Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB11/15/004 A

Address :
Fermanagh and Tyrone Hospital 1 Donaghanie Road Omagh Co Tyrone BT79 0NS

Townland:
Cranny

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
08/01/1981 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
School

Former Use
Hospital Building

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
138-5

IG Ref:
H4724 7181

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Owner Category

Health Board

Exterior Description And Setting

Detached multi-bay three-storey, over partial basement (entrance bay only), Elizabethan Gothic former hospital building, built 1848-53 to designs by William Farrell; additional wings added c. 1865 to designs by George Boyd. Symmetrical linear E-shaped form; central double-gabled projecting entrance bay to north flanked by rectangular former cell sections divided by two gabled projecting bays to north and gabled and hipped bays at south; further single-storey canted bay to east; L-shaped wings at east and west are abutted at south-east and south-west by further L-shaped wings (c.1865); to rear, central bay abutted by two rubble link blocks to additional accommodation including gabled private chapel (c.1865, sub-divided c.1905) and flanking recreation halls (c.1865); further single-storey hipped halls to left and right; at west, further link block connects to main building; intermittent spaces contain series of flat-roofed single-storey rubble and roughcast extensions, added c.1956 and 1970, the latter to designs by WH McAlister. Roof is pitched natural slate with blue/black clay ridge ties over corbelled eaves course; raised verges on corbelled kneelers; red brick and stone chimneys with concrete coping; roof sub-divided by stone fire-breaks to verges. Walls are squared-and-snecked sandstone with ashlar sandstone quoins over projecting plinth; diagonal buttressing with offsets. Windows are square-headed replacement uPVC casements within original metal frames; segmental-arched-headed rubble voussoirs to larger windows; all have chamfered sandstone surrounds. Symmetrical Principal elevation faces north; from left, bay one consists of double-gabled projecting bay; left gable contains central dipartite window flanked by small window either side at ground floor; double-height canted oriel window on corbelled bracket surmounted by trefoil oculus to apex; right gable contains two dipartite windows to each floor; ground floor right contains replacement square-headed timber sheeted entrance door abutted by single-storey flat-roofed porch, c.1970; west elevation abutted at ground floor by roughcast extension; exposed section contains four windows to each floor; abutted at centre by projecting gabled bay containing single window at each floor to each elevation; two windows at each floor right. Bay two contains four openings at each floor; third opening from left at ground floor is replacement square-headed timber sheeted entrance door with transom light surmounted by concrete canopy. Gabled projecting bay three contains tripartite window to each floor surmounted by quatrefoil vent within lozenge panel to apex; east and west elevations contain dipartite window at each floor. Bay four contains seven windows at each floor. Gabled projecting bay five contains two dipartite windows to ground and first floor; single tripartite window at second floor surmounted by louvred loophole to apex; east elevation contains square-headed replacement double-leaf vertically sheeted timber entrance doors with transom light surmounted by dipartite window at first floor and single window at second floor; west elevation contains single window at ground floor, upper floors as east. Bay six contains nine windows at each floor; abutted on right by tower with crenulated parapet containing single window at each floor; west elevation contains tripartite window at each floor left (including basement) and Tudor arched vertically sheeted entrance door in chamfered sandstone surround at ground floor right surmounted by single window at first floor. Projecting bay seven is four-storey and consists of two projecting gables and central Tudor arched entrance opening; square-headed double-leaf six-panelled timber entrance doors with sidelights and transom light surmounted by fretted sandstone canopy with quatrefoil carvings and spandrels on corbelled brackets; tripartite window at each upper floor; left gable contains quadripartite window at basement and ground floor, two dipartite windows at first and second floor and tripartite window at third floor; right gable consists of double-height canted bay at ground and first floor, upper floors as left; quatrefoil vent in lozenge panel to apex; east and west elevation is abutted at left by tower; dipartite and tripartite window to each floor at centre; projecting gable at right contains tripartite window at ground floor and dipartite