Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB22/08/034

Address :
Military complex within Carrickfergus Borough Council yard Town hall Joymount Carrickfergus Co Antrim BT38 7DL

Townland:
Carrickfergus

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
03/08/2007 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Store

Former Use
Prison

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
98/16

IG Ref:
J4144 8753

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Small, single storey, red brick, gabled cell house (or holding cells) of 1900, originally part of a barrack and ordnance store complex and possibly used for the short term incarceration of recalcitrant soldiers. The building is situated within the yard to the rear of Carrickfergus Town Hall, with its SW gable against a high, sturdy rubble wall - the wall itself built as part of the former Antrim county gaol which once occupied this site. The front façade of the cell house faces SE and is asymmetrical. To the right is a timber sheeted door with six pane segmental arch headed fanlight. To the left of the doorway are two tall segmental headed windows with small paned sash frames (6 panes over 6). The SW gable abuts the former gaol wall (see above). The NE gable has a rectangular window opening to right, now boarded up. This window opening does not appear to be original. The rear façade is abutted by a relatively recent two storey brick extension which spans between the cell house and a two storey house further to the NE (originally the warrant officer’s residence). The roof of the cell house is gabled and has an overhang with exposed rafter ends and plain barges. The roof is slated and there is a single, centrally placed brick chimney stack with one pot and some small vents (obviously to let air into the cells) . Cast iron rw goods. OTHER BUILDINGS WITHIN THE COUNCIL YARD ETC. The former warrant officer’s house to the NW is of the same date as the cell house and of similar style with (mainly) red brick façade, segmental headed window openings with Georgian paned sash frames, and a slated gabled roof with overhang. The front (NE) façade is symmetrical with a window either side of a central entrance with timber sheeted door and segmental headed fanlight. To the SE gable is the two storey extension which is of similar construction to the house, (though it is relatively recent-c.1990), but slightly shorter. The extension contains a garage to the ground floor and an upper room (probably a bedroom). The NW gable is blank and rendered. To the immediate NE of this gable is the main entrance to the yard. The SW façade merges with the old gaol wall (which encloses the yard to this side and faces out onto Antrim Street), and is of similar rubble construction as the wall itself. This façade contains two windows to the ground floor and one centrally located window to the first floor. To the NE of the cell house and warrant officer’s residence is a long two storey gabled building also of 1900 and originally built as an ordnance store and barrack, but now converted to offices. This is in similar style to the above described buildings, having a red brick façade, segmental headed windows with small-paned sash frames, timber sheeted doors and a slated gabled roof with slight overhang. The long (SE) front of the block appears to have largely retained its original asymmetric arrangement of windows and doors, however, to the right of centre on the ground floor a modern glazed porch extension has been added. Internally the windows to the fiorst floor rertain their cast iron decoratied grilles. To the (NW) of the former ordnance store / barrack there is an (originally) similar building with a large yard in between both. This yard is now enclosed in modern ‘atrium’ fashion with the atrium section and the building to the NW now all incorporated / converted to form a heritage centre. To the SE of the cell house is the former County Antrim Courthouse, now Carrickfergus Borough Council’s town hall, a low sprawling largely single storey, hipped roof classical building of 1779, much added to during the early 1800s. To the N of the town hall is a long, mainly rubble-built, single storey block with a mono-pitched roof. This block, which may once have contained stables, appears to be late 19th century (it is not shown on the valuation plan of 1872). The NW front of the block has been greatly altered in recent times many former openings blocked and a large modern ‘garage’ doorway (with modern ‘up & over’ door) inserted in the right hand side. The other facades appear to be blank. The roof is covered in artificial ‘slate’. In the SW corner of the yard between the N façade of the town hall and the high wall backing onto Antrim Street is a small, single storey, hipped roof rubble-built shed-like building, with later (?c.1950) lean-to to NW side. The lean-to is in red brick with a felted covered roof, three small modern windows to NW façade and a timber sheeted door to NE. The older rubble section has a timber sheeted door to NE with artificial slates to its roof. To the SW and NE the yard is partly bounded by sections of high walling. These presumably date from 1778-79, when the gaol was constructed. The remaining section of wall to the SW (which faces onto Antrim Street) is in dark basalt rubble with dressed coping and is roughly 6m high. To the inner (NE) side it is abutted by the abovementioned cell house the small shed-like building and part of the town hall. The outer side faces onto the pavement. This section of the walling contains a tall semicircular arch headed doorway, (located between the cell house and the shed-like structure), with timber sheeted double doors. The walling to the NE side of the yard is much longer and spans between the aforementioned ‘stable’ block to the S and the heritage centre to the N and is largely free standing. It is of similar height to the wall to the SW and largely in rubble to the SW side, however, to the NW side it is largely in brick with only a (roughly 1m) base course in rubble. This section is also without coping and is in poorer condition than its counterpart on the opposite side of the yard. A pedestrian doorway has been inserted to the S of centre of the wall. This gateway, which has a cement render surround, appears to be relatively recent.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

