Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB01/19/004

Address :
The Deanery 30 Bishop Street Within Londonderry Co. Londonderry BT48 6PP

Townland:
Londonderry

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Survey 2:
A

Date of Listing:
25/05/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Rectories/ Manses etc

Former Use
Rectories/ Manses etc

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
36-8NW

IG Ref:
C4335 1653

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Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

Late-Georgian five-bay three-storey over basement red brick house, built 1833. Rectangular on plan with a shallow arched gateway to the left leading to rear courtyard and former stables. Principal elevation faces west onto Bishop Street Within set behind a low rendered boundary wall topped by painted decorative cast-iron railings. Built for the Dean of Derry for the Church of Ireland to replace the former Deanery built in on London Street in 1720. Natural slate double pile hipped roof with two-stage rendered and sandstone chimney stacks with circular and octagon-shaped buff clay pots. Principal elevation (west) is of Flemish brick bond with painted string-course between ground floor and rendered basement level; square-headed window openings, all windows are 6/6 timber sliding sash within cement reveals and masonry sills painted in contrasting colour, two windows to the ground floor level either side of door opening and five windows on first and second floor levels. The entrance is approached from a flight of granite steps with boot scraper and railings to either side, recessed in a moulded semicircular arched opening with projecting moulded cornice and frieze supported by a pair of scrolled console brackets on moulded pilasters either side of a pair of painted timber half leaf doors constructed as one and a large Adam style fanlight above. North elevation is three-storeys of Flemish brick bond, cement rendered on ground floor level to shoulder height of windows and string-course between ground floor and basement level; door opening onto side entrance, two-steps up, four-panelled timber door with multiple-pane square headed fanlight and a small multiple-pane light opening above; 6/6 timber sliding sash window to basement level and a small 2/2 timber sliding sash window on second floor level above entrance door. East elevation to the rear is three-storeys over basement, Flemish brick bond to ground, first and second floors and painted rendered finish to basement level; the fenestration pattern is irregular with 6/6 timber sliding sashes to ground, first and second floor levels on the north and south end, to the left of the south end there are two 6/6 timber sliding sashes on half-landing level and a single 3/3 timber sliding sash below and ground floor level; to the right of the south end are two small windows, a 2/2 and 1/1 timber sliding sash with a large semicircular arched headed stained glass window above at half-landing height, and a 6/6 timber sliding sash above on second floor level. A small timber gateway from the east end within the courtyard and stables area on the North wall gives access to the rear of The Irish Society Office and No.2 and No.3 St. Columb's Court. South elevation is cement rendered and abutted by adjoining property the former Irish Society Office (HB01/19/005). Double pile hipped slate roof has lead detailing on ridge. Four large two-stage rendered and sandstone chimney stacks, two rising from the centre between each roof and two on the east side, centred on ridge, one left and one to the right side with circular and octagon-shaped buff clay pots, and a single small rendered and sandstone two-stage chimney stack rising from the south gable. Cast-iron rainwater goods throughout. Materials: Roof Slate RWG Cast Iron Walling Brick Windows Timber sliding sash Setting: Located on the East side of Bishop Street Within, behind a low stone wall with high cast-iron railings, with St Columb's Cathedral (HB01/19/001) situated to the rear, and set within the Cathedral Quarter inside the City Walls, 40m above the river. Built for the Dean of Derry for the Church of Ireland to replace the former Deanery built in on London Street in 1720. The Deanery is abutted on the south side by the former Irish Society Office (HB01/19/005). The former stable block located to the rear of the Deanery is a two storey brick building with pitched roof. Roof covering is artificial slate to courtyard side and natural slate to Cathedral side. Windows are timber top-hung multi-pane. Former coach arch to left side of courtyard elevation has been infilled with modern garage door with timber sheeting above. Cathedral elevation faces onto graveyard and grounds of St Columb’s Cathedral and several gravestones abut the former stable wall. The ground floor is accessed from the Cathedral grounds via a walkway flanked on each side by stone retaining walls with modern railings above. The first floor door on the external wall is accessed via a flight of steps with modern railings either side. A plaque on the elevation to the Cathedral grounds states ‘The Cecil Frances Alexander Music Room inaugurated in her memory 1981’. The ground floor interior of the former stable block contains little historic detailing; finishes are modern.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The Deanery, a three-storey-with-basement five-bay late-Georgian townhouse, was constructed in 1833 for the Dean of St. Columb’s Cathedral. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1837) note that the Deanery, ‘a large, unadorned brick building,’ was erected at a cost of £3421 16s. 8d. The building replaced the former Deanery on London Street which had been built in 1720 during the term of Dean John Bolton (1699-1724). The new edifice was built during the incumbency of Dean Thomas Bunbury Gough (1820-1860), who funded the construction work at his own expense (OSM, p. 107; Lewis). The proposed site of the new Deanery was noted on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps for Londonderry (1830) which depicted a cleared area on Bishop Street with the caption ‘Deanery.’ Hume states that the construction of the Deanery, along with other impressive civic buildings, on Bishop Street formed part of a series of town improvements which were undertaken in the early-to-mid-19th century within the city walls: ‘It would appear therefore that the condition of the street in 1832 … reflected the general depression that lay over the city in the early-1830s. But by 1849 the upsurge that had taken place in the intervening twenty years in the commercial life of the city had substantially altered the picture’ (Hume, p. 10). As it was not completed until 1833, the new building was not recorded in the Townland Valuations (1831), but in 1856 Griffith’s Valuation set the rateable value of the Deanery at £130. In that year the valuer noted that the building was owned by the Board of Ecclesiastical Commissioners and continued to be occupied by Dean T. B. Gough. The Deanery was recorded on the Corporation Map of Londonderry (1857) which depicted the dwelling as a rectangular-shaped structure along its current layout suggesting that no major structural change has been undertaken since at least the early-Victorian period. Further, the former stables and coach house to the rear of the building (now dwellings) had been constructed by 1857 as they also appeared on the map (Calley, p. 470). The value of the Deanery was reduced to £115 in 1873. In that year the administration and repair of the dwelling became the responsibility to the Church Temporalities Commission who had superseded the board following the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1871. The Rev. William Charles Boyton was occupant of the Deanery during the 1901 census. In that year the census building return described the Deanery as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of twenty rooms in addition to its rear outbuilding. The value of the Deanery remained at £115 by the cancellation of the Annual Revisions in 1929. Under the First Revaluation (1935) the value was significantly reduced to £78 and under the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the Deanery was slightly amended to £80. In 1970 the UAHS guide for Londonderry described the Deanery as ‘a fine example of a simple Georgian house. Three-storeys high, with basement, it is brick-faced, exquisitely executed with sandstone quoins and cornice. The well designed doorway has a good fanlight and pilasters [whilst] the interior has a graceful curving staircase leading to the first floor. The Deanery was listed category A in 1976 and was subsequently included in the Walled City Conservation Area in 1977. In 2010 the Deanery received minor damage to its windows and fanlight when a bomb exploded on Bishop Street (Londonderry Sentinel). For over 180 years the Deanery has continued to be utilised as the official dwelling of the Dean of St. Columb’s Cathedral. In 2013 Calley wrote that the beauty of the late-Georgian building ‘lies in the massing of the brick, the simple but strong cornice, the iron rails protecting the well of the basement rooms and the wide stone steps up to the fine door with pilasters and a very pleasing spiderweb fanlight … the interior matches the quality of the exterior; the centrepiece of which is the graceful curved staircase’ (Calley, p. 42). In addition to the grandeur of the wooden staircase, the main hall of the Deanery also possesses original mid-19th century wallpaper by William Morris (1834-1896), one of the most influential interior designers of the Victorian period (Londonderry Sentinel; William Morris website). An Ulster History Circle was installed on the façade of the Deanery in 2011 to commemorate Bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753), a philosopher who was appointed Dean of St. Columb’s Cathedral in 1724 and published a number of philosophical works including 'Towards Preventing the Ruin of Great Britain' and political works such as the 'Querist', which examined over 500 economic and social problems facing Ireland in the 1730s (Ulster History Circle). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830) 2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853) 3. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/14 – Annual Revisions Map (c. 1873-1910) 4. PRONI VAL/1/B/547A-F – Townland Valuations (1831) 5. PRONI VAL/1/D/5/9B – Townland Valuation Town Plan 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929) 9. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/11 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935) 10. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/13 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 11. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837) 12. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) 13. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943) 14. First Survey Record – HB01/19/004 (1970) 15. First Survey Image – HB01/19/004 (No Date) 16. NIEA Pink Files – HB01/19/004 (Missing) 17. The Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Bishop Street) 18. Londonderry Sentinel (22 Apr 2010) Secondary Sources 1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013 – including Londonderry Corporation Map (1857). 2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970. 3. Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002. 4. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003. 5. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012. Online Resources 1. St. Columb’s Cathedral website - http://www.stcolumbscathedral.org/page5.html 2. William Morris website - http://www.william-morris.co.uk/ 3. Ulster History Circle website - http://www.ulsterhistory.co.uk/berkeley.html

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

U. Historic Associations W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance Z. Rarity S. Authenticity R. Age T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

A late-Georgian, five-bay three-storey with basement red brick Deanery built 1833, located on the East side of Bishop Street Within, replacing an earlier Deanery on London Street of 1720. The gateway to the left leads to a rear courtyard and former brick stables, which are also accessible from St. Columb’s Cathedral (HB01/19/001) grounds to the rear. The Deanery is one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture inside the City Walls with its grand elevations and the retention of much historic architectural fabric and detailing such as the iron railings protecting the well of the basement rooms and the wide granite steps up to the fine door case with grand fanlight above. The curved staircase in the main hallway is also of note. Together with the adjacent No.1 St. Columb's Court, the former Irish Society Offices (HB01/19/005) it plays an important visual and historical role within the Cathedral Quarter and it has group value with St. Columb’s Cathedral to its rear.

General Comments

The front elevation faces north-west, for ease of description this is referred to as west and the naming of all other façades follows this convention.

Date of Survey

27 May 2014