The Bedford Tower, Dublin Castle(2)
By the middle of the 18th century most of the Upper Castle Yard either had already been, or was in the process of being, rebuilt.
In February 1750 the Surveyor General, Arthur Jones Neville, sent a memorial to the Viceroy, Lord Harrington, referring to a plan for rebuilding the section of the castle adjoining Castle Street which was by then in a most ruinous state.
From the description it is clear that Neville was referring to the building now known as the Bedford Tower. On the 29th March 1750 the King approved the expenditure of £9,277.9s.2d on the project which also included the erection of the north- west block.
Work began in the summer of 1750 with the demolition of the medieval gatehouse and the surviving remnants of the curtain wall.
The design of the new building, like the rest of the Upper Castle Yard, was quite old fashioned for its time. The center block, without the tower and gates, was modelled on the London townhouse of Lord Herbert, designed by Colin Campbell in 1723-1724. Neville borrowed the design of the façade from volume III of Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus, which was published in 1725
The Bedford Tower, Dublin Castle(2)
By the middle of the 18th century most of the Upper Castle Yard either had already been, or was in the process of being, rebuilt.
In February 1750 the Surveyor General, Arthur Jones Neville, sent a memorial to the Viceroy, Lord Harrington, referring to a plan for rebuilding the section of the castle adjoining Castle Street which was by then in a most ruinous state.
From the description it is clear that Neville was referring to the building now known as the Bedford Tower. On the 29th March 1750 the King approved the expenditure of £9,277.9s.2d on the project which also included the erection of the north- west block.
Work began in the summer of 1750 with the demolition of the medieval gatehouse and the surviving remnants of the curtain wall.
The design of the new building, like the rest of the Upper Castle Yard, was quite old fashioned for its time. The center block, without the tower and gates, was modelled on the London townhouse of Lord Herbert, designed by Colin Campbell in 1723-1724. Neville borrowed the design of the façade from volume III of Campbell’s Vitruvius Britannicus, which was published in 1725