Survey Data

Reg No

11903511


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social


Original Use

Miller's house


In Use As

House


Date

1840 - 1858


Coordinates

268677, 192455


Date Recorded

04/11/2002


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Detached three-bay (three-bay deep) two-storey over basement miller's house, extant 1858, on a square plan centred on single-bay two-storey gabled breakfront; four-bay two-storey rear (south) elevation. Occupied, 1901; 1911. Hipped slate roof on a quadrangular plan centred on pitched (gabled) slate roof (breakfront), clay ridge tiles, paired rendered central chimney stacks on cut-granite chamfered cushion courses on rendered bases having capping supporting terracotta pots with rendered chimney stacks on axis with ridge having capping supporting terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber eaves boards on slightly overhanging eaves having timber dentil consoles retaining cast-iron downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered rendered, ruled and lined walls on cut-granite chamfered plinth with rendered monolithic pilasters to corners. Square-headed central door opening in tripartite arrangement approached by flight of three cut-granite steps, cut-granite doorcase with pilasters on padstones supporting beaded cornice on blind frieze on entablature framing glazed timber panelled double doors having sidelights. Square-headed door opening into house with timber panelled door. Square-headed window opening in tripartite arrangement (first floor) with cut-granite sills, timber panelled pilaster mullions, and moulded surround with beaded cornice on blind frieze framing one-over-one timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Set in landscaped grounds.

Appraisal

A miller's house representing an important component of the mid nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of the outskirts of Athy with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the compact plan form centred on a Classically-detailed doorcase demonstrating good quality workmanship in a silver-grey granite; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the monolithic timber work embellishing the roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where contemporary joinery; and plasterwork refinements, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, a nearby gate lodge (see 119035--) continues to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained estate having historic connections with William Wall Thomas Sherlock (d. 1865) of Mount Ophaly House (cf. 11505146; Journal of the Royal Dublin Society 1858, 46); and the Hannon family including Henry Plewman Hannon (1860-1904), 'Farmer and Miller late of Ardreigh House Athy County Kildare' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1905, 197); John Alexander Hannon (1856-1923), 'Flour Miller' (NA 1911); and his sons Second Lieutenant John Coulson Hannon (1893-1916) and Second Lieutenant Norman Leslie Hannon (1895-1915) who were both casualties of the First World War (1914-8).