Survey Data
Reg No
41400614
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
Gate lodge
Date
1790 - 1810
Coordinates
269647, 342308
Date Recorded
30/03/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Quadrant entrance gateway to Fort Johnson country house, erected c.1800, comprising square-plan cut sandstone outer and inner piers, with moulded copings and plinths, outer having ball finials and inner having lamps. Cast-iron decorative railings on moulded sandstone plinth walls. Double-leaf cast-iron vehicular gate to centre. Detached L-plan three-bay single-storey former gate lodge, built c.1800, having lean-to extensions to rear. Hipped slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, red brick chimneystacks with dentil course to cap, cast-iron rainwater goods and moulded render eaves course. Roughcast rendered walls having channelled render quoins and render plinth course. Square-headed window openings throughout with render reveals, painted render sills and one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows, some with exposed sash boxes. Square-headed door opening to front (south) elevation having render reveal, timber panelled door and sidelights.
Appraisal
Fort Johnston was the seat of T. Johnston, and served as one of the three main demesnes in the parish of Donogh. Although the house is no longer extant, the subtle grandeur of the gateway provides a sense of its importance, with tooled sandstone plinth wall and piers demonstrating the skill and craftsmanship of stoneworkers in the early nineteenth century. While the gate lodge has been altered, it retains some of its early form and fabric, most notably timber sash windows throughout, some with exposed sash boxes suggesting an early date for these window fittings.