Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB23/18/058

Address :
Glenmakieran 141 Bangor Road Cultra Holywood BT18 0ET

Townland:
Ballygrainey

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
10/03/2008 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
115-13SW

IG Ref:
J4185 8018

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

A rambling two-storey plus attic Arts & Craft style house and outbuildings of the early 20th century set in extensive grounds on the south of the Bangor Road, facing north. Asymmetry, sweeping roofs and eclectic detailing are typical of the genre. Small link buildings and yard walls joining house and outbuildings are employed to form a composite and picturesque silhouette. The house survives unaltered and is a particularly fine example of this type of substantial Edwardian house. Roofs are Rosemary tiles with overhanging eaves and cast iron rainwater goods. Walls are white-painted roughcast with leaded-light windows set in timber frames with timber sills in most locations but with masonry sills to some of the feature windows; opening lights, where present, are metal side-hung casements. The windows vary in width and height and are irregularly spaced, except where noted. Main house elevations are numbered as follows: NE wing NW wing A. NW elevation E. SE elevation B. NE elevation F. SW elevation C. SE elevation G. NW elevation D. SW elevation H. NE elevation The main elevation comprises the forecourt façades of the NW and NE wings with the entrance at the inside angle facing N. NORTHEAST WING Elevation A. Roughcast to ground floor with vertical tile hanging to first floor. From left there is the gable of a single storey lean-to, then two two-light windows and one three-light window just under eaves level of the tile hanging. At right, next to the entrance tower is a three-light window at low level. Above, three three-light windows are set under the eaves; there are then two eyebrow three-light windows in the main roof above, which is half-hipped. Rainwater and service pipework run up the right-hand side, between the second and third first floor windows. At extreme right, the wall runs into the entrance tower. This is a canted bay rising two storey with an octagonal roof running into the main roof; there is a timber varnished panelled door in the central face and a three-light window to the lh cheek. Above the door a deep gutter forms the edge of a canopy around the bay, hung on ornate wrought iron brackets. On the first floor is a full height bay window lighting the main stairs; each facet has nine lights in three stages; it has a masonry sill. Elevation B. At left, is the side wall of the return facing the garden with here there is a small lean-to an outside toilet and covered lobby off a small yard; above is a single-light window to the first floor. A tall pebble-dashed chimney rises from the eaves. Forward of this is the wall to the yard to the left of the gable of the NE wing: single-storey leant-to with a five-light window to left and a door to right, with step down to the forecourt; above is a central five-light window just under the eaves with the hipped roof above where there is a three-light window centred in the gablet. The yard forms a link to the out buildings to the E (see later.), Elevation C. At right and linking NW and NE wings is a lean to roof over a timber panelled rear door, to the left of which is a three-light window; above, the wall is tile-hung with a six-light window to the rear stairs (see later); in the main roof above and to the left is a triangular dormer (tile-hung) with a two-light window under a small hip. Forward is the gable of the garden return to the NW wing; it is symmetrical with a ten-light two stage window to the ground floor; an eight-light window (six central in two stages with a single light to either side) to the first floor and a single-light window in the apex of the gable. To the right is the gable of the single-storey lean to running back into the rear wall of the NE wing where there is an eight-light window approximately central on the ground floor with a door to the right and a three-light window at first floor right. Elevation D. This is the SW cheek of the garden return to the NE wing; it is blank except for a four-light window at first floor under the eaves as elsewhere. NORTHWEST WING Elevation E. This is to the right of Elevation 3 and is the gable of the NW wing. To the left, against the SW wall, are the sun room and the gable of a single storey bay to Elevation 6; to the right is the main three story gable of the NW wing. The gable is symmetrical with a ten-light/two stage window to both ground and first floors with a five-light window to the second floor; running across the gable at the window heads width are bell casts in the roughcast finish. There are two down pipes, one at each side with large moulded rectangular hoppers cast with the date ‘1906’; the eaves gutters from either side return into these. Elevation F. This elevation is 2½ storeys high. In the roof are two chimneys, one that is cruciform with five pots on the lh gable and another, with six pots, just right of centre on the ridge. At the lh end is a two storey gabled rectangular bay with a square single storey bay with hipped roof and sixteen-light/two stage window; above this is a ten-light/two stage window with a bell cast running across the wall at the window head; there is a small single-light attic window in the peak of the gable, again with a bell cast as before. Next on the ground floor is a modern plastic sheet infill lean-to between lh and rh bays supported by a timber-framed glazed screen with plain glass and ‘georgian’ glazed double doors. To the right of this elevation and at a higher level is a rectangular lean-to bay with a semi-octagonal flat-roofed