Survey Data

Reg No

20851131


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social


Original Use

Custom house


Date

1720 - 1760


Coordinates

164157, 49930


Date Recorded

03/03/2009


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Attached corner-sited seven-bay two-storey over basement custom house, built c.1740, having three-bay breakfront to front and integral carriage arch. Now vacant. Later pitched roof extension and attached single-storey former stable block to rear (north-east) elevation. Pitched and hipped slate roofs with rendered chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods. Rendered walls with plinth to front (south-west) and side (south-east) elevations. Slate hanging to rear elevation having rendered wall to rear basement level. Square-headed diminishing window openings with stone sills having six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows with timber shutters to interior. uPVC casement window to side (south-east) elevation. Two-over-two and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows to rear extension. Round-headed door opening having render Gibbs surround having double-leaf timber panelled doors surmounted by fanlight having limestone stepped approach. Camber-headed carriage arch with channelled rendered surround to front elevation with rendered hood moulding. Recent double-leaf battened timber doors. Render reveal to rear opening of carriage arch. Attached five-bay single-storey former stable block to rear. Hipped slate roof. Lime-washed rubble stone walls having square-headed window and door openings. Rendered plinth with stone coping to front, rubble limestone boundary walls to rear with gate piers and wrought-iron gate. Set along roadside to front and within own grounds to rear.

Appraisal

Although now vacant this custom house retains much of its original character as seen in the retention of key features including a finely decorated integral arch, timber sash windows and timber shutters. The slate hung rear elevation, integral arch and fine doorcase are among the important features of this attractive and impressive building. Its history as a custom house and its location adjacent to the harbour is a reminder of the large role fishing and foreign trade played in the prosperity of Kinsale in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.