Birr Castle

Detached four-bay single-storey four-pile gate lodge, built c.1850, with open porch timber porch to east. Situated within Birr Castle demesne and located next to the castellated entrance gates of Oxmantown Mall. Pitched slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, elaborate rendered chimneystack, cast-iron rainwater goods and decorative timber bargeboards. Snecked limestone walls with smooth render to southern bays of western elevation. Timber porch to northern elevation with lean-to slate roof. Timber casement windows with tooled limestone surround, stone sills and hoodmouldings. Each window is surmounted by a blind loop. Square-headed door opening to western elevation with overlight, timber battened door and accessed by limestone steps. Opening to northern elevation with tooled stone surround, limestone threshold and timber battened door. Entrance gates to estate with three-centre arched opening flanked by crenellated turrets containing pointed-arched openings, flanked by pedestrian three-centre arched openings with timber battened doors giving access to Oxmantown Mall. Gates flanked by limestone demesne walls with castellated parapet.

This gate lodge, with its formal turreted entrance is situated to the north east of Birr Castle. The lodge itself retains many features which mark it as a building of architectural merit and though small in stature it has been intricately designed to stand next to this formal and impressive entrance into the demesne. The attention to detail is remarkable, and is represented by the treatment of the stonework. Timber also plays an important role in the character of the structure, evidenced in the timber porch on the northern elevation and the decorative timber bargeboards. This gate lodge, along with other structures within the Birr Castle demesne, is one of a group of related buildings important to the architectural heritage of Birr.