durrow abbey co. offaly conservation plan - Offaly County Council

Internal Woodland
A network of woodland copses and corridors
were developed within the demesne, for aesthetic
enhancement and wildlife habitat. The effect,
as shown on the nineteenth century maps, is a
landscape structure comprising a central woodland
area in the vicinity of the house, with corridors
radiating outwards and connecting to the woodland
belt enclosing the demesne.
Most notable amongst these in the present day is
the woodland corridor along the entrance road,
and the Pheasant Wood.
The entrance corridor would have had a similar
composition to the boundary woodlands described
above, although an avenue of Norway maples
and laurell shrubs were planted in the twentieth
century.
The Pheasant Wood is some ten hectares in extent,
lying to the south of the house. The woodland was
composed of mainly beech and horse chestnut, as
well as a scrub layer to provide bird habitat. The
wood has remained largely intact (spatially) to the
present day but is in a state of neglect, dominated
by a dense cover of primarily elder, birch and
sycamore scrub. Saplings of the original woodland
species are stunted as a result of the dense scrub
cover. The scrub does however provide habitat for
significant numbers of birds and for deer.
along the entrance roads, and to provide views of a
‘romantic’ landscape from the house.
The remaining internal lands served agricultural
purposes. The nor th-western and south-eastern
por tions of the demesne in par ticular, were used
for cultivation.
In the latter par t of the twentieth century the
parkland south of the entrance road was returned
to primarily agricultural use, resulting in a fur ther
decrease in tree numbers.
The parkland area immediately nor th of the
entrance road, surrounding St. Columcille’s Island,
is lower-lying. Due to siltation of the stream which
drained the area it now displays the characteristics
of a true fen, characterised by numerous willows.
The parkland nor th of the stream and St. Columcille’s
Island has been conver ted for tillage agriculture.
Parkland and Agricultural Fields
The internal demesne landscape, given spatial
structure by the woodlands, consisted of naturalistic
parkland areas and agricultural fields.
The nor th-eastern par t of the demesne, the lands
most visible from Durrow Abbey House and from
the entrance roads, was developed as parkland. This
area is clearly defined by the woodland structure
on the 1837-38 map.
The parklands comprised improved grassland
interspersed with ‘random’ clumps and specimens
of mainly oak and beech trees, as well as distinct
single rows of trees, remnant from the pre-demesne
landscape. In field investigations under taken for
the 2000 Environental Impact Statement the
environmental consultant noted that cer tain of
the oak present within the parkland area may be
remnant of the original native plantation that would
have covered the area up to the early eighteenth
century. These would have been retained and the
other specimens planted specifically to frame and
compose views of the house from the approach
Parkland tree cover at Durrow 1875-84
Circulation / Access Roads
At the time of establishment of the demesne a road
to St. Columba’s church already existed giving access
from the public road forming the eastern demesne
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