masonry plain glazed sunroom in front against its SE wall. The first floor above is tile-hung with two six-light/two stage windows, that to the left roughly central in the elevation; above, in the roof and directly over the first floor windows, are a three-light and a two-light dormer. The rw downpipe drops centrally between the first floor windows and has been redirected across the rh lean to roof and down. Elevation G. This is the NW gable of the NE wing. It is almost three storeys high and is asymmetrical, with the roof on the lh side running into the roof of the lh bay window. To the lh side and half the width of the gable proper is a two storey octagonal bay window with a hipped roof; the three full facets of the bay have full width glazing - a nine-light/two stage window on the ground floor with a three-light window to the first floor. The cheeks of the bay running into the main walls are plain and roughcast. The rh side of the bay runs into a full height chimney stack that makes a cruciform above roof level with the chimney rising from the gable just to the left of the apex. immediately to the right of the chimney, on the ground floor is a two-light window. Stepping up from around window head height on the ground floor to first floor sill level to is a projecting chimney breast with four tiled copings. Against the rh wall of the gable is the cheek of the two storey bay on Elevation 6; against this is a triangular single storey bay with a hipped roof and six-light/two stage window in each facet. Above is a two-light window. Elevation H. This returns to the entrance tower and forms the SW side of the forecourt. The roof slope is the deepest on the house, sweeping down to first floor eaves level; there is a chimney (as before) on the ridge approximately central and the cruciform chimney at the gable. There is an eyebrow dormer with an arched three-light window to the centre of the roof and another simple dormer with a three-light window to the right. Walls are roughcast. At the lh is the entrance tower (as above); immediate adjacent is a complicated set of pipes running into a hopper at first floor level and thence to the ground. Next is a two-light window on the ground floor with similar above but slightly to one side; remainder of elevation is blank. OUTBUILDINGS Generally – all walls are roughcast painted and roofs are Rosemary tiles; windows as before. Starting nearest to the house, at the E corner. Boiler Room/Pump Room Single storey, with a plain roof continuing to the left over a passageway into the next building(garage.) NE elevation: roof has a central chimney with a gable on the elevation at the rh end through which a chimney stack rises; there is wany-edged timber cladding in the gable apex either side of the chimney. There are three three-light windows equally spaced; rh end is joined to the main house by the wall of the small yard to the rear of the NE wing. SE elevation is to the passageway and the door to the pump room is located here. SW elevation is blank. NW elevation has a central double door with a glazed screen over; it is joined at the rh side to the main house by the wall of the small yard to the rear of the NE wing of the house. All windows as house but less high. Interiors are plain with various items of domestic heating equipment, all modern. The pump room has a chimney stack on the party wall with the boiler room. Floors are concrete. Next is a large courtyard, the SE and SW sides are enclosed by an L-shaped block comprising the garage and the stables respectively; the remaining sides are plain walls with a large gateway in the NE side. Garage NE elevation: at left is a single timber stable door; the remainder of the elevation is taken up by two large modern garage doors with a tile-hung gable above in which are two small single-light window either side of a timber double loading door from the attic/hayloft to the courtyard. SE elevation is continuous with the rear elevation of the stables here the roof is half-hipped and there is a five-light window at high level under the eaves. SW elevation; a gabled return at right sits forward of the wall to the stable and main walls of the other buildings running towards the house; there are two three-light windows symmetrically placed at ground floor and another centrally placed in the gable above. NW elevation has a door to the passageway and a two-light window at the rh corner. All windows as house but less high. The garage interior is plain and undivided with windows to the rear wall as above. Ceiling is joisted with timber flooring above: floor is concrete. loose box interior: ahead on entry is a strong timber door with iron grill to the top half in a tg& v timber screen dividing two original stalls. There is a wall-hung iron hay rack and drinking trough in a timber frame in that to the left and double feed troughs at floor level in the rh one. Floors are ribbed concrete. Also in the rh stall a timber ladder satirises to a landing to an attic/hayloft above the garage that is plain, with a timber floor and lit as described above. Stables Roughcast walls with Rosemary-tiled roof hipped to NE end, falling below storey height to exterior of yard and running into higher garage block roof at the other end. NW elevation from left: small 1/1 window with plain glass; two broad timber stable doors; small window as before; two-light window beside tg&v sheeted door to smaller tack room. NE elevation is blank with the hipped roof sweeping to low level. SE elevation is blank with low-level eaves. No SW elevation. Stables interior - Loose boxes divided by partition wall, other wise plain. Tack room interior is plain. SETTING The grounds survive to their original extent. While neglected and overgrown, the broad intentions of the original design are still perceptible.

