Survey Data
Reg No
15701920
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Farm house
In Use As
Farm house
Date
1842 - 1878
Coordinates
294807, 143262
Date Recorded
23/08/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey farmhouse, extant 1878, on a rectangular plan centred on single-bay single-storey projecting porch to ground floor; two-bay two-storey side elevations. Occupied, 1901; 1911. Modified, 1978, producing present composition. Hipped slate roof on an E-shaped plan with lichen-covered clay ridge tiles extending into pressed or rolled iron ridges, red brick Running bond chimney stacks on axis with ridge having paired stringcourses below capping, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered slate flagged eaves. Part creeper- or ivy-covered rendered, ruled and lined walls on moulded cushion course on plinth with rusticated rendered quoins to corners. Square-headed central door opening into farmhouse, timber doorcase with panelled pilasters framing timber panelled door having stained glass sidelights on panelled risers. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and moulded rendered surrounds having bull nose-detailed reveals framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (side elevations) with cut-granite sills, and mloulded rendered surrounds having bull nose-detailed reveals framing two-over-two (south) or six-over-six (north) timber sash windows. Square-headed (ground floor) or camber-headed (first floor) central window openings to rear (north) elevation with cut-granite sills, and moulded rendered surrounds having bull nose-detailed reveals framing six-over-six (ground floor) or one-over-one (first floor) timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with timber panelled shutters to window openings. Set in unkempt landscaped grounds with rendered channelled piers to perimeter having "Cavetto" stringcourses below capping supporting wrought iron-detailed barley twist "farm gate".
Appraisal
A farmhouse representing an important component of the mid nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the compact near-square plan form centred on a Classically-detailed doorcase demonstrating good quality workmanship, albeit one largely concealed behind a later porch; and the very slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a feint graduated visual impression. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (----) continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained ensemble having long-standing connections with the Lett family including George Lett Senior (d. 1878), 'Farmer late of Hollyfort County Wexford' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1883, 487); and George Lett Junior (----), 'Farmer [and] Brewer' (NA 1901; NA 1911).