Survey Data
Reg No
15702527
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Presbytery/parochial/curate's house
In Use As
Presbytery/parochial/curate's house
Date
1840 - 1850
Coordinates
287577, 134890
Date Recorded
08/01/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay (two-bay deep) two-storey over basement presbytery, built 1845, on a rectangular plan with three-bay full-height rear (east) elevation. Occupied, 1911. Renovated, ----. Hipped slate roof on an E-shaped plan with pressed or rolled lead ridges, paired red brick Running bond central chimney stacks having corbelled stepped capping supporting terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on slightly overhanging rendered eaves retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Replacement gritdashed roughcast wall to front (west) elevation on cement rendered plinth with cement rendered "bas-relief" strips to ends; slate hung surface finish (remainder). Central door opening into presbytery with timber mullions framing timber panelled door having sidelights on panelled risers below overlight. Square-headed window openings to front (west) elevation with cut-granite sills, and cement rendered "bas-relief" surrounds framing replacement uPVC casement windows. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressing framing replacement uPVC casement 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 landscaped grounds shared with Saint Clement's Catholic Church.
Appraisal
A presbytery representing an integral component of the mid nineteenth-century built heritage of County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition, one recalling the near-contemporary parochial house at Ballindaggan (see 15701421), suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a restrained doorcase, albeit one largely obscured by a later porch; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a feint graduated visual impression; and the slightly oversailing roofline. 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, including a slate hung surface finish widely regarded as an increasingly endangered hallmark of the architectural heritage of County Wexford: the introduction of replacement fittings to the openings, however, has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of a presbytery forming part of a neat self-contained group alongside the adjacent Saint Clement's Catholic Church (see 15702526) with the resulting ecclesiastical ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in a sylvan street scene.