• 1778
• 1781

As built, the middle storey has an Ionic order and the base is ashlar with inset panels on each side; additional are an urn, paterae and a swag frieze; a variation of the design shown in drawing 1. Drawings 2-4 are for a larger and more elaborate mausoleum. Plate xxxv of Soane's Designs in architecture, 1778, shows a design for a mausoleum with a rusticated basement with an arched opening quite similar to that of drawing 2.

The mausoleum was commissioned by Frederick Hervey, Bishop of Derry, 4th Earl of Bristol (c.1778-1781), to the memory of his eldest brother, Lord George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, who died in 1775. An estimate from Michael Shanahan for £462.0s.9d was made in 1778 or early 1779 and construction followed until about 1783. Cupola and statue (upper storey) were blown down in a storm of January 1839 and were not replaced.

Literature. E.E.R.Green, 'Downhill Castle, County Derry, Northern Ireland', Country Life, 1950, CVII, p.38; P. Rankin, 'Downhill Co. Derry II', Country Life, 1971, CL, p.155; P. du Prey, John Soane’s architectural education 1753-80, 1977, pp.178-80; P. du Prey,'Je n'oublieray jamais: John Soane and Downhill', Quarterly Bulletin of the Irish Georgian Society, XXI Nos 3&4, 1978, pp.18-19; H. Colvin, Architecture and the after-life, 1991, p.353

Jill Lever, February 2009

Scheme

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk