Period property extending to 52 acres, close to Tollymore Forest Park and Newcastle shoreline, is on the market for £750,000

The period property boasts two acres of natural lawns and is surrounded by approximately 52 acres of woodland. It is located on the Burrenbridge Road, Castlewellan, close to Tollymore Forest Park and Newcastle shoreline.

It is believed that in the late 18th Century Theodosia, 1st Countess of Clanwilliam, had a house built in a matter of six weeks in the Wood of Burren on the Hawkins’ estate of Rathfriland which she had inherited as a child.

She was one of the great heiresses of her time, owning vast estates around Rathfriland and Gill Hall, in the Gilford/Dromore area of County Down.The Countess of Clanwilliam left her Rathfriland estate to her second son, General Robert Meade, who enlarged the cottage as somewhere suitable to stay when visiting his Irish properties.

General Meade had been Lt Governor of Cape Colony in southern Africa. He would stay at Burrenwood for the summer in alternate years in the middle part of the 19th Century.After the General’s death in 1852 the house lay dormant, unused by the family but kept up by resident staff. In the 1930s, the General’s great grandson Major John Windham Meade and his wife made it the base for their family’s summer holidays.

The current owners purchased the property in 2007 from the Meades and have resided there since.

Burrenwood Cottage

The cottage lies within extensive mature woodland on the south side of the Burren River. The current owners of Burrenwood cottage occupy the southernly quarter, described as coachman’s quarters.

It includes a kitchen, sitting room, office/utility room, bathroom and two bedrooms over two floors with two adjacent stables. Oozing an abundance of character, the remaining property has benefited from the updating of the original windows and frames.

Burrenwood cottage is an example of a cottage orné , the kind of rustic building of picturesque design popular in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Typical elements of this building included thatched roofs, rough undressed stonework, creeper clad porches and verandas.

WoodlandThe lands and residence are accessible directly from Burrenbridge Road and extend to approximately 52 acres.

In the area around the cottage are large beech and oak trees, under-planted with laurels and rhododendrons.

There are also birch, ash, alder and holly trees.At one time much of the wood was hazel coppice: this has largely been replanted, around 50 years ago, with stands of larch, Norway spruce, Douglas fir, Scots pine and Sitka spruce, with some Thuja and Tsuga.

In recent years Scottish Woodlands have been responsible for some management of the woodland with further replanting taking place. There is potential for further thinning/harvesting and opportunities to enrich and replant.

You can view the property listing here, or contact Best Property Services on Tel. 028 3026 6811. Closing date for offers is 14 January 2023.