Netley House

Detached three-bay two-storey over part raised basement country house, built 1816, on an L-shaped plan; four-bay (south) or two-bay (north) full-height side elevations. Occupied, 1901; 1911. Vacated, 1946. Dismantled, 1962. Now in ruins. Roof now missing with no rainwater goods surviving on cut-limestone eaves. Fine roughcast walls. "Venetian" door opening with flight of steps now missing, drag edged dragged cut-limestone block-and-start surround centred on stop fluted keystone with fittings now missing. Square-headed window openings with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and concealed red brick block-and-start surrounds with no fittings surviving. Interior in ruins. Set in unkempt grounds.

A country house erected for Captain Henry William Knox (d. 1816), one-time High Sheriff of County Mayo (fl. 1810), representing an important component of the early nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one widely cited as a twin of the nearby Greenwood (1814; see 31302911), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on panoramic vistas overlooking gently rolling grounds; the compact plan form centred on a "Venetian" doorcase demonstrating good quality workmanship in a silver-grey limestone; and the very slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a feint graduated visual impression. Although reduced to ruins in the twentieth century, the principal façade survives intact together with remnants of the original fabric, thus upholding much of the character of a country house having historic connections with the Knox family including William Knox (d. 1847) 'late of Netley Park [sic] near Crossmolina County Mayo' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1861, 103); Henry William Knox JP DL (d. 1859); Annesley Gore Knox (d. 1863) 'late of Netley Park [sic] in the County of Mayo' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1864, 190); Fitzroy James Knox (d. 1872) 'formerly of Kilroe Cottage…and late of Netley County Mayo' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1874, 337); and Reginald Henry Knox JP (1846-1916), 'Land Proprietor late of Netley Park [sic] Crossmolina County Mayo' (NA 1901; NA 1911; Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1916, 361); and John Edward Fraser Rowlette (1881-1966) and Edith Lillian Rowlette (née Knox) (1881-1942).