Riversfield House

Detached three-bay two-storey over basement house, extant 1840, on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay single-storey flat-roofed projecting porch to ground floor; three-bay full-height rear (north) elevation. Sold, 1884. Occupied, 1901; 1911. Renovated, ----. Replacement hipped artificial slate roof on a quadrangular plan with ridge tiles, paired rendered central chimney stacks on axis with ridge having stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta octagonal pots, and uPVC rainwater goods on rendered eaves retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Rendered walls with rusticated quoins to corners. Central door opening into house. Square-headed flanking window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing eight-over-eight timber sash windows having overlights. Square-headed window openings (first floor) with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing eight-over-eight timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings to rear (north) elevation with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing three-over-six (basement), six-over-six (ground floor) or three-over-six (first floor) timber sash windows. Set in landscaped grounds with rendered panelled piers to perimeter having pyramidal capping.

A house representing an integral component of the early nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of Wexford with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a restrained doorcase, albeit one largely concealed behind a later porch; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression with the principal "apartments" or reception rooms originally showing so-called "Wexford Window" sash-and-overlight glazing patterns. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior: however, the introduction of replacement fittings to most of the openings has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of a house having historic connections with the Barrington family including John Barrington (d. 1882) and Jane Frances Barrington (d. 1882) 'late of Riversfield Wexford County Wexford' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1882, 23; 1883, 29); and Alderman Thomas Harpur (1846-1926), Mayor of Wexford (fl. 1886-7).