Architects

Historical Information

Although the rainwater hoppers bear the date '1906', the valuation records state that this house was completed in 1908. It was built for Robert E. Herdman, a member of the mill-owning family of Sion Mills, who, according to Robert Young’s 1910 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster in the 20th century’, was a director of the firm of Henry Matier & Co. and a Belfast Harbour Commissioner. The valuers' office notebook for 1908 tells us that the principal rooms of the house consisted of three reception rooms to the ground floor, four bedrooms and two dressing rooms to the first floor, and four attic rooms, with the cost of construction amounting to £2,850. The identity of the architect is not known. Both family connections to the Herdmans, and stylistic similarities to his other designs, suggest that English architect W.F. Unsworth may have been responsible, but so far no documentary evidence has surfaced to support this. Young’s abovementioned ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster…’ seems to imply that the property was originally known as ‘Merronhurst’, however it is not named as such in the valuations and no dwelling of this name appears in the contemporary directories. The name ‘Glenmakieran’ does not appear either, although the building is marked as such on the six inch OS map produced some time between 1919 and 1931. At some point between 1929 and 1936, the house was bought by a John Higginson, with a Margaret Higginson recorded as the occupant in the valuations between 1950 and 1958. After this the property is noted as being in the joint ownership of an E. Donald and an R. Shearer. The building was acquired by Eric Cowan in 1966, who appears to have remained there until c.1993. Since that time Glenmakieran has changed ownership on at least two occasions, but has not been occupied. Dean states that the gate lodge was built in c.1928. It is noted in the post 1936 valuations as ‘Glenmakieran Lodge’.* References- Primary sources 1 PRONI VAL/12B/17/11B Annual valuation revision book, Holywood ED, 1900-07 2 PRONI VAL/12B/17/11C Annual valuation revision book, Holywood ED, 1908-14 3 PRONI VAL/12A/3/20 Valuers' office notebook, Castlereagh RD, 1906-12 4 Young, Robert M., ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster in the 20th century’ (Brighton, 1910), p.393 5 PRONI VAL/12B/17/11D Annual valuation revision book, Holywood ED, 1914-27 6 PRONI OS/6/3/1/4 OS map, Co. Down sheet 1, 1919-31 7 'Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory', (Belfast News-Letter, 1908- ) [The only Herdman recorded as living in the Cultra area in the directories in the early decades of the 20th century is a Mrs H. Herdman, between 1921/22 and 1930. The name of her residence is not given.] 8 PRONI VAL/12B/17/1A Annual valuation revision book, Ballycultra ED, 1923-29 [*The annual valuations stop in 1929 and recommence in 1935-36. The gate lodge appears to be first recorded in the post 1935 valuations, suggesting that it was built between 1929 and that date.] 9 PRONI VAL/3C/4/8 First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland, Castlereagh RD, 1936-56 10 PRONI VAL/4B/3/18 Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland, Castlereagh RD, 1956-72 Secondary sources 1 Rowan, A.J., ‘North west Ulster’, (London, 1979), pp.70, 486, 488 [References to W.F. Unsworth’s work for the Herdman family in Sion Mills.] 2 Dean, J.A.K., ‘The gate lodges of Ulster- a gazetteer’ (Belfast, 1994) 3 Brett, C.E.B., ‘The buildings of north County Down’, (Belfast, 2002), pp.128-30

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

V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A rambling two-storey plus attic Arts & Craft style house and outbuildings of the early 20th century set in extensive grounds on the south of the Bangor Road, facing north. Asymmetry, sweeping roofs and eclectic detailing are typical of the genre. Small link buildings and yard walls joining house and outbuildings are employed to form a composite and picturesque silhouette. The house survives unaltered and is a particularly fine example of this type of substantial Edwardian house. The gate lodge (not yet surveyed) is of some importance in the overall scheme.

General Comments

Date of Survey

09 October 2007