular-headed arched recess whereas later designs, as shown in drawing 29, integrate a triangular arch that is more in keeping with the Gothic-inspired architecture.

It was built of local sandstone ashlar (P. Dean, p.195). Preliminary designs for the lodge (drawings 27 to 29) show the triangular building with a square projection at each corner, one serving as an entrance porch.

Drawing 29 shows a design very similar to the built version, narrower than the earlier designs (drawings 27-28) and with tall ornate parapets over each corner. Drawing 28 shows the lantern altered in pencil so as to be taller. In drawing 29 the lantern appears to be even smaller, as the building's skyline is dominated by the parapets of the projecting corners.

P. Dean, Sir John Soane and the country estate, 1999, pp. 194-195; D. Jenkins, The History of Pell Wall: its estate and its owners, Pell Wall Preservation Trust, 2003, pp. 19-20.

Group

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

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