Survey Data
Reg No
15504013
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Scientific, Social
Original Use
Building misc
Date
1825 - 1835
Coordinates
304218, 121423
Date Recorded
06/07/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached nine-bay two-storey collegiate wing, built 1829-32, on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay four-stage tower on a square plan. Pitched slate roofs behind parapets with clay ridge tiles, granite ashlar chimney stacks on cut-granite cushion courses on rendered bases having cut-granite stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta pots, and concealed rainwater goods retaining cast-iron hoppers and downpipes with cast-iron rainwater goods to rear (west) elevation retaining cast-iron downpipes. Part repointed coursed rubble stone walls on red brick header bond cushion course on battered plinth with red brick Common bond Irish battlemented parapets having rendered coping; part repointed coursed rubble stone walls (tower) on red brick header bond cushion course on battered plinth with octagonal piers to corners centred on rendered Irish battlemented parapets having rendered coping; slate hung surface finish to rear (west) elevation. Tudor-headed central opening with benchmark-inscribed cut-granite step threshold, and red brick block-and-start surround having concave reveals framing timber boarded doors having overlight. Pointed-arch window opening (second stage), cut-granite block-and-start surround having chamfered reveals with hood moulding framing fixed-pane fittings having lattice glazing bars. Paired lancet window openings (third stage) with cut-granite sills, and red brick block-and-start surrounds framing twelve-over-twelve timber sash windows having interlocking Y-tracery glazing bars. Lancet window openings (top stage) centred on clock face with cut-granite sills, and red brick block-and-start surrounds framing nine-over-nine timber sash windows having interlocking Y-tracery glazing bars. Square-headed window openings in bipartite arrangement (wings) with cut-granite sills, carved timber mullions, and red brick block-and-start surrounds framing six-over-four (ground floor) or four-over-four (first floor) timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings to rear (west) elevation with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining tessellated terracotta tiled floor, carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, staircase on an Imperial plan with turned timber "spindle" balusters supporting carved timber banisters terminating in chamfered timber newels, and carved timber surrounds to door openings to landing framing timber panelled doors; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors. Set in landscaped grounds.
Appraisal
A collegiate wing erected to a design by Richard Pierce (1801-54) of Tenacre (Catholic Directory 1839, 336) representing an important component of the built heritage of County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition, 'a large addition…[intended] to form a quadrangle [with] a spire 140 feet high' (Lewis 1837 II, 711), confirmed by such attributes as the symmetrical footprint centred on an eye-catching tower; the construction in unrefined local fieldstone offset by red brick dressings producing a pleasing palette; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression with those openings showing elegant bipartite glazing patterns; and the Irish battlements embellishing the roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of a collegiate wing forming part of a self-contained ecclesiastical ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in a suburban setting.