Most of the buildings within the yard to the rear of Carrickfergus town hall date from 1897-1900, and were constructed for the use of the Royal Antrim Artillery Militia who had acquired the whole site in 1896. The small cell house described above may have acted as a short-term holding centre for obstreperous soldiers who had broken discipline (i.e. drunkenness etc.), or for those awaiting court marshal. The dwelling house next to the cell is believed to have been the warrant officer’s residence. THE ‘JOYMOUNT’ SITE The site on which these buildings stand has a much longer history, however, having been home to a Franciscan Friary, a large mansion and a gaol. The friary was founded by Hugh De Lacy, Earl of Ulster, in 1232, and over the next three hundred years it grew to encompass an impressive collection of buildings which included a large church and a mill. After the Reformation and the expulsion of the friars it was used as a store for munitions and food for the Carrickfergus garrison. Later it came into possession of Sir Edmund Fitzgerald, who in 1609 assigned it to Sir Arthur Chichester, the then Governor of the town. Chichester demolished the now ruinous former friary buildings and between 1610 and 1618 erected a magnificent new dwelling, (‘Joymount’- after his patron Lord Mountjoy), described in 1635 as ‘a very stately house, or rather like a prince’s palace, whereunto there belongs a stately gatehouse and graceful terrace’. Chichester’s descendants, who were raised to the Marquisate of Donegall, remained at Joymount until 1724; by 1760 the house was a ruin and eight years later had to be demolished. In 1776 Lord Donegall gave the Joymount site to the Grand Jury of County Antrim for the purpose of building a new county courthouse and gaol. Both these were completed in 1779, with the courthouse (possibly built to the designs of one James Drew), incorporating a small turret formerly belonging to Joymount’s ‘stately gatehouse’. Both buildings were much added to in later years, the gaol extended in 1792 and 1815-19, with a chapel, infirmary, retiring room for judges, bath, gaoler’s lodge, guard room and execution room all added within the courthouse yard at the same time. In 1832 the crown court section had to be rebuilt. All of these additions may have given the courthouse a slightly haphazard layout, for OS memoirs of 1832 state that whilst its rooms ‘are suitably and comfortably fitted up…their general arrangement and that of the building is by no means judicious’. The whole gaol yard was enclosed by a roughly 6m high rubble wall. In 1850, the functions of both buildings were transferred to the new county courthouse and gaol in Belfast and in 1856 the complex was leased to the Royal Antrim Artillery Militia, for use as a barrack and ordnance store. In 1896 the militia purchased the site and were thus finally able to demolish the old gaol and erect a purpose-built barrack, ordnance store and other buildings. The courthouse, as well as large sections of the gaol walls survived, however. With the standing down of the Militia as part of army reorganisation after WWI, the complex was vacated by troops but kept in use by the military as a store. In 1934 it was acquired by Carrickfergus Urban District Council and the old courthouse (which had latterly served as the main barrack block) converted to a new town hall, with the ordnance / barrack blocks later converted to offices. In 1991-93 a large yard area between the former barrack / ordnance blocks was enclosed with both it and part of both blocks incorporated / converted to form a large heritage centre. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI D.1954/6/13 ‘A map of the county town of Carrickfergus from actual survey, by James O’Kane’ 1821 2 ‘OS Memoirs of Ireland- Parishes of Co Antrim XIV…1832, 1839-40’ ed Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1996), pp.19-22, 103-133, 150, 164 3 PRONI OS/6/1/52/1 OS map 1832, Co Antrim sh 52 [The 1830s valuation town plan for Carrickfergus is missing.] 4 PRONI VAL/2D/1/14/1-2 Valuation town plan of Carrickfergus, 1860 5 PRONI VAL/12E/20/1/1-2 Valuation town plan of Carrickfergus, 1872 (with annotations of 1898) 6 PRONI OS/32/1/1-5 OS town plan of Carrickfergus, 1884 7 PRONI VAL/12E/20/2/1-4 Valuation town plan of Carrickfergus, 1898 (with annotations of 1908) 8 PRONI OS/8/32/2/1-4 OS town plan of Carrickfergus, 1904 9 PRONI VAL/12E/20/4/1-3 Valuation town plan of Carrickfergus, 1908 (with annotations of 1935) 10 Linen Hall Library ‘Carrickfergus town hall- Opened by Rt Hon The Viscount Craigavon…11 July 1935’ [Booklet commemorating the opening of the converted courthouse as the new Carrickfergus UDC town hall.] 11 PRONI VAL/3G/15/1/1-3 Valuation town plan of Carrickfergus, 1935 (with annotations of 1950) 12 PRONI VAL/3G/15/2/1-2 Valuation town plan of Carrickfergus, 1950 (with annotations of 1956) Secondary sources 1 C.E.B. Brett, ‘Court houses and market houses of the province of Ulster (Belfast 1973), pp.29-30 2 Gordon Campbell and Susan Crowther, ‘Historic buildings…Carrickfergus’ (Belfast 1978), p.25 3 Sheila Speers, ‘Under the big lamp- Historic photographs of Carrickfergus’ (Belfast 1989) 4 Charles McConnell, ‘Carrickfergus- A stroll through time’ (Carrickfergus 1994) 5 Michael Swift, ‘Historical maps of Ireland’ (London 1999), p.48 [Map of Carrickfergus c.1600 showing the former friary etc.]

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

X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Well preserved late Victorian military complex that has substantial local historical interest and group value with the adjacent listed town Hall.

General Comments

Date of Survey

12 February 2001