Survey Data

Reg No

30811010


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social


Previous Name

Fenagh Rectory


Original Use

Rectory/glebe/vicarage/curate's house


In Use As

House


Date

1825 - 1830


Coordinates

210771, 307411


Date Recorded

26/06/2003


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Detached three-bay (three-bay deep) two-storey over part raised basement Board of First Fruits Church of Ireland glebe house, built 1829, on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay single-storey projecting porch to ground floor; three-bay full-height rear (west) elevation. "Improved", pre-1909, producing present composition. Occupied, 1911. Renovated, ----, to accommodate continued alternative use. Replacement hipped terracotta tiled roof on a quadrangular plan with terracotta ridge tiles, paired limestone ashlar central chimney stacks on cut-limestone cushion courses on roughcast bases on axis with ridge having cut-limestone stringcourses below capping supporting yellow terracotta tapered pots, and uPVC rainwater goods on cut-limestone eaves. Part creeper- or ivy-covered coursed or snecked limestone walls on cut-limestone chamfered cushion course on coursed or snecked limestone base with cut- or hammered limestone flush quoins to corners; part creeper- or ivy-covered rendered, ruled and lined walls (porch) with rusticated rendered piers to corners. Segmental-headed window openings (porch) with cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing fixed-pane timber fittings. Square-headed window openings in segmental-headed recesses (ground floor) with cut-limestone sills, and cut-limestone block-and-start surrounds framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing six-over-six timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (first floor) with cut-limestone sills, and cut-limestone block-and-start surrounds framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing three-over-three timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with cut-limestone sills, and cut-limestone block-and-start surrounds framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing three-over-three (basement), six-over-six (ground floor) or three-over-three (first floor) timber sash windows. Set in landscaped grounds.

Appraisal

A glebe house erected with financial support from the Board of First Fruits (fl. 1711-1833) representing an important component of the early nineteenth-century built heritage of County Leitrim with the architectural value of the composition, one rooted firmly in the contemporary late Georgian fashion and thereby in contrast to the "picturesque" Gothicism of the adjacent Saint Catherine’s Church (Fenagh) (see 30811007), confirmed by such attributes as the compact near square plan form centred on a restrained doorcase, albeit one largely concealed behind a later porch; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior: however, the introduction of replacement fittings to most of the openings has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of the composition. Furthermore, an adjacent coach house-cum-stable outbuilding (extant 1836) continues to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained ensemble having historic connections with the Fenagh parish Church of Ireland clergy including Reverend George de la Poer Beresford (d. 1869), 'Rector and Vicar of Fenagh Parish County Leitrim who died at Fenagh Glebe House' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1869, 29); and Reverend William Welwood (d. 1923), 'Clerk in Holy Orders' (NA 1911).