Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB03/12/015 B

Address :
Mussenden Temple Downhill Castlerock Co. Londonderry

Townland:
Downhill

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Survey 2:
A

Date of Listing:
25/05/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Estate Related Structures

Former Use
Library

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
12-1

IG Ref:
C7583 3627

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Owner Category

Heritage

Exterior Description And Setting

Free-standing double-height single-storey over basement circular stone former library, erected c.1785, by Frederick Hervey, Earl Bishop of Derry to the designs of Michael Shanahan. Circular on plan and located on a cliff edge on the north coast of Co. Londonderry and built to be viewed from the rear of Downhill House to the south (HB03/12/015A). Built as a library and modelled from the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli, it is dedicated to the memory of Hervey's cousin Frideswide Mussenden. Copper-clad domed roof surmounted by carved stone urn with swag motif and rising from copper-lined sandstone blocking course. Coursed sandstone ashlar walling with sixteen engaged Corinthian columns framing blind bays except for entrance to the south bay and window opening to the north, east and west bays. Each bay has a wave-scroll (variation on Vitruvian Scroll) at sill level, a moulded plinth course and a decorative swagged panel spanning between the capitals. The columns support a fluted architrave with Greek key soffit, continuous frieze with applied copper inscription and alternating bishop’s mitre and lion carvings over each capital. The inscription reads, "Suave, mari magno turbantibus aequora ventis e terra magnum alterius spectare laborem.." "Tis pleasant, safely to behold from shore/ The troubled sailor, and hear the tempests roar”. Quoted from Lucretius De Rerum Natura, 2.1-2. The frieze is surmounted by a continuous dentiled and modillioned cornice. The columns rest on a continuous sandstone base with fluted frieze below in turn resting on coursed squared rough-hewn coursed basalt base (basement level). Square-headed window openings to north, east and west with voussoired heads, flush sills and replacement 9/9 timber sash windows. To the south bay is a square-headed door opening with a Portland stone decorative convex architrave surround, fluted frieze with blank tablet and hood cornice. Replacement double-leaf flush panelled timber doors open onto sandstone platform and twelve swept sandstone steps with replacement decorative iron balustrades. Voussoired round-headed openings to east and west bays at basement level with replacement iron gates. Setting Located on the edge of a cliff on the north coast of County Londonderry within the Downhill Demesne. Positioned directly north of the rear elevation to Downhill House (HB03/12/015A) and to the northeast of the walled garden and Dovecote (HB03/12/015C). Accessed via the Lion Gate to the southwest (HB03/12/015D). Roof Copper-clad dome RWG None Walling Coursed sandstone ashlar Windows Replacement 9/9 timber sash

