Located at Downhill, County Derry, Downhill House was a mansion constructed in the late 1700s for Frederick, 4th Earl of Bristol and Lord Bishop of Derry. Before it was reconstructed in the 1870s, a large portion of the structure was destroyed by fire in 1851. After World War II, everything started to fall apart. Currently, Downhill House is a component of Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne, properties owned by the National Trust. After being appointed Bishop of Derry in 1768, the Rt Rev. Dr. Frederick Hervey, Lord Bishop of Derry of the Church of Ireland, ordered construction at Downhill Demesne close to the community of Castlerock, in the early 1770s. Architect Michael Shanahan constructed Downhill House, which boasts a view of Benone and Downhill Strand on the northern coast of Northern Ireland. However, it has been speculated that Charles Cameron or James Wyatt may have also contributed to the design in its early stages. It is estimated that the building of the House and the adjacent Mussenden Temple cost £80,000. The Lions Gate, the original main entrance to the demesne, was actually guarded by two snow leopards, or heraldic ounces, the supporters of the Hervey shield of arms. The Bishops Gate took its place as the entryway in 1784. The interior of the house was adorned with statues and frescoes, as well as paintings by a number of well-known artists. Cousin of Lord Bristol, The Rev. Henry Bruce, who had served as the steward of the manor during the absences of the Earl-Bishop, inherited the estate upon his death in 1803. Sister of Bruce was Frideswide Mussenden, for whom the Mussenden Temple was constructed; following her passing, the temple was turned into a memorial. While Downhill was reported to have avoided substantial damage during the 1839 Night of the Big Wind, a fire in 1851 destroyed the library and seriously damaged a large portion of the house. Bishop Lord Bristol had built two houses, one at Downhill and the other at Ballyscullion, where he maintained his extensive collection of artwork. Artists such as Correggio, Dürer, Murillo, Rubens, and Tintoretto lost their works in the fire, however most of the paintings were reportedly spared. Under the direction of John Lanyon, the son of architect Charles Lanyon, the home was restored from 1870 to 1874, keeping many of its original characteristics while adding to its floorplan and interior design and changing some of its original arrangement. The property served as a billet for RAF personnel and women during World War Two. The home was owned by the Bruce family until 1946; by 1950, it had been demolished and the surrounding land had been sold. The temple became a Trust property in the 1940s, and the house was purchased by The National Trust in 1980 [Information and Image Credit : Downhill_House, Wikipedia] [Wikipedia-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downhill_House ] [Image : Downhill House ruins in 2006 ; Wikipedia-Image-Author : Jean Smith from Bluewater Bay, Florida] [Image Availed Under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic; (Please Relate to Individual Image URLs for More Usage Property)] [License-Link : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en ] [Wikipedia-Image-Source-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Downhill_House.jpg ] #History
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Monuments and Architecture
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