Survey Data
Reg No
50130162
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Technical
Previous Name
John Player & Sons Ltd
Original Use
Gates/railings/walls
In Use As
Gates/railings/walls
Date
1920 - 1923
Coordinates
315298, 236711
Date Recorded
02/07/2018
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Granite and steel boundary, erected 1923, to front (west) of former John Player & Co. tobacco factory. Symmetrical layout, comprising decorative steel railings with saltire crosses to top rail and equally spaced steel cage piers with hooped frieze and ball finials to corners, set on chamfered ashlar granite plinth wall; divided into sections by square ashlar granite piers with band-rusticated quoins and corniced caps. Paired vehicular steel gates to north and south ends with saltire panels, saltire top rail and central hoop, flanked to outer ends by matching pedestrian gates bearing maker's mark 'J & C McGloughlin Ltd. Dublin', supported on large square-plan piers, each having moulded plinth, band rustication, moulded stringcourse, plain frieze and corniced caps, supporting tapered steel lamp standards with geometric framework (lamps missing). Tarmac vehicular access with granite kerbing to concrete footpath, and with tarmac carparking within.
Appraisal
An attractive and functional boundary feature, representative of high-quality stone masonry and steelwork in the early years of the twentieth century, fabricated by the well-known Dublin firm of J & C McGloughlin, which was established in 1875 by John McGloughlin. The styling is a distinctly early twentieth-century brand of neoclassicism, erected contemporaneously with Hepworth & Rayson's John Player & Sons factory in 1923, and complementing its styling and long low proportions. Historic photographs indicate the presence of spherical lights to the flanking gate piers, of which only the steel framework remains; metal decorative relief panels that adorned the gate piers have also been lost. However, the boundary remains a prominent feature along Botanic Road and enhances the factory site.