Survey Data
Reg No
40910758
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social, Technical
Previous Name
Cavangarden Post Office
Original Use
House
Date
1900 - 1940
Coordinates
191040, 364677
Date Recorded
08/11/2007
Date Updated
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Description
Detached three-bay two-storey former post office, built c. 1920, having central projecting single-bay single-storey gable-fronted enclosed entrance porch to the main elevation (south) and with rendered extension to the rear (north). Now out of use and derelict. Pitched corrugated-metal roof with central metal chimney vent and with metal rainwater goods; pitched corrugated-metal roof to porch with decorative timber bargeboards to front face (south). Corrugated-metal clad walls; rendered walls to rear extension. Metal letter slot to the west end of the main elevation. Square-headed window openings with timber surrounds and with two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows at first floor level, paired timber casement windows to the east end of the front elevation at ground floor level, and paired one-over-one pane timber sash windows to the west end of the front elevation at ground floor level; metal security bars to ground floor openings. Square-headed door opening to west face of porch having battened timber door. Set slightly back from road in the rural countryside to the north-east of Ballyshannon. Single-storey outbuildings to the rear (north) including single-bay outside toilet with corrugated-metal walls and roof.
Appraisal
This simple and utilitarian corrugated-metal clad early twentieth-century former post office retains its early form and character, despite being now out of use and derelict, and is an interesting feature in the rural landscape to the north-east of Ballyshannon. It is notable for the use of corrugated-metal sheeting for both cladding the walls and as a roofing material, and it is a rare surviving two-storey example of a building constructed with this material. County Donegal is known for the high use and survival of corrugated-metal as a building material, and this building is one of the more interesting examples of its type still extant in the county. It was probably initially built as a temporary structure, hence the use of a cheap material such as corrugated-metal, but it has survived in relatively good condition into the twenty-first century despite being out of use for a considerable period (closed in 1997). This building appears to have opened or was in existence in 1923. The retention of the timber sliding sash windows adds to the integrity of this building, while the simple bargeboards to the porch adds the bare minimum of decorative interest. This structure is of social interest to the local area as a former post office, when it would have acted as a focal point for the local community, and is a feature of some picturesque appeal in the landscape.