Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB16/07/033

Address :
Former Kinnahalla Youth Hostel 78 Kilkeel Road Hilltown Newry Co Down BT34 5XH

Townland:
Goward

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Hotel

Former Use
Hotel

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
268/1

IG Ref:
J2460 2864

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Owner Category

Charity

Exterior Description And Setting

Two and half storey mid 20th century building aligned NW-SE with a two-storey block abutting its NW gable. Painted wet dashed walls, uPVC window frames and modern render architraves. Thoroughly modernised, extended and renovated, it retains few original features. Polished granite datestone on façade states, “The Richmond Fellowship 1991 / Kinnahalla / Alan Cook Architects / Annvale Construction”. Its Youth Hostel origins are recalled in the triangular stucco pediments above each of the first floor windows.

Architects

Bell, Philip Cook, Alan

Historical Information

Designed by Phillip Bell in 1956. It was the first of a number of King George VI Memorial Hostels to constructed in the UK. A grant of £10,000 was given towards its construction and the Youth Hostel Association of Northern Ireland (YHANI) raised an additional £2,000 to cover costs. Construction began in 1956 and it was opened by Lady Wakehurst, wife of the Governor of N. Ireland, on 3rd October 1959. Designed ‘along Continental lines’, looking like a ski chalet, with shallow, overhanging pitched roofs, a rubble stone ground floor and wet dashed upper floors (similar in detailing to many schools of the period); three storeys high. It had balconettes to each floor on the end gable (serving the male and female dormitories), and steel framed windows, variously grouped. The accommodation catered for 44 people and included a drying room, suntrap porch, bicycle store and electricity generator. The warden occupied the ground floor of the wing. Belfast News-Letter article dated 26/05/1956 shows the architects model and another article dated 3/10/1959 shows a contemporary photograph. Ceased operating as a YHANI hostel in 1989. Reconfigured in 1991. One of the main changes was steepening the roof pitches to give the appearance of a two and a half storey building. Primary Sources: 1. Article in Belfast News-Letter 26/05/1956. 2. Article in Belfast News-Letter 03/10/1959. 3. YHANI HQ employee 1999.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Altered beyond recognition and thus not worthy of consideration for statutory protection.

General Comments

Date of Survey

23 February 1999