window to upper floors. Bay eight contains nine openings at each floor; sixth opening from left at ground floor is replacement square-headed timber panelled entrance door surmounted by concrete canopy; abutted at left by tower, detailed as before. Gabled projecting bay nine contains two dipartite windows to ground and first floor; single tripartite window at second floor surmounted by louvred double loophole to apex; east elevation contains dipartite window at first floor and single window at second floor; west elevation contains dipartite window at ground floor, upper floors as east. Bay ten contains seven windows at each floor. Gabled projecting bay eleven contains two dipartite windows at ground floor and tripartite window to each upper floor surmounted by louvred loophole to apex. Bay twelve contains four windows at each floor. Bay thirteen consists of double-gabled projecting bay; left gable contains two dipartite windows to each floor, ground floor right contains replacement double-leaf timber panelled entrance doors with transom light; cruciform loophole to apex; right gable contains central entrance, as left, flanked left and right by single window at ground floor; tripartite and dipartite window at each upper floor; quatrefoil vent within lozenge panel to apex; east elevation is abutted by projecting gable containing single window at each floor to each elevation; exposed section at left contains dipartite and tripartite window at each floor; exposed section at right contains five windows at each floor. East elevation is abutted at left by east rear wing (see below). Original building from left; bay one contains central projecting chimney-breast flanked left by dipartite window and right by tripartite window; abutted at ground floor right (re-entrant angle) by single-storey flat-roofed extension (c.1900); abutted at left by square stair-tower containing pointed-arched-headed windows to each elevation, surmounted by flat-roofed octagonal tower. Projecting gabled bay two is abutted at ground floor by extension (c.1970); exposed section contains tripartite window at first and second floor right, replacement timber door at each floor left leading to fire-escape stair; south elevation contains two dipartite windows at first and second floor; abutted at ground floor by extension. East rear wing East elevation from left; bay one consists of double-gabled projecting bay, each containing two dipartite windows at each floor surmounted by trefoil oculus to apex; at right, replacement timber panelled doors at each floor lead to fire-escape stair; north elevation contains six windows at each floor. Bay two contains seven windows at each floor. Projecting gabled bay three consists of double-height canted bay surmounted by tripartite window at second floor; north elevation contains three dipartite windows and single window at each floor; south elevation contains tripartite and dipartite window at each floor left and replacement timber door at each floor right leading to fire-escape stair. South elevation of wing contains eight windows at each floor; abutted at ground floor left by single-storey canted extension. West elevation, from left; bay one abutted on left by lean-to rubble link block to annex, on right, by two-storey flat-roofed extension. Bay two abutted by hipped return abutted at ground floor by rubble link block; exposed section containing single opening at each floor; south elevation abutted at ground floor by roughcast extension; exposed section contains four openings with brick voussoirs to each floor (variety of timber framed and metal windows); north elevation contains six sliding sash windows with brick voussoirs to each floor. Bay three is abutted at ground floor by lean-to link block; upper floors each contain two dipartite windows and single window; abutted on right by flat-roofed three-storey extension. South elevation from left; bay one abutted by east rear wing. Gabled projecting bay two has been extended and contains three uPVC casement windows with brick voussoirs and masonry sills at each floor; east elevation contains tripartite window at each floor right, separated from extension at left by buttress with offsets; single window with brick voussoirs at each floor. Bay three consists of central projecting chimney-breast; at left, two dipartite windows at each floor; at right, dipartite and tripartite window at each floor; abutted at right by projecting bay containing window at each floor and abutted at ground floor by rubble link block to recreation hall; single-storey porch to re-entrant angle contains window to south and Tudor-arched-headed vertically sheeted timber door to west. Projecting gabled bay four contains two dipartite windows to each floor and loophole to apex; east elevation contains tripartite window at each floor. Bay five contains two dipartite windows at each floor. Bay six is abutted by hipped rubble extension