Ginkgo gates open

The University Parks have a splendid new entrance after work finished to install decorative iron gates opposite the Department of Materials on Parks Road. The gates give visitors a new way to enter and leave the Parks, midway between the two existing entrances opposite Keble College and at the North Lodge. The area still needs more landscaping, which should be done by the end of April, but the gateway is already in use.

The gates were designed and made by artist blacksmith Terrence Clark in 2007 and originally stood outside the Clarendon Laboratories before being removed ahead of the construction of the Physics department’s new Beecroft Building. They are known as the ginkgo gates because their wrought iron posts are topped with finials shaped like gingko leaves.

Another new and improved entrance to the Parks is being created near the Beecroft Building, opposite Keble. The Keble Gates are being moved a short distance as part of the landscaping work around the Beecroft; they are expected to be in place later in 2018.