Hazelwood





Hazelwood 1852






Book

See the book by Winston Guthrie Jones, 'The Wynnes of Sligo and Leitrim', ISBN 1 873437 0 72

Pictures

A collection of pictures is here.
Another collection here.

Description and appraisal

From Buildings of Ireland (edited for readability)
Description
Hazelwood is a detached, multiple bay, limestone mansion of two and three storeys, with basement.

It was built in about 1731, and occupied by the Wynne family for two hundred years.

It lay empty from c. 1923-1930.

The estate, except the house, was sold to the Land Commission and State Forestry Department in 1937.

It was occupied by the Irish Army in the Second World War.

The house was purchased by the Department of Health in about 1947 for use as psychiatric hospital.

It was bought by an Italian manufacturing company c. 1969 and incorporated into factory complex.

It has lain in poor condition since c. 1987.

General description

The main house is a three-bay three-storey building with a basement, three bays deep. There are five-bay single-storey quadrants to the east and west sides, curving forwards to three-bay two-storey wings each three-bays deep.

A three-storey flat-roofed fire escape was built in about 1970 to the north of the east elevation of the main house.

A three-bay two-storey south-west wing was added in about 1870, attached to the south of the west elevation of main house.

Various single- and two-storey buildings were added, also about 1870, to the south of the west wing and west of main house.

The roofs

Hazelwood has hipped slate roofs, lead ridge and hip cappings, ashlar corbelled chimneystacks, lead-lined parapet gutters to the main house, half-round cast-iron gutters on eaves corbel course to wings, cast-iron downpipes.

The walls

There is ashlar walling to the north elevation of the main house and quadrant wings.

There is uncoursed rubble walling to the east, south and west elevations of the main house.

The wings have ruled-and-lined smooth-rendered walling.

There are plain rusticated quoins to the south elevation and ground floor north elevation of the main house.

Decorative detail

There is a moulded plinth, first floor platband and sill course, plain frieze, modillion cornice and parapet blocking course to main house.

There are tooled ashlar quoins to the wings.

The main house has square-headed window openings. There are Gibbs surrounds (see illustration) to the ground floor windows, eared architraves to those on the first floor, kneed and eared architraves to the second floor.

The central window of the north elevation on the first floor has an aedicule with Ionic columns and pilasters and round-headed niches flanking the window with a swag in the niche over, set within an archivolt.

The central window on the second floor has recessed circular niches flanking the window.

The central Venetian window on the first floor of the south elevation is decorated with Doric pilastered aedicules flanking the window, with an archivolt containing a cartouche above it.

There are also painted two-over-two timber sash windows added about 1900.

There are round-headed openings to the quadrant wings set in a pilastered arcade, with openings blocked-up, and circular spherical recesses in a frieze over each opening.

The wings of the house have square-headed window openings, Gibbs surrounds to the ground floor windows, plain ashlar surrounds to those on the first floor, and openings blocked-up.

The north elevation pof the main house has a pedimented entrance doorcase.

There are Gibbs surrounds to the square-headed entrance door opening, flanked by square-headed windows, cartouche in tympanum.

The timber panelled door dates to about 1970, with painted timber flanking pilasters, moulded transom, and a round-headed plain-glazed fanlight in the archivolt.

Windows are blockedup.

The stone approach steps are flanked by ashlar walls terminating in pedestals surmounted by urns.

The south elevation of the main house has a Venetian doorcase.

The central door opening has an archivolt with keystone flanked by square-headed sidelights with Gibbs surrounds. The painted timber panelled double doors were put there in about 1900. There is a glazed three-pane overlight, and plain-glazed sidelights.

There is a stone staircase over the basement area, flanked by giant consoles.

The Interior

A room off the hall has a cross-vaulted ceiling with decorative plaster enrichments; dentilled cornice; fluted Ionic pilasters flanking doorcase with consoles, cornice and overdoor all heavily enriched.

Out-buildings

There are two-storey stable block ranges to the east, with hipped slate roofs to the north range, and a pitched slate roof to south range. There are a clay ridge and hip tiles, and half-round cast-iron gutters on eaves corbel courses. The buildings have uncoursed rubble limestone walling; square-headed window openings, moulded ashlar surrounds to main openings, brick dressings to secondary openings; segmental-headed carriage openings to north and south ranges, ashlar dressings; elliptically-headed openings to south range, brick dressings.

The Estate

Hazelwood is aituated in parkland, now in use as industrial premises, with a factory complex to the south. It lies approximately three kilometres from Sligo town, with the Garavogue River to the west.

Appraisal

Built by architect Richard Castle for Owen Wynne, this exquisite, but progressively brutalised house superbly located in mature woodland on the banks of the Garavoge River, is one of County Sligo's most neglected treasures.

It is a splendid and imposing example of the Palladian style.

In spite of abject neglect and inappropriate alteration, it is testimony to the quality of the building that it has survived relatively intact. An abundance of fine stonework attests to the high quality craftsmanship employed in its construction and pays tribute to those whose vision was responsible for its conception.

In addition to its very high quality architectural value the house is important both socially and historically.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia entry.

History

Some points in the history of Hazelwood.

Beezie Gallagher

A pub has been named after Beezie Gallagher. Her early years were spent as a housemaid to the Wynne family.