with brick voussoirs and quoins; two dipartite (timber mullions) sliding sash windows at each floor; east and west elevations contain two large sliding sash windows at each floor. Bay seven contains dipartite window at each floor left and right; at centre, Tudor-arched-headed vertically sheeted timber door flanked at left by dipartite window surmounted by tripartite window to first and second floor; abutted at right by hipped rubble link block to rear accommodation. Bay eight (entrance bay) contains five 6/6 sliding sash windows at each floor divided by buttressing with offsets; two flat-roofed dormers to attic. Bay nine detailed as bay seven. Bay ten detailed as bay six. Bay eleven detailed as bay five. Bay twelve detailed as bay four. Bay thirteen contains three dipartite windows at each floor. Bay fourteen is abutted at centre by two-storey canted rubble extension; exposed section at second floor contains dipartite window; projecting chimney-breast to left; dipartite window to each floor at right. Bay fifteen is abutted by hipped rubble extension and further two-storey hipped extension. West elevation is abutted at right by west rear wing (see below). Original building from left; projecting gabled bay one contains tripartite window at ground floor; replacement timber door at upper floors left leading to fire-escape stair, flanked at right by dipartite window; south elevation consists of pair of windows at ground floor centre surmounted by projecting chimney-breast supported on corbels at first floor; replacement double-leaf timber panelled entrance doors ground floor left; two dipartite windows at first and second floor. Bay two consists of projecting chimney-breast to centre; exposed section at left contains two tripartite windows at each floor; at right, dipartite and tripartite window at each floor; abutted at right (re-entrant angle) by square tower, detailed as east elevation, surmounted by octahedral roof; Tudor arched timber entrance door to north elevation. West rear wing West elevation from left; bay one is hipped and contains eight windows at each floor (some plain glazed, some original metal casements, some replacement). Bay two consists of double-gabled projecting bay, each containing two dipartite windows to each floor surmounted by trefoil oculus to apex; replacement timber doors at each floor left leading to fire-escape stair; north elevation contains six openings at each floor. South elevation contains eight windows at each floor (right is dipartite); abutted at ground floor left by flat-roofed canted rubble extension. East elevation; from left, bay one abutted by flat-roofed rubble extension; bay two is abutted by hipped rubble return containing single window with brick voussoirs at each floor; south elevation contains three windows at second floor and five at first floor; all have brick voussoirs; abutted at ground floor by extension; bay three is abutted at ground floor by single-storey extension and right by flat-roofed extension containing two windows at each floor (first floor have brick voussoirs); exposed section at left contains window at each floor; court enclosed to south and west by single-storey outbuildings. Bay four is gabled square stair-tower containing tripartite window at first floor, two windows at second floor and single window at attic level; abutted at ground floor by outbuilding; south and north elevations contain window at half-landing; gabled dormer to attic; abutted at ground floor by rubble extension. Recreation Halls Recreation halls (c.1865) to rear; steep hipped roofs; Tudor arch openings containing square-headed timber and metal casement windows are divided by buttresses with offsets. To centre of arrangement, gabled private chapel contains replacement uPVC windows; gabled bell-cote to north gable; all buildings abutted at ground floor by link blocks and additional rubble and roughcast flat-roofed extensions and outbuildings. Rubble link-block to south-west leads to multi-bay single-storey former County infirmary, built c.1895 to designs by C A Owen (now annex to the school occupying the main building). The building, in the style of the main building, is abutted by hipped return to north and by hall and further canted bays to south. To west of the main building is a further former ward, again in the style of the hospital, now converted for office use. Setting:- Set within extensive private grounds with several structures of note including gatelodge (HB11.15.004B), Roman Catholic Chapel (HB11.15.004C) and Church of Ireland (HB11.15.004D). Throughout the remainder of the complex, are a series of single- and two-storey rubble, brick and roughcast outbuildings, dating from the late nineteenth and throughout the twentieth century, making up supporting and additional accommodation, including a concrete water tower (HB11.15.004E). Roof Natural slate Walling Sandstone Windows uPVC casements RWG Cast-iron

