Survey Data
Reg No
50930089
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
House
In Use As
Office
Date
1790 - 1800
Coordinates
316503, 233151
Date Recorded
10/09/2015
Date Updated
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Description
Terraced three-bay four-storey over basement former townhouse, built 1797. Two- and three-storey return abuts to rear (north). Now in use as offices. M-profile slate roof set behind brick parapet wall with granite coping. Part rendered yellow brick shouldered chimneystacks with clay pots to east party wall; concealed rainwater goods. Red brick walls laid in Flemish bond with cement pointing. Masonry plinth course over ruled-and-lined rendered basement wall. Gauged brick square-headed window openings with granite sills, feathered reveals and timber sliding sash windows with horns; possibly original three-over-three to third floor and early-to-mid twentieth-century one-over-one to remainder. Decorative cast-iron sill-guards to first floor and timber scalloped trims to ground floor window. Possibly original timber sash windows to rear elevation, largely six-over-six without horns. Gauged brick round-headed door opening with masonry Ionic doorcase comprising square-headed door opening flanked by engaged Ionic columns, infilled sidelights and Ionic pilasters all supporting stepped and fluted lintel cornice with rosettes and decorative spoked iron fanlight. Original timber panelled door with nine raised-and-fielded panels and brass door furniture opens onto shared granite platform and granite steps opening onto street. Platform and basement enclosed by original wrought- and cast-iron railings set on granite plinth wall. Steel steps provide access to basement. Square-headed door opening to basement with plain surrounds and timber and glazed door with overlight. Forming part of a continuous terrace of former townhouses lining north side of Fitzwilliam Square. Modernised or rebuilt mews building to rear plot with rendered wall fronting onto Pembroke Lane.
Appraisal
Forming part of a cohesive terrace comprising Nos. 56-9 (50930091-88), which are characterised by the narrow three-bay frontages, this terrace was the first to be constructed on the square. Altered during the late nineteenth-century with the replacement of the windows and the addition of decorative façade elements, it retains its traditional proportions and form. It contributes to the historic character of the square and the wider south Georgian core. According to Casey (2005), the interior retains joinery and friezes similar to later houses on Merrion Square. Laid out in 1791 by the surveyors J & P Roe, Fitzwilliam Square was the last of the city’s Georgian squares to be completed. Development was staggered and progressed slowly until after the Napoleonic Wars and Waterloo.