GENERAL VIEW OF BELVEDERE HOUSE

Belvedere House and gardens are magnificently sited on the shores of Lough Ennell, a few miles to the south of Mullingar.  The house itself was built as a hunting/fishing lodge, c.1740, for Robert Rochfort (died 1774), MP for County Westmeath and later 1st Earl of Belvedere.  Robert Rochfort had his main seat at Gaulston House, near Rochfortbridge (the town is named after the Rochfort family), which was demolished after being burnt down in 1920.  Belvedere House was built to designs by the eminent architect Richard Castle (c.1690-1751) who is often credited with popularising the Palladian architectural style throughout rural Ireland.  Castle designed a number of houses in Westmeath, including Tudenham Park adjacent to the south, however, Belvedere House represents Castle's most sophisticated and accomplished design in the county.

VIEW FROM BELVEDERE HOUSE TOWARDS LOUGH ENNELL

The front elevation of the building is articulated in a tripartite arrangement with projecting bays/blocks to either end.  These projecting blocks have tripartite openings in the form of Venetian and Diocletian windows that further emphasis this tripartite division of the front façade.  The house is set on a series of balustraded terraces that were added c.1884 for Charles Brinsley Marlay, the owner of Belvedere at the time: the terraces were probably built to designs by Walter Glynn Doolin (1850-1902).

 
(l-r): DETAIL OF PLASTERWORK AND VIEW OF STAIRCASE

The interior of Belvedere is distinguished by superb rococo plasterwork, c.1760, stylistically attributable to the French stuccadore Barthelemy Cramillion, and is amongst the most exquisite of its type in the country.

 
(l-r): GENERAL VIEW OF THE 'JEALOUS WALL' AND DETAIL OF THE 'JEALOUS WALL'

The demesne at Belvedere is punctuated by a number of follies and eye-catchers, and represents one of finest planned eighteenth-century landscapes in Ireland.  Of particular note and infamy is the 'Jealous Wall', built c.1760.  This curious structure is one of the largest follies in Ireland and resembles the ruins of an irregular Gothic palace.  It was built by Robert Rochfort to block the view of his brother George's much larger house called Tudenham Park (also built to designs by Castle), the result of a land-standing family feud.  The 'Jealous Wall' was probably built to designs by Thomas Wright of Durham, who is attributed with the designs of a number of the other follies in the grounds of Belvedere, including ‘The ‘Gothic Arch’ or ‘The Sham Ruin Gateway’ and the ‘Gothic Octagon’.  The follies at Belvedere are among the earliest examples of the Gothic Revival style in Ireland, a style that was to become much more mainstream during the nineteenth century.

 
(l-r): GENERAL VIEW OF THE GOTHIC ARCH AND GENERAL VIEW OF THE GOTHIC OCTAGON

Belvedere House and gardens were recently purchased by Westmeath County Council and are now open to the public (http://www.belvedere-house.ie/).  The NIAH is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Click here for the record for Belvedere House

Click here for the record for The Jealous Wall

Click here for the record for The Gothic Octagon

Click here for the record for The Gothic Arch

 
(l-r): GENERAL VIEW OF FRONT ELEVATION OF TUDENHAM PARK AND GENERAL VIEW OF GATE LODGE

Click here for the record for Tudenham Park

Click here for the record for Tudenham Park Gate Lodge

All original photography by Shannon Images from the NIAH publication An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of County Westmeath