Survey Data
Reg No
13901408
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social
Original Use
Worker's house
In Use As
House
Date
1860 - 1900
Coordinates
294405, 293631
Date Recorded
26/07/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached three-bay single-storey with attic former head gardener's house, built c. 1880, now in private domestic use. Rectangular-plan, extension to east c.1980, attached to walled garden to south-east, built 1823. Pitched slate roof, crested clay ridge tiles, ball finials to east and west gables, painted timber bargeboards to gables, yellow brick corbelled chimneystacks, moulded cast-iron gutters on yellow brick brackets at, circular cast-iron downpipes. Red brick walling laid in Flemish bond to yellow brick string course at eaves. Square-headed brick- arched window openings, decorative terracotta keystone, granite sills, painted timber casement windows to north elevation with diamond leaded lights; canted bay to west elevation, painted timber colonettes separating painted timber casement windows with fixed diamond pane leaded lights. Square-headed door opening under lean-to roof supported by painted timber brackets, painted timber vertically-sheeted door, surmounted by plain glazed overlight with decorative terracotta keystone. Walled gardens to south-east, red brick walling to north, east and west interior walls, random rubble stone wall to south. Greenhouse with red brick plinth wall, stone coping surmounted by timber and glazed panels and pitched glazed roof. Former gardener's house and walled garden contained within grounds of Rahanna House.
Appraisal
This attractive complex of walled garden and former gardener's house, situated within the demesne of Rahanna House is an important piece of Louth's architectural and social history. The walled garden remains intact; plum, apple and pear trees continue to fruit, the vegetable patch and greenhouse continue to be used and it is a reminder of a bygone era. The former gardener's house, though extended, is picturesque in its design. The leaded lights compliment the red and yellow brick walling and the beautiful detailing on the keystones of two birds entwined elevates this structure from being a purely functional piece of architecture.