Cappagh House, Decies without Drum, Whitechurch, Cappagh

1:Old Cappagh House, c.1810, seven-bay two-storey house with two-storey ends, on split level with courtyard to rear, on sloping site facing south.

2:Cappagh House, c.1890, to north-west of original house, designed by James Otway and Robert Watt for John Ussher; two-storey three-bay over-basement house with impressive views over grounds of Cappagh.

9:Gothic folly wall, c.1810, located to east side of walled garden; with harling, ashlar and crenelations; featuring narrow gothic-style slit-window; wall hides ruins of a small garden building identified as the head gardeners house in A History of The Cappagh Estate by Chavasse.

Specimen trees throughout the grounds; fruit trees in the walled garden date to around 1900 when planted by the current owner’s grandmother; large quercus robur to east of walled garden is old enough to be part of the original landscaping for Old Cappagh House; pair of quercus ilex to the south-west of Old Cappagh House are also from this period as are some of the other trees within the woodland and wetland areas; various rhododendrons planted in the ornamental water gardens below ‘The American Grounds’ to south-east.

8:Outbuildings, pre-1843, arranged around formal courtyards to north and east of Old Cappagh House; mill and worker accommodation to north-east; stable and barns to north with further accommodation to west. Behind the yard is an elevated haggard accessed from either end by stone piers, elevated above the barns to exploit gravity in unloading hay and feed; sloping south-facing bank to north is known as the ‘Bleach Green’ where linen would have been laid out to dry; further farm buildings lie outside the courtyard to the east one of which was a forge.

Large walled garden, pre-1843, to south-west of old house; trapezoidal in shape on undulating ground; lined-brick walls to south-facing wall on the section corresponding to a boiler house, pre-1843, north side; small entrance beside boiler house to north; further entrance to top north-east with unusual column/arch detail; larger entrance to south, not marked on maps, possibly more recent.

Some low walls of glasshouse remaining to north wall of productive garden; a stone lean-to boiler house with brick chimney and slated roof to rear of glasshouse outside walled garden; structure to south of garden contained a potting shed to the north, and a possible greenhouse on its southern side, now partially roofed.

Predominantly to east and west of houses.

Mixed-mature and managed-woodland to north-east of Old Cappagh House, and to north of New Cappagh House in original locations.

10:South of Old Cappagh House is a wetland area which was developed as a water garden, designed as a series of lakes walks and bridges, c.1840, by an unknown American designer.

A water course was created to feed Old Cappagh House; this runs west of New Cappagh House, a sluice took this water to the mill house to power a water wheel on the west side of the old house.

Access, pre-1843, from south-east, sweeping to front of Old Cappagh House, no longer in use.

6:Short access, pre-1843, with spurs to walled garden and farmyard, to west of Old Cappagh House.

7:Access, c.1890, to Cappagh House from south-east.

3:Gate lodge, pre-1843, to south-east of house, and east of main entrance.

4:Splayed entrance, pre-1843, to south-east of both houses.

5:Entrance, pre-1843, from west and shorter access to Old Cappagh House.

Bounded by forestry, shelterbelts, and farmland with a capped rubble-stone wall to roadside.

11:Bridge, pre-1843, over channel within garden forms part of main avenue to Old Cappagh House.