Architects

Farrell, William (of Dublin)

Historical Information

The Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital main building was built between 1848 and 1853 by the Irish Board of Works to designs by William Farrell of Dublin, who had many commissions in the north-west. It was extensively added to during the 1860s, 1890s and 1970s. (Rowan, p.447; Rothery, p.92) The stone was transported by horse and cart from a quarry at Lack (McKinley, p.64). The front section of the main hospital building first appears on the second edition of the OS Map (1854), captioned “Omagh District Lunatic Asylum.” On the third edition (1906) it is captioned “Omagh District Asylum” and “Hospital Infectious Diseases”, the rear being greatly extended and additional outbuildings in evidence. Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) records the lessors as the Governors of the Omagh District Lunatic Asylum and lists under exceptions the “Lunatic Asylum & Land” valued at £307 for the buildings. In 1860, Valuation Revisions list the value as £450 but in 1872, the value of the buildings is amended to £550, in line with the significant alterations that had taken place. Asylums in Ireland were established in 1817 by the Commissioner of General Control and Correspondence, the original intention being to have one in each province and one in Dublin. In Ulster, there were two (in Belfast and Armagh), the latter intended to cover Tyrone, Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan. Addressing problems with the asylums in 1830, the Irish Board of Works dictated that additional ones should be built and insisted on a high quality of uplifting design, generally Gothic in style, unlike the grim character of jails or workhouses. No stranger to institutional buildings, William Farrell had also designed the courthouses at Enniskillen (1821) and Cavan (1825) (Dixon, p.137). The Elizabethan-style Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital, chartered in 1848 and then called the “Omagh District Lunatic Asylum,” was part of this “second series [of asylums] erected by the Irish Board of Works at a cost of £35,000” (Rowan, p.447). The hospital was designed for 300 patients and eventually cost £41,407.12s.2d. It opened on the 3rd of May 1853 (McKinley p.64). “The patient population reached its peak in 1959 with numbers then at 1,116, making it the largest hospital of its kind outside Purdysburn” (Mitchell, “Omagh: Paintings and Stories,” p.60). In the 1860s, extensive additions, designed by architect George Boyd, were carried out to the rear in a style similar to the main building, Apart from additional outbuildings to the rear, the east and west wings were extended south forming a large cluster of wards, including the interdenominational chapel, which was converted into dormitories in 1904. The New County Infirmary, or Ward 14, was built in 1895 to designs by C. A. Owen to accommodate the increased number of female patients. It was finally finished in 1899 for the contract price of £3,265.0s.0d., after the use of patient labour to clear the site in 1896. It had been used to treat male patients while still being finished in 1897 during a flu outbreak that claimed ninety-seven lives. The year after completion, it was attached to the main building with a glass linking block and in 1905, a veranda with a sunroof was added to facilitate consumption patients, reflecting a new concern that resulted in the demolition of the old Sanitary Block after sixty-seven patients died from tuberculosis in 1898 (McKinley, p67). The boundary walls surrounding the original twenty-six acre site date from 1848, were altered in 1855, and extended with the site to enclose seventy-two acres in 1873. In 1881, a new carpenter shop and smithy were added followed in 1898 by a shop for tailors, shoemakers and upholsterers. A concrete landing stage on the river for a ferry was added in 1914, an incinerator in 1917, and in 1956 a new mortuary and dual-purpose building (McKinley, p.71, 74, 79). References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/6/35/1-First Edition OS Map (1833) 2. PRONI OS/6/6/35/2 –Second Edition OS Map (1854) 3. PRONI OS/6/6/35/3 –Third Edition OS Map (1906) 4. PRONI VAL/2/B/6/47A –Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/41/26A-F -(1860-1923) Valuation Revisions 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/41/36L-M -(1912-1929) Valuation Revisions 7. Pigot & Co’s Commercial Directory 1824 8. Slater’s Directory of Ireland 1870 Secondary Sources 1. Dixon, Hugh. “An Introduction to Ulster Architecture.” Second Edition. Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2008. 2. McKinley, Robert. “Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital: A Chronological History” in Haldane Mitchell, ed. “Images of Omagh and District.” Vol. 7. Omagh: Rotary Club of Omagh, 1999, pp64-83. 3. Mitchell, Haldane, Ed. “Images of Omagh and District.” Vol. 7. Omagh: Rotary Club of Omagh, 1999. 4. Mitchell, C. J. Haldane. “Omagh: Paintings and Stories from the Seat of the Chiefs.” Donaghadee, Co. Down, Cottage Publications, 2000. 5. Rowan, Alistair. “North West Ulster: Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.” Buildings of Ireland Series. Dublin: Penguin Books, 1979. 6. Reid, Thomas. Travels in Ireland in the Year 1822, Exhibiting Brief Sketches of Moral, Physical, and Political State of the Country: With Reflections of the Best Means of Improving Its Condition. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1823. 7. Rothery, Sean. “A Field Guide to the Buildings of Ireland: Illustrating the Smaller Buildings of Town and Countryside." Dublin: Lilliput, 1997. 8. Shaffrey, Patrick and Maura. “Buildings of Irish Towns: Treasures of Everyday Architecture.” Dublin: The O’Brien Press, 1983. 9. Williams, Jeremy. “Architecture in Ireland, 1837-1921: A Companion Guide.” Dublin: Irish Academic Press Ltd, 1994.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Detached multi-bay three-storey, over partial basement (entrance bay only), Elizabethan Gothic former hospital building, built 1848-53 to designs by William Farrell; additional wings added c. 1865 to designs by George Boyd. The building displays well crafted stone details, such as window surrounds, carved vents and the ornate central entrance canopy. Consideration was given to how the building was to be used, incorporating a range of large and small spaces for various functions within its formal linear layout, including (originally) detached recreation rooms and private chapel. The building has been added to throughout its 150 year life by notable architects, including substantial east and west wings, extensions to the rear and outbuildings, many in a complementary style. The replacement of windows has had a detrimental effect on its appearance but this large-scale hospital building of imposing character survives in almost original condition and, although some sub-division has taken place, the principal spaces remain. The complex, including gate lodge (HB11/15/004B), Roman Catholic Chapel (HB11/15/004C) and Church of Ireland (HB11/15/004D), represents a significant phase in the history of such institutions

General Comments

This record has been renumbered as part of a group - previously HB11/15/004

Date of Survey

03 March 2009