Survey Data
Reg No
31301415
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Farm house
In Use As
Farm house
Date
1840 - 1850
Coordinates
117069, 331861
Date Recorded
31/01/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey farmhouse, adapted 1845[?]; extant 1896, on an L-shaped plan with four-bay (south-west) or single-bay (north-east) two-storey side elevations. Hipped slate roof on an L-shaped plan with clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks having corbelled stepped stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta tapered pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on cut-limestone "Cyma Recta" or "Cyma Reversa" cornice retaining cast-iron downpipes. Roughcast walls on chamfered plinth with cut-limestone quoins to corners. Segmental-headed central door opening with cut-limestone block-and-start surround centred on keystone framing timber panelled double doors having fanlight. Square-headed window openings with cut-limestone sills, and cut-limestone block-and-start surrounds centred on triple keystones (ground floor) framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central entrance hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with timber panelled shutters to window openings. Set in landscaped grounds.
Appraisal
A farmhouse or minor country house widely accepted as an important component of the domestic built heritage of the rural environs of Killala with the architectural value of the composition, one adapted for Henry Augustus Knox (1807-87) repurposing the stable complex of an eighteenth-century house annotated as "Palmerstown [of] Palmer Esquire" by Taylor and Skinner (1778 pl. 219), confirmed by such traits as the symmetrical frontage centred on a Classically-detailed doorcase retaining a pretty fanlight; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression with those openings showing dressings 'in the early style' demonstrating good quality workmanship (ITA 1943). 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 where contemporary joinery; chimneypieces; and evidence of sleek plasterwork refinements, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjoining outbuildings (extant 1896); and a neglected walled garden (extant 1838), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained estate having long-standing connections with the Knox family including St. George James Knox (d. 1938), 'Farmer' (NA 1901); Maurice Knox (d. 1948); and Cyril Albert St. George Knox (1905-92).