Survey Data
Reg No
13303002
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Archaeological, Architectural, Artistic, Historical
Original Use
Gates/railings/walls
In Use As
Gates/railings/walls
Date
1855 - 1865
Coordinates
209882, 280231
Date Recorded
08/08/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached single-bay two-storey gate house on square-plan, built c. 1860, having double-height pointed arch with recessed pointed arch carriage arch. Conical bartizan turrets/towers to each corner at first floor level. Steeply pitched natural slate roof with decorative slate courses and having wrought-iron finials to either end. Conical slate roofs to corner bartizan towers/turrets with decorative slate courses and wrought-iron finials. Moulded cut limestone eaves course. Snecked limestone walls with cut stone detailing to openings. Pointed arch carriage arch opening with chamfered cut limestone voussoirs and double-leaf timber doors. Carved stone achievement of arms above carriage arch. Chamfered square-headed loopholes with cut limestone surrounds to either side of carriage arch (north and south) at first floor level. Pointed arch loopholes to bartizans with cut limestone surrounds. Gate house flanked to either side (north and south) by sections of limestone curtain/boundary walls with crenellated coping over. Two-storey tower on circular plan with base batter and conical slate roof attached to the north end of boundary wall to the north side. Rubble limestone boundary wall attached to the west side of tower, forming north side of enclosed courtyard. Pair of dressed limestone gate piers on square-plan having wrought-iron double gates to the west end of boundary wall to the north. Two-storey tower on square-plan attached to the west side of entrance gate having snecked limestone walls, square-headed window openings, pyramidal shaped roof with decorative slate courses and sprocket eaves, wrought-iron weather vane finial, and with a chamfered and shouldered cut stone doorcase with timber panelled door to the south face with a conical bartizan tower over at first floor level. Carved royal coat of arms attached to the north face of tower at first floor level. Located to the north and northwest of the main Castle Forbes house/castle (13303001) and to the northwest of Newtown-Forbes.
Appraisal
This well-detailed and quite flamboyant gate house was built to designs by J. J. McCarthy (1817 – 1882), the architect responsible for extensive works on the main Castle Forbes house/castle c. 1860. It provides a dramatic entrance to the courtyard at Castle Forbes, and its architectural style, which is reminiscent of the Scottish Baronial style (particularly the corner bartizans) and contrasts attractively with the Gothic style of the main house/castle building. The building is also vaguely reminiscent of a French Chateau. The carved stone achievement of arms above the entrance is that of the 7th Earl, George Forbes, who commissioned McCarthy to build this structure. The carved stone coat of arms to the north face of the tower to the northwest is apparently that of Queen Elizabeth I and probably dates to the sixteenth century. This structure, along with the boundary/curtain walls, the towers and gateway to northwest, forms an integral part of the Castle Forbes complex, which, together, represents one of the more important elements of the built heritage of County Longford.