Survey Data
Reg No
14819277
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
Worker's house
In Use As
Worker's house
Date
1860 - 1880
Coordinates
205737, 205463
Date Recorded
31/08/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached seven-bay single-storey bothy or workers' house, built c.1870, with gable-fronted entrance bay and extension to rear. Set within its own walled grounds and within the Birr Castle demesne. Pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, rendered chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods. Random coursed stone walls to front elevation with roughcast render to sides and rear. Cast-iron pivot windows with stone sills to front elevation, paired timber sash windows to rear elevation. Square-headed door opening with timber battened door. Boundary wall with random coursed stone elevations and square-headed door opening with yellow brick surround and timber panelled door.
Appraisal
Situated down a secluded driveway, this house was built specifically as a 'bothy' for single young men working in the garden. It was extended and modernised for the family of the gardener who became the propagator. It was then converted into a cottage for deer stalkers, and other hunters, before being used as a holiday cottage for rental within the demesne of Birr Castle. The unusual cast-iron nine-over-nine pane pivot windows enliven the façade, as do the paired six-over-six pane timber sash windows to the rear. The projecting gable-fronted entrance bay breaks the roof line and gives and adds further interest to this modest structure.