Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB12/07/021

Address :
South Lodge (Heather House) 104 Belfast Road Derryvore Lisbellaw Co Fermanagh BT74 4HN

Townland:
Derryvore

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
26/08/1977 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Gates/ Screens/ Lodges

Former Use
Gates/ Screens/ Lodges

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
Yes

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
211/16

IG Ref:
H2590 4176

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

A single-storey T-shaped thatched building with rendered, lined and ochre colour-washed walls picked out in black on the stone base. The house is placed slightly below the road that travels in a south-easterly direction from Enniskillen to Fivemiletown about two miles from the former town. It occupies the north side of the road at this point and in commanding a former approach to the Castle Coole demesne has the entrance elevation facing north-east. The widely overhanging roof thatch covering of reed follows the shape of the plan. It extends over a bay window on the north-east elevation and provides a covering for the entrance on the south-east side. This is also the arrangement that has been achieved at the rear door on the north-west side. The picturesque appearance of the building is enhanced by the use of cleaned timber logs to support the eaves of the house. There are fourteen of these in total. The central corbelled brick chimney supports three small clay pots and that at the centre is finished with a spark arrester. The fenestration is provided by means of metal lattice-paned casements set in plain chamfered stone surrounds. The distribution of the openings is as follows. North-west elevation: A pair of windows and the rear door set back in the side of the south-west projection. South-west elevation: A single window. North-east elevation: A projecting canted bay with four lights. South-east elevation: A pair of windows and the entrance door set back in the side of the north-east section. Stone flags provide hard standing at the entrances and on the north-west side.

Architects

Morrison, Richard

Historical Information

This gate lodge to the Castle Coole estate was built around 1840, probably to designs by Sir Richard Morrison. It is recorded in the 1860 valuation and valued at £2, though, (as appears to have been the practice with estate dwellings), the name of the tenant is not supplied. The Castle Coole estate was acquired by the Corry family in the 1650s. The present house was built between 1789 and 1795 for Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl of Belmore, to designs by James Wyatt. It replaced a house of 1702 which, incidentally, was destroyed by fire just prior to the completion of the new building. The park was landscaped by the 1st Earl with work continuing after his death in 1802. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI VAL/1A/4/27 OS map, County Fermanagh sheet 27, with valuation
references, (1834 /35-c.38) 2 PRONI VAL/2A/4/23D Revised OS map, County Fermanagh sheet 23, with valuation references, (1857 / 60) 3 PRONI VAL/2B/4/24B Second valuation, Enniskillen (1860) Secondary sources 1 Dixon, Hugh, ‘An Introduction to Ulster Architecture’ (Belfast, 1975), p.104 2 Rowan, Alistair, ‘North West Ulster’ (London, 1979), pp.176-79 3 Gallagher, Lyn, and Rogers, Dick, ‘Castle, Coast and Cottage- The National Trust in Northern Ireland’ (Belfast, 1986), pp.17-21 4 Deane, J.A.K., ‘The Gate Lodges of Ulster’ (Belfast, 1994), p.104 5 Information gathered from National Trust website (May 2004) Other references 1 EHS Monitoring of Thatched Buildings, report by Michele McFaul, 7 May 1994

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

A single-storey T-shaped thatched building with rendered, lined and ochre colour-washed walls picked out in black on the stone base. Very few formally designed thatched buildings exist; most are vernacular and informal in style, and Heather House is the only example of a thatched gate lodge that remains. It has also the additional interest of almost certainly having been designed by a prominent architect. The building is unaltered and represents a very important survival of the Picturesque style used to produce an ancillary structure in a prominent position beside a main road and close to a major town.

General Comments

Date of Survey

28 July 2003