Newtown House

Detached five-bay (two-bay deep) two-storey over basement country house, extant 1839, on a rectangular plan centred on three-bay two-storey "bas-relief" breakfront originally with (single-storey) prostyle distyle pedimented portico to ground floor. Vacant, 1901. Leased, 1911. Now in ruins. Roof now missing. Part creeper- or ivy-covered lime rendered walls on lichen-spotted dragged cut-limestone chamfered cushion course on plinth with concealed flush quoins to corners. Outline of camber-headed central door opening with no fittings surviving. Square-headed flanking window openings in round-headed recesses with sills now missing, and concealed red brick block-and-start surrounds with no fittings surviving. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with some 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.

The shell of a country house erected by Reverend Benjamin Morris (1790-1846) representing an integral component of the early nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of County Kilkenny with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking rolling grounds and the Kings River; the symmetrical footprint centred on a shallow breakfront; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (extant 1839); a walled garden (extant 1839); and a gate lodge (extant 1839), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of an estate having historic connections with the Greene family including Joseph Greene (d. 1858) 'late of Newtown House in the County of Kilkenny' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1858, 99); and John Newport Greene (d. 1870) 'late of Newtown House County Kilkenny' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1870, 219); the Prior-Wandesforde family of Castlecomer House (NA 1901; NA 1911); and a succession of tenants including George Smithwick (----), 'Retired Brewer' (NA 1911).