Brief History of Hazelwood House This brief narrative is about Hazelwood House, some of its history, the Wynne family it's  owners, and the estate and its people in the context of the times. Hazelwood House now  stands in its own 70 acre grounds, surrounded by woodland on the north shore of Lough Gill, and along the Garravogue river in Co. Sligo. Access is from the Dromahair rd. The  original Hazelwood estate of 15,000 acres comprised woodland, rivers and lakes, arable  land, grazing, mountains and bog land. This stretched from Dunee and Rockwood  mountains south of Lough Gill to Benbulben and Glencar Mountain in the North, and  eastwards from the north bank of the Garravogue River nearly to Manorhamilton, in Co.  Leitrim.  Hazelwood House is a large Palladian mansion designed by the German architect Richard Cassells in 1722, nearly   300 years ago. In its day it was a leading example of a new architectural style, and today is still a very important Georgian building.  Lt Col Owen Wynne, whose forefathers came from Wales after the Cromwellian times, built the house. The Palladian model  consists of a Central four storey block with a curved passageway at each of the two front corners, each leading to a smaller square  building at the end. There was very decorative plasterwork and coving inside the house, with vaulted ceiling, circles of foliage and  the doorcase with fluted Ionic pilasters. An impressive stone staircase leads to the front door, as well as outside terracing down to  the lawn at the back. Follies in the immediate wooded area, created employment originally, and were later enjoyed by the ladies as  they strolled through the woods. Wealthy landowners in other parts of Ireland copied and adapted this style for their own estates. The Wynne family owned extensive lands including a large estate centred around Lurganboy near Manorhamilton in Co. Leitrim.  Generations of the Wynne family lived in succession in the house. A of the male heirs were called Owen, with the exception of one  called John. Many were active in politics both local, where they were either burgess or High Sheriff, and other s who were elected to  represent Sligo at Westminster. As burgess they were allowed to collect taxes, customs duties, tolls and levies  on all business transactions including fairs, and markets. They also looked after their tenants, staff and the community, building the original hospital, the Poor house, the Charter school on the present Grammar school site, as well as Calry church on the Mall, and the Asylum, now St Columba's hospital.  They gave employment to a huge number of people, both directly within the household, and on the estate. They farmed the land, improving it considerably by good husbandry as well as draining huge areas of wet ground. These drains are still evident today, nearly 300 years later. Woods were planted for commercial timber as well  as specimen trees to enhance the parkland, and to please the eye. The estate had a fine herd of Devon cattle, as well as South Down sheep, pigs and poultry. Flax, oats, potatoes and turnips were amongst the main crops grown on the estate. It was really quite self-sufficient with meat from the farm. Game from the estate and fish from the rivers. The vegetables and fruit and   flowers produced in the hexagonal walled garden were available to the kitchen as well as the house.   Great esteem was attached to good sporting estates and Hazelwood was no exception, having red deer, grouse, and pheasants, duck, salmon and trout for the guests. The family travelled widely in Europe, particularly in the 1800's. The ladies painted scenes in water colours in Italy, while the men  brought back specimens of plants, trees, and shrubs from India, China and Nepal. These were later incorporated into the gardens on  the estate. The potato famine started in 1822 and was followed by cholera in 1833, which devastated the town. Later in 1843 there was a more  severe famine because the potato crop became blighted again. Even when times were hard the poor had to earn their money-the men  built the Circular Road and Mullaghmore harbour, while the women had to spin and weave so that there was cloth for clothes. Unfortunately Hazelwood House now stands empty and is in need of not just restoration, but to have    the roofs made watertight. The remains of the Saehan plastics factory covers the site of the original  walled garden and the vista behind the house. Hazelwood House was a great 18th century estate owned by the Wynne family in Co. Sligo. From the original 15000 acres only 70 acres still belong to the  House. Hazelwood Action Group, the local community action group in conjunction with the Irish  Georgian society, the Heritage Council and the Sligo Field Club, and others, are all working to have the  House eventually restored. Hopefully the new owners will restore the once magnificent house and gardens to their former glory  and allow the greater community to enjoy it all again.