THE entrance to Barnard Castle’s 12th century fortress has been given a face-lift with the installation of new, custom-built oak doors to the north gate.
The north gate to the scheduled monument was only a subsidiary gate in the middle ages, but is the main entrance for modern day visitors and staff to the castle.
The new hand-crafted oak gates, complete with iron bolts reinstates a useful “wicket gate”, a small doorway within the gate to allow pedestrian access.
A spokesperson for English Heritage said: “The wicket gate is similar to the one seen in 18th century engravings and allows the site team to get in and out easily – opening up the main gates to welcome in visitors during opening hours.”
The gates being removed from site are a mixture of 19th and 20th century. The lower sections added after archaeological excavations in the sixties removed built-up soil from the entrance.
English Heritage received support from Historic England, Raby Estates and Durham County Council for the work.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
