Survey Data

Reg No

11803128


Rating

National


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Historical, Social


Previous Name

Royal College of Saint Patrick


Original Use

Building misc


In Use As

Building misc


Date

1845 - 1851


Coordinates

293367, 237480


Date Recorded

07/02/2003


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Attached multiple-bay three-storey Gothic Revival building with attic, built 1845-51, on a U-shaped plan about a courtyard possibly over basement with three-bay four-storey projecting central entrance bay to wing to east, single-bay three-storey gabled entrance breakfront to wing to west having canted oriel windows and single-bay four-stage bell tower to wing to south having three-bay three-storey gabled projecting bay to south-west incorporating chapel. Part refenestrated, c.1990. Gable-ended roofs with slate (gabled to attic windows). Clay ridge tiles. Glazed lanterns to ridges in timber frames having hipped slate roofs. Cut-stone chimney stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods on eaves course. Pyramidal roof to bell tower. Copper-clad. Snecked rubble limestone walls. Stepped buttresses (including clasping corner buttresses) to wing to south. Trefoil-headed window openings (some paired). Cut-stone block-and-start surrounds and chamfered reveals. Original iron casement windows (some replacement uPVC casement windows, c.1990). Pointed-arch door openings. Cut-stone surrounds and chamfered reveals having hood mouldings over. Tongue-and-groove timber panelled double doors with original iron fittings. Set in grounds shared with Saint Patrick’s College about a courtyard. Landscaped grounds to courtyard.

Appraisal

The 'Quadrangle', designed by A.W.N. Pugin, is a fine and imposing Gothic Revival range that forms a centrepiece of the Saint Patrick’s College complex. The building is of considerable social and historical interest representing the continued expansion of the college in the early to mid nineteenth century, and includes quarters for use as a library, kitchens, and a chapel. Early sketches suggest that it was originally intended to build a complete quadrangle, yet it would appear that a U-shaped range was only ever realised. The scale and massing of the building complements the early U-shaped range to north-east (11803113/KD-05-03-113) and is treated with a similar arrangement of balanced and well-proportioned openings. The construction of the building, together with the fine cut-stone detailing, is a good example of the high quality of stone masonry traditionally practised in the development of the college. The building retains its original form and most of its original features and materials, including timber fittings to the door openings, slate roofs with cast-iron rainwater goods, and early iron casement windows – some of the latter have been replaced with unsympathetic modern versions and this practise ought to be avoided in the future. The 'Quadrangle' is arranged around an attractive landscaped courtyard and forms a neat group of Gothic Revival buildings with the attached collegiate chapel to the north (11803127/KD-05-03-127).