Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB23/16/002 A

Address :
Lorne 30 Station Road Craigavad Holywood Co Down BT18 0BP

Townland:
Craigavad

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
27/01/1975 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Recreational Club

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
115/13

IG Ref:
J4230 8095

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Owner Category

Charity

Exterior Description And Setting

Large two-storey with basement, multi-bay dwelling in loose Jacobethan style, built c.1870. Rectangular plan form with three conjoining two-storey returns; a four- stage circular tower; extensive returns and outbuildings to the rear. Located at the end of a short tree lined driveway off Station Road, on the north side of the main Belfast to Bangor road, overlooking Belfast Lough. Pitched natural slate roof with angled clay ridge tiles; chamfered corbel course at eaves level with cast-iron ogee moulded gutters and circular downpipes; tall clay Tudor chimney pots over brick and stone stacks. Walling is yellow brick with irregular long-and-short sandstone, quoins and projected plinth. Windows are timber 1/1 sliding sash varied between square and Tudor arched; sandstone label and hood mouldings over with moulded figured and foliated stops; chamfered jambs with matching head; large chamfered cill and long-and-short surrounds . The main entrance is a timber double door with paired long bolection moulded panels; fixed light over; set into double scroll moulded Tudor arched opening with label moulding over and foliated spandrels. The principal elevation faces northwest and is symmetrically arranged. Central Dutch gable breakfront has paired Tudor arched windows at ground floor; central buttress rising to a castellated oriel bay with a lancet arched arrowloop over. Single-storey canted bay to either side with square moulded parapet panels and quatrefoil signature panel centred over; paired sash windows to first floor. Northeast elevation comprises: left gable of front block; east elevation of triple-pile return (see rear elevation); tower to re-entrant angle. Gable contains a window with label mould to each floor. Tower has triple Tudor arched windows to first and second stages; third and fourth stages (above eaves) have diminished windows, square-headed to third stage and Tudor-arched to fourth; surmounted by a balustrade with lancet piercings. The rear southeast elevation is abutted by three conjoined subservient two-storey returns; profile is a central Dutch gable flanked by two outer plain gables. The east cheek of the right return is dominated by a single-storey ashlar sandstone entrance porch set on a stepped stone platform. The porch has three Tudor-arched openings divided by semi-engaged octagonal piers rising to panelled and crocketted pinnacles and quatrefoil balustrade; principal entrance contained within the porch at the base of the tower located to the tower; two ground floor windows also located within the porch; two first floor windows over. The gable ends to the central and left return are abutted at ground floor level by single-storey modern accommodation. The central Dutch gable is surmounted by a tall finial at the apex; shaped saddle coping falling to gable shoulders. Triple square-headed windows with margin-paned stained glass; relieving arches; central blank oculus over. The west cheek of the left return is abutted at ground floor by a large single-storey solarium located to the right of the gable end. Arcaded glazed cast-iron frame, arranged as a semi-circle projection with a glazed pitch roof over rising to a finial; door located at the top of a stone steps embedded into the landscape with modern hand rails; single and bi-partite window to first floor. The gable is further abutted by a lower two-storey block with dormers and subdued detailing, renovated c.2008. Further two-storey steep-pitched hipped abutment and castellated wall enclosing the courtyard. The southwest gable of the main house matches the northeast. Setting: The house sits elevated over surrounding grounds, overlooking Belfast Lough towards Carrickfergus. The site contains mature plantings and is accessed via modern timber gates fixed to stone piers with octagonal pinnacles. Immediately to the rear of the main house is an enclosed former coach yard with associated outbuildings accessed through large timber gates with wrought-iron strap hinges and surrounds. The yard has largely been filled in by modern single-storey administrative accommodation, all constructed with sympathetic materials. A former two-storey stable block and servant’s accommodation with projecting single storey timber framed lean-to shelter on cast-iron columns. The external fabric of the two-storey accommodation matches in detail to the main house, although modernised internally with the installation of double-glazed sash replica windows throughout. To the southernmost part of the site is a series of single storey modern buildings. Roof Natural slate Walling brick Windows timber RWG Cast-iron

Architects

Boyd, John

Historical Information

The Dublin Builder of June 1865 announced, “A large mansion in Tudor Style is in course of erection at Craigaveran near Hollywood, for Henry Campbell Esq., the principal nature of which is a circular tower, on the top of which is a promenade commanding an extensive range