Survey Data
Reg No
31307902
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Country house
In Use As
Hotel
Date
1885 - 1895
Coordinates
118504, 288943
Date Recorded
02/11/2010
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Description Withheld
Appraisal
A country house erected for Dominick Andrew Browne JP DL (1824-1902) to a design by William Milner Fawcett MA (1832-1908) of Cambridge (Building News 10th June 1881, --) representing an important component of the later nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment '[commanding] beautiful views of the extinct volcanic mountain, Croagh Patrick, and of Nephin, the highest of that range of hills' (ibid.); the compact, albeit multi-faceted plan form; the robust rock faced surface finish offset by sheer red sandstone dressings not only demonstrating good quality workmanship, but also producing a pleasing two-tone palette; the slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a feint graduated visual impression with the principal "apartments" defined by angular or polygonal turrets; and the Scottish Baronial-esque crow stepped battlements embellishing a high pitched roofline. Although substantially damaged by fire (1969), and thereafter engulfed by "pastiche" blocks of minimal architectural interest, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the historic or original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, including some crown or cylinder glazing panels in hornless sash frames surviving as interesting evidence of the eighteenth-century house annotated as "Breafy [of] Browne Esquire" by Taylor and Skinner (1778 pl. 73). Furthermore, an adjacent bridge (see 31307903); and a nearby gate lodge (see 31307904), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a much-diminished estate having historic connections with the Browne family including Dominick Sidney "The Major" Browne CBE (1866-1927), one-time High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1896); and Brigadier Dominick Andrew Sidney Browne CBE (1904-82).