Downhill house

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Downhill house

Downhill House was a mansion that in the 18th century by Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol, in Downhill in Castlerock in County Londonderry ( Northern Ireland was built). Much of the building was destroyed by fire in 1851 but rebuilt in the 1870s. After the Second World War , the building fell into disrepair.

Downhill House is now owned by the National Trust as part of Downhill Demesne and Mussenden Temple .

history

After becoming Anglican Bishop of Derry in 1768, Frederick Hervey commissioned work on his Downhill Demesne estate near the village of Castlerock on the north coast of Ireland in the early 1770s . Downhill House was built by the architect Michael Shanahan, James Wyatt or Charles Cameron may have been involved in the early stages of the design. The house and neighboring Mussenden Temple cost about £ 80,000 to build . The original main entrance to the property was the Lion's Gate , which was actually guarded by two snow leopards , the shield holders in the Herveys coat of arms . In 1784 this entrance was replaced by the Bishop's Gate . The interior of the house contained frescoes , statues, and paintings by several famous artists.

After Hervey's death in 1803, the property fell to his cousin, Reverend Henry Bruce, who had previously managed it during Hervey's absence. Henry Bruce's sister was Frideswide Mussenden, for whom the Mussenden Temple was built and which became her memorial after her death.

Downhill was spared the severe damage caused by the violent hurricane on the night of January 6th to 7th, 1839, but in 1851 a fire destroyed a considerable part of the house, including the library. Frederick Hervey had amassed a large collection of works of art that were kept at Downhill and another house he had built in Ballyscullion. The fire destroyed works by great artists, including Correggio , Dürer , Murillo , Rubens and Tintoretto , although there are reports that most of the paintings have been saved.

The reconstruction of the house lasted from 1870 to 1874 and was carried out under the direction of John Lanyon, who mainly worked according to the original plans, but also made some changes to the room layout and furnishings.

During the Second World War, members of the RAF were housed in the house. The Bruce family owned the house until 1946; in the following years it was demolished except for part of the walls and the area was sold. The National Trust acquired it in 1980, having acquired the Mussenden Temple in the 1940s.

The opinion of contemporaries was divided. On the one hand, the location and the design of the building were described as a “spectacular” example of the aesthetic idea of ​​the sublime . On the other hand, a visitor wrote about the location in 1801:

“It is impossible not to regret the misapplication of so much treasure upon a spot where no suitable Desmesne can be created ... where the salt spray begins to corrode this sumptuous pile of Grecian Architecture, and the imagination anticipating the distant period weeps over the splendid ruin, a sad monument of human folly. "

- It is impossible not to regret the misdirected use of such a large fortune in a place where no adequate estate can be created ... where the salty air begins to decompose this costly mass of Greek architecture. And the imagination that anticipates the future weeps over the great ruin, a sad monument of human folly.

and another, Edward Wakefield, said in 1812 that he had "never seen such a bad house on such a large lot".

The property also includes a pigeon house , walled gardens, a belvedere for Hervey's daughter and a mausoleum for his brother George Hervey, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has more than 1000 documents relating to the Hervey-Bruce family, ranging from the mid-18th century to the early 20th century, including detailed information on downhill.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Brian Willis: Bishop Hervey. In: Your Place and Mine. BBC, accessed April 14, 2009 .
  2. ^ Peter Harbison, Homan Potterton, Jeanne Sheehy: Irish Art and Architecture: From Prehistory to the Present . Thames and Hudson, 1993, ISBN 0-500-27707-9 , pp. 139 .
  3. ^ A b c d Public Records Office of Northern Ireland: Bruce / Hervey Papers. (PDF; 128 kB) PRONI, 2007, accessed on April 14, 2009 .
  4. ↑ a b c Jonathan Bardon: A History of Ulster . The Blackstaff Press, 1992, ISBN 0-85640-476-4 , pp. 198 .
  5. ↑ a b Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne . The National Trust, 2008.
  6. ↑ Kate Newman: Dictionary of Ulster Biography . Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast, 1993, ISBN 0-85389-478-7 , pp. 106 .
  7. ↑ James Stevens Curl: Georgian Architecture . David & Charles, 2002, ISBN 0-7153-0227-2 , pp. 19, 102 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  8. ↑ Catharina Day: Ireland (=  Cadogan Guides ). 6th edition. New Holland, 2006, ISBN 1-86011-327-3 , pp. 374 ( limited preview in Google Book search).

Web links

Commons : Downhill House  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 55 ° 9 ′ 51.4 "  N , 6 ° 48 ′ 38"  W.