Survey Data
Reg No
15401903
Original Use
Worker's house
In Use As
Worker's house
Date
1853 - 1860
Coordinates
242853, 255715
Date Recorded
13/10/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay single-storey level crossing guard's house, built c.1855, with associated level crossing gates. Single-bay extension/entrance porch to the northwest adjacent to crossing gates. Extended by one bay to the southeast. Hipped artificial slate roof having cast-iron rainwater goods and central brick chimneystack. Constructed of snecked dressed limestone, cement rendered to extension to the southeast. Segmental-headed window openings having painted brick surrounds, cut stone sills and replacement windows. Square-headed doorcase hidden behind later entrance porch. Building located adjacent to level crossing gates, constructed of timber with a number of remaining cast-iron fittings. Located to the northwest of Mullingar Town.
Appraisal
A small-scale level crossing guard's house, of modest architectural aspirations, which retains its early form and character. It has been diminished, somewhat, by the later extensions and by the loss of the original fittings but retains its original atmosphere. Interestingly, it is still occupied by the rail worker who manually operates the level crossing. This structure is robustly built using snecked limestone, a building material and masonry style that was much favoured by the various railway companies operating in Ireland at the time. This building was constructed to standard designs by the Great Midland and Western Railway Company and is one of a number of similar structures along the Dublin to Sligo line. This modest building, along with the attendant level crossing gates, which retain early cast-iron fittings, remains an integral element of the industrial heritage of Westmeath.