Survey Data
Reg No
15618024
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
Presbytery/parochial/curate's house
In Use As
Presbytery/parochial/curate's house
Date
1895 - 1900
Coordinates
273079, 108450
Date Recorded
14/06/2009
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey presbytery, built 1896, on a T-shaped plan; single-bay (single-bay deep) two-storey lower central return (east). Pitched slate roof on a T-shaped plan centred on pitched slate roof (east), roll moulded terracotta ridge tiles, lichen-spotted coping to gables with "Old Red Sandstone" ashlar chimney stacks to apexes having cornices below capping supporting yellow terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on cut-granite beaded consoles with cast-iron downpipes. Snecked "Old Red Sandstone" wall to front (west) elevation on cut-granite chamfered cushion course on plinth with rusticated cut-granite quoins to corners; rendered surface finish (remainder). Hipped elliptical-headed central door opening with timber mullions supporting timber transom, and concealed dressings framing glazed timber panelled double doors having sidelights below overlight. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and cut-granite block-and-start surrounds framing replacement casement windows replacing one-over-one timber sash windows. Set in landscaped grounds shared with Catholic Church of the Star of the Sea.
Appraisal
A presbytery erected under the aegis of Reverend Thomas Doyle (1817-1903) representing an important component of the late nineteenth-century built heritage of south County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the compact plan form centred on a restrained doorcase; the construction in a ruby-coloured "Old Red Sandstone" with silver-grey granite dressings producing a lively two-tone palette; and the slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression with the principal "apartments" defined by polygonal bay windows. Having been well maintained, the form and massing survive intact together with substantial 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 of a presbytery forming part of a self-contained group alongside the adjacent Catholic Church of the Star of the Sea (see 15618023) with the resulting ecclesiastical ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in a seaside village street scene.