Architects

Shanahan, M

Historical Information

Mussenden Temple, one of Northern Ireland’s most iconic buildings and a structure of the ‘highest artistic quality’ was begun in 1783 and completed in 1785 (Howley). The working designs were by Michael Shanahan for the Earl Bishop of Derry and the inspiration the temple of Vesta at Tivoli, the original of which the Earl Bishop had toyed with acquiring and transporting to Ireland. (Eccles) Bills for ‘clearing the foundn. of the temple’ have survived from April and May 1783 and the total cost of £1169.7s.3½d is noted among the Hervey papers for 1785. (Rankin; PRONI) The temple was built of Bann brick, large quantities of which were made on site, on a base of basalt with the exterior clad in freestone facing, the freestone being brought round the coast from Ballycastle. James McBlain and his son David carved the external ornamentation apart from the Bishop’s arms over the entrance which were sculpted from Portland stone in Shanahan’s Cork marble works and installed in 1788. The timber work was carved by Forbes. (Rankin; Eccles) OS Memoirs record that the temple was built by Michael Shanahan ‘from the foundation to the cornice’ and from the cornice to the top of the dome by David McBlain. However, Shanahan appears to have been deeply involved with questions of roofing, writing to the Bishop with the suggestion of a skylight in the top of the dome which, if ever executed, has long since been removed and replaced with an urn. Shanahan had also wished to cover the roof in gilded metal but it was finally covered in ‘Slate in the pattin Stile’, although today the covering is copper. The cornice bears a Latin inscription from Lucretius’ ‘De Rerum Natura’ II, 1-4, which translates as ‘Tis pleasant, safely to behold from shore, the rolling ship and hear the tempest roar’. The inscription was originally of gilded metal letters. (Rankin; Eccles) It is thought that the interior of the temple would have been decorated with interior pilasters finished with scagliola and that the ceiling was coffered in blue and gilt with plaster rosettes. A recent project has attempted to virtually reconstruct the original interior. (www.youtube.com – Downhill Demesne and Mussenden Temple) The temple is in line with the main axis of the house itself and reflects the Earl Bishop’s fascination with circular structures, he built another at Ballyscullion in 1787 and a third at Ickworth in Suffolk. The temple was built as a library and in 1802 Arthur McMackin wrote to Hervey in Italy complaining that he had not been paid for cleaning the books, a task which was carried out four times a year. It was intended to be a summer library for use in tandem with the library in the palace itself. As a temple, it was dedicated to Hervey’s cousin Mrs Frideswide Mussenden to whom the Earl-Bishop is said to have been romantically inclined shortly before she died at the age of 22. (Purcell) Garden temples suggest continuity with the taste and civilisation of the Augustan age, the classical inspiration for much of eighteenth century landscaping in Britain and Ireland. Simple circular temples began appearing on Irish estates in the mid-eighteenth century (cf Castletown, Dromoland and Belan). James Howley includes Mussenden among a group of four temples of the highest artistic quality, those at Castle Ward, Mount Stewart, and Marino. The setting of the temple overlooking the Atlantic has been called ‘sublime’. (Howley) However, as an early watercolour shows, the setting was not always so dramatic. When first built a broad path and wall ran in front of the temple and cartographic evidence shows that the cliff line is receding (OS maps 1904 and 1980). It was found necessary in the late 1990s to stabilise the upper cliff face by inserting rock bolts and anchors. (HB file). OS Memoirs record that the Earl Bishop gave the ‘lower part of the temple to the Roman Catholics for a chapel, as many of the servants at Downhill at that time were Roman Catholics and also gave one guinea per month to the priest, which sum ceased at the death of the bishop’. The Earl Bishop had been deeply involved in attempts to obtain relief for Catholics from some of the terms of the penal laws. (Fothergill) The temple continued to be used as a chapel well into the nineteenth century, the Rev Henry Hervey Bruce continuing with the tradition. The ‘Temple’ is captioned on the first edition OS map of 1831 and by 1904 appears as ‘Mussenden Temple’. It is not separately listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) but appears in Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) as a ‘Temple (used as RC Church) valued at £11.10s with the valuation later reduced to £2 and the comment that the temple was now ‘a worthless, ruinous tower, the roof and windows broken in’. After the 1870s the ‘Temple as RC Chapel’ was added into the valuation of the house and outbuildings. In 1946 the house and demesne were bought by F W Smyth who presented the temple as a gift to the National Trust in 1949. The Trust immediately began a programme of restoration including replacing the fabric of the roof, work which received a setback when the roof was blown off in 1952. (Eccles) Today the Temple is open to the public and is one of Northern Ireland’s most iconic buildings, synthesising both architectural elegance and the dramatic beauty of its natural setting. The temple has been a venue for music recitals, poetry readings and dramatic performances and has, in recent years, been made available by the National Trust as a venue for civil wedding ceremonies. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/5/2/1 First Edition OS Map 1831 2. PRONI OS/6/5/2/2 Second Edition OS map 1848 3. PRONI OS/6/5/2/3 Third Edition OS Map 1904 4. PRONI OS/6/5/2/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1923 5. PRONI VAL/1/B/55A Townland Valuation (1828-40) 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/55B Griffiths Valuation (1861) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/10AF Annual Revisions (1864-1929) 1. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/2 First General Revaluation 1933-57 2. PRONI VAL/3/D/6/3/H/4 First General Revaluation 1933-57 3. PRONI D1514 - Hervey/ Bruce papers 8. HB file – 03/12/016 Secondary Sources 1. Day, A., P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Londonderry III, 1831-5, Vol. 11.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1991. 2. Eccles, J “Downhill, A Scrapbook of People and Place” London: Bath Press, 1996 3. Fothergill, B “The Mitred Earl: An Eighteenth Century Eccentric” London: Faber and Faber, 1974 4. Howley, J “The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland” New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1993 5. Purcell, M “The Big House Library in Ireland – Books in Ulster Country Houses” National Trust, 2011 6. Rankin, P “Irish Building Ventures of the Earl Bishop of Derry” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972 7. www.nationaltrust.org.uk 8. www.youtube.com – Downhill Demesne and Mussenden Temple

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Z. Rarity R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

Free-standing double-height single-storey over basement stone former library, erected c.1785, by Frederick Hervey, Earl Bishop of Derry to the designs of Michael Shanahan. Circular on plan and located on a cliff edge on the north coast of Co. Londonderry, inspired by the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli. This highly decorative estate structure constitutes the most intact and impressive element remaining on the Downhill Demesne and occupies a spectacular coastal setting. Recognised as one of the greatest landmarks in Northern Ireland the former library continues to attract attention from around the world in addition to its architectural and historic significance. It has group value with the other listed structures on the Downhill estate.

General Comments

Listing Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and T - Historic Importance also apply.

Date of Survey

12 August 2012