Survey Data
Reg No
50060015
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social
Previous Name
Parkgate Gate Lodge
Original Use
Gate lodge
In Use As
Shop/retail outlet
Date
1810 - 1815
Coordinates
313449, 234446
Date Recorded
29/07/2014
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached single-cell pedimented single-storey former gate lodge, dated 1811, now in use as retail outlet. Natural slate roof, hipped to rear with terracotta ridge tiles, replacement uPVC rainwater goods supported on timber fascia and tall rendered chimneystack with clay pots rising from west side elevation. Painted ruled-and-lined rendered walls, unpainted cement rendered to west and south elevations. Single square-headed window opening to rear elevation with replacement eight-over-eight pane timber sliding sash window having ogee horns and granite sill with iron window grille. Symmetrical pedimented front elevation has square-headed door opening with replacement timber door and replacement iron gate. Door opening set within shallow elliptical-headed recess rising into pediment and framing granite date stone inscribed in Roman numerals 'MDCCCXI'. Open-bed pediment framed with projecting timber fascia to gable and projecting granite course to base. Gravel site enclosed to Chesterfield Avenue by wrought-iron railings with matching pedestrian gate hung on fluted cast-iron posts. Rear elevation fronts directly onto Conyngham Road with remainder of site enclosed to Conyngham Road by coursed rough-hewn Dublin calp wall having stacked coping. Easternmost section retains carved granite tablet inscribed 'CONYNGHAM ROAD'. West of site has flat-roofed single-storey structure with rendered brick walls housing diminutive cell-like rooms and accessed via flight of granite steps. Set directly south of principal entrance to Phoenix Park.
Appraisal
A small gate lodge located on the southern perimeter of Phoenix Park, close to the Chesterfield Avenue entrance. A building appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map, but the current structure would appear to be a fragment of that building, which appears extended on map of 1897-1913, captioned Police Station. The existing structure shares stylistic elements including date stones with the adjacent lodge of 1811, one of the earliest lodges within the Park. The diminutive scale and restrained neoclassical detailing have been retained and complement the lodge to the north while providing an appealing ensemble with the principal gate piers located adjacent to the entrance.