PICTURE GALLERY 3a: The North Lodge (scroll down for more info)
In the spring of 2010, local historian Alan Cook kindly made a scale model and plan of the Castle's former Northern Gate-house Lodge, based upon a single visit that he made around 1965-66. The scale of the model is 1:100 and is made from memory, OS Plans and the land registry plan. This building was demolished in 1967, whilst the original structure may well have dated back to the 1500s.
Alan states from his visit (nearly 45 years ago) that "I can not scale the internal rooms accurately, but I am sure there were 2 bedrooms, of slightly different size. There was a kitchen/come pantry with stairs down to a cellar... and the toilet was outside - but may have been accessible by a bedroom. There had been a lift pump for water from a well, and I think there was soft water tap from a tank outside.... The main lodge dimensions were 21 ft North to South and 30 ft West to East approximately".The last resident was a Mrs Jessie Pearson, and the building itself was a stylish Baroque/Palladian bungalow with a rounded portico veranda. 283 Weddington Road now stands on the site of this building, and the integral garage of this house has a reinforced concrete floor to cope with the old cellar and water pump site. Apparently this is because rules did not allow a habitable room on the ground floor because of the old cellar.
In 2012 Gloria Fyson, Jessie Pearson's grand-daughter, kindly contacted us and provided us with some photos of the Pearsons who owned the Lodge, and of the Lodge itself and its grounds. These have been added below. Gloria also gave us some corrections to Alan's description above and also his model. She confirmed that water was provided via an internal water pump, not a tap, and that the front windows went all the way down to the ground. They may have been 'French-style' windows that could be opened but this is not certain. Also, the kitchen was accessed via steps down from one of the bedrooms. Although the building had the appearance of a bungalow, Gloria confirmed that there was, actually, an upstairs room also.
Interestingly, Gloria also recalled that the Northern Lodge cellar contained a number of bricked-up tunnels which it was rumoured, at one time, led to the Grove building and the Castle itself...
Jessie's husband was Bertram John Pearson, about whom little is currently known (if anyone has any updates on this side of the family, please email:info@weddingtoncastle.org.uk and we will pass details on to Gloria, who is interested in pursuing this).
All pictures on this page are from the collection of Alan F Cook for which grateful acknowledgement is given; except those marked* which are by Dave Michie and ** which are provided by and (c) Gloria Fyson.
Alan states from his visit (nearly 45 years ago) that "I can not scale the internal rooms accurately, but I am sure there were 2 bedrooms, of slightly different size. There was a kitchen/come pantry with stairs down to a cellar... and the toilet was outside - but may have been accessible by a bedroom. There had been a lift pump for water from a well, and I think there was soft water tap from a tank outside.... The main lodge dimensions were 21 ft North to South and 30 ft West to East approximately".The last resident was a Mrs Jessie Pearson, and the building itself was a stylish Baroque/Palladian bungalow with a rounded portico veranda. 283 Weddington Road now stands on the site of this building, and the integral garage of this house has a reinforced concrete floor to cope with the old cellar and water pump site. Apparently this is because rules did not allow a habitable room on the ground floor because of the old cellar.
In 2012 Gloria Fyson, Jessie Pearson's grand-daughter, kindly contacted us and provided us with some photos of the Pearsons who owned the Lodge, and of the Lodge itself and its grounds. These have been added below. Gloria also gave us some corrections to Alan's description above and also his model. She confirmed that water was provided via an internal water pump, not a tap, and that the front windows went all the way down to the ground. They may have been 'French-style' windows that could be opened but this is not certain. Also, the kitchen was accessed via steps down from one of the bedrooms. Although the building had the appearance of a bungalow, Gloria confirmed that there was, actually, an upstairs room also.
Interestingly, Gloria also recalled that the Northern Lodge cellar contained a number of bricked-up tunnels which it was rumoured, at one time, led to the Grove building and the Castle itself...
Jessie's husband was Bertram John Pearson, about whom little is currently known (if anyone has any updates on this side of the family, please email:info@weddingtoncastle.org.uk and we will pass details on to Gloria, who is interested in pursuing this).
All pictures on this page are from the collection of Alan F Cook for which grateful acknowledgement is given; except those marked* which are by Dave Michie and ** which are provided by and (c) Gloria Fyson.
