Survey Data
Reg No
15704268
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
House
Date
1800 - 1840
Coordinates
305348, 118822
Date Recorded
13/09/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey house, extant 1840, on a rectangular plan. Occupied, 1901; 1911. Extended, ----, producing present composition. Renovated, 1990. Vacated, 2006. Now disused. Hipped slate roof with clay ridge tiles, paired cement rendered central chimney stacks having chamfered stringcourses below capping supporting yellow terracotta octagonal pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Part creeper- or-ivy covered replacement cement rendered walls bellcast over rendered plinth. Camber-headed central door opening with chamfered timber mullions on step threshold supporting chamfered timber transom, and cut-granite block-and-start surround centred on keystone framing timber panelled door having sidelights below overlight. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing one-over-one 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 grounds.
Appraisal
A house representing an integral component of the domestic built heritage of the environs of Wexford with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a replacement doorcase; and the slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a feint graduated visual impression: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the continued development or "improvement" of the house in the early twentieth century. A period of unoccupancy notwithstanding, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with 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 (extant 1903) continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained ensemble having historic connections with Alexander Wilson (d. 1834), 'a retired rear-admiral [late of] Birchgrove county of Wexford' (The Annual Register of World Events 1834, 232); John Richard Cooper (d. 1918), 'Crown Solicitor [late of] Birchgrove Wexford County Wexford (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1918, n.p.); and Brendan Corish TD (1918-90), one-time leader of the Labour Party (fl. 1960-77).