Headfort House

Headfort House was built roughly two hundred years ago for the Earl of Bective, Thomas Taylour. As you can see from the photograph, the facade of the house is a severe, almost drab grey. It is built of Ardbraccan limestone in an extremely plain style. The interiors were designed by the Scottish architect Robert Adam. His designs were somewhat modified for various reasons. Much of the interior remains in very good condition, thanks mainly to the school's occupancy.

In a previous era, there were three large estates surrounding the town. Of these, Headfort was until recently the sole survivor. The others had been split or large portions sold off in face of financial pressure. In the 1980s, the current Lord Headfort sold Headfort House and estate to a Canadian multi-millionaire B.J. Kruger. Mr Kruger's twin passions in life were shooting and fishing. Headfort's thousand acres provided ample scope for the rearing of pheasant and duck. Mr Kruger also undertook extensive renovation of the estate until his death. Land was reclaimed, fencing replaced and the 8 miles of roadway were all resurfaced After Mr Kruger's death, the estate was split into three lots, a farm, the woodlands and the school and its environs. It is unlikely that it will ever be re-unified.

The estate formerly stretched from Kells to Virginia. The land found its way into the Headfort family as a result of the Down Survey, being granted to Thomas Taylour, first Earl of Bective, as a result of his helping Sir William Petty in that survey. Gradually the estate shrank is size; chunks were sold off to pay debts. Most recently the Headfort Golf Club bought its course from Mr Kruger. The present Lord Headfort, Michael Taylour, lives in the Far East and his son, The Earl of Bective, in the UK.

Features of the estate.

There are a number of curiosities on the estate. By the river, there stands a tall and impressive Mausoleum. The Mausoleum was built on a mound overlooking the river, on the site of a Patrician (St. Patrick) settlement perhaps a thousand years old. It is a tall Victorian building with a spire, flanked by an avenue of yew trees Inside there are two sarcophagi (stone chests containing human remains). This style of burial had a brief vogue at Headfort. The Mausoleum is slightly over a hundred years old but was abandoned quickly in favour of a small informal graveyard. This is situated on one of the artificial islands which were constructed to enhance the view from the main house.

Near the Mausoleum and almost impossible to reach for the last few years, there stands a small roofed hut, made of stone and known as 'The Hermit's Cell'. Apparently a hermit ( an old man living alone for various reasons) was a desirable fashion accessory for a large estate at that time. So runs the fiction. The true purpose of the building was far more prosaic - it was a large still for the production of alcohol, possibly from potatoes - poteen..(pr. Potcheen).

On the way from the river back to the main house, there is small arched grotto -the Hedgemass house. This was apparently a site for Mass to be celebrated secretly in the hedges ( HedgeMass), at a time when Catholics were forbidden to practise their religion.

The graveyard on the island has already been noted. The graves are visible from the bridge on the main road from Kells to Drogheda. Several members of the Taylour family are buried there, the most recent being Lord William Taylour. Mr Kruger's ashes are also interred there.