Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB12/19/046

Address :
The Steele Hall Portora Royal School Willoughby Place Enniskillen BT74 7HA

Townland:
Portora

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
14/06/2011 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
School

Former Use
School

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
Yes

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
211-11NW

IG Ref:
H2247 4476

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Owner Category

Education Board

Exterior Description And Setting

Portora Royal School sits on top of a high hill to the North-West of Enniskillen and has a fine view over the town. The entrance gates, the vista stop of the finest surviving Georgian/ Victorian street in Enniskillen, Willoughby Place, were made from the Corinthian Columns of the portico of Inishmore Hall. Beyond, there is the sweeping "S" curve of the main driveway as it passes through lawns with mature trees. The main façade of the school faces South-East and has an asphalted terrace with symmetrical steps to the lawns. To the South-West end of the façade is the Murfet Cloister, designed by Robert McKinstry in the 1987, replacing another, open cloister designed by John Storie in the 1960s. Beyond the cloister, still moving South-West, is a stepped courtyard, with walls of sand/cement and concrete paving, and beyond that, running parallel to the gable of the main block, is the Steele Hall, named after a former headmaster. The Steele Hall is an assembly hall, with classrooms below. Externally, it is a severely plain building. The floor level of the classrooms is on natural ground level, since the slope of the hill on which the school is built falls steeply away from the main building. The floor of the assembly hall is a few steps above the level of the terrace of the main block. Structurally, the building is nine bays long, with a pitched, slated roof, sand/cement rendered walls and very large sliding sash painted timber windows, all in segmental-arched openings. The South-East façade, the first that is seen from a curve in the driveway, is plain except for two smaller windows, asymmetrically placed, in the lowest, classroom level. At the very apex of the roof is a projecting cylindrical ventilating inlet. Also on this façade is a fire escape stair, built in the 1990s. Around it can be seen the newer render covering the area from which the prefects' studies were removed at the same time. There are four large buttresses to the South-West façade, One was installed in the early1990s but it is not clear whether the rest are original or were installed later to counteract outward movement of the walls due to the spread of the roof. This elevation also has the largest array of windows which, on the upper floor, are coupled into three pairs, with an odd single to the North-West beyond a plastered brick chimney which has a second, metal, flue bolted to it. On the ground floor the windows line up with those above except that there is an extra window between the couples. The school boiler house and gymnasium abut this façade at its North-Western end. The North-West façade has a metal fire escape, another cylindrical ventilator in the apex and a small 1930s building built against it. The North-East façade faces into the courtyard. Again, the large windows on the upper floor are paired, but there is no odd window to match the SW façade. Instead, the approach lobby abuts the building. On the lower floor the windows and doors are haphazardly placed, though on close inspection of the plaster it can be seen that openings have been blocked up.

Architects

Historical Information

Hugh Dixon, in his UAHS list of Enniskillen, says: "Colonnades and wings were added in 1837-8 making an imposing front facing south towards the town. To provide further accommodation two-storey blocks connecting the old house and the wings were erected behind the colonnades in 1859-61. these were designed by John McCurdy of Dublin who was also responsible for the Steele Hall (1865), a large assembly room with classroom accommodation in the basement, which was built to the west of the buildings. Its exterior is unimpressive but the inside has a wooden roof supported on arched braces and an attractive series of honours boards with hand-painted names. The natural wood look was retained in the recent remodelling, which included the insertion of a gallery, by Robert McKinstry." It may be that the hall was initially used as a school room before being converted to act as an assembly room and theatre. Alistair Rowan, in "The Buildings of North-West Ulster" says: "In 1859 John McCurdy of Dublin filled in the spaces behind the colonnades with two-storey blocks and built the STEELE HALL, W of the main building." Oscar Wilde was at Portora from 1864 to 1871, so he would have seen the Steele Hall built. Samuel Beckett was at Portora from 1920 to 1923. There has been a strong tradition of amateur drama at Portora. It may be that Samuel Beckett may have received his formative experiences of participating in drama in this building. Dr Raymond Gilfillan, (His doctorate is on historic timber structures), responding to photographs of the Steele Hall said, in a letter of 12 Nov 2007: "This looks wonderful and, in my experience, rare. It could make a true 'wagon roof'. This is an early form of vertically laminated timber- you may find more examples in this reference: Muller, Christian. Holzleimbau Laminated Timber Construction. Basel, Birkhauser, 2000. TA666 MULL I have seen similar arches in combination with trusses in American covered bridges and the largest spans in the Crystal Palace may have been like this. Secondary sources: 1 Hugh Dixon, in his UAHS list of Enniskillen 2 Alistair Rowan - "The Buildings of North-West Ulster" 3 Dr Raymond Gilfillan - doctorate is on historic timber structures 4. Information from the current head master (2011) 5. Dictionary of Irish Architects

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System G. Innovatory Qualities I. Quality and survival of Interior K. Group value

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

The Steele Hall is a mid-Victorian building, relatively plain on the outside, designed c1859 by John McCurdy of Dublin. It has group value with the listed main Portora Royal School to which it is attached, Munster House and the main gate screen. The roof structural system is rare and innovatory and it is complemented by the school honour boards. It is likely that Samuel Beckett had his formative experience of drama here.

General Comments

Date of Survey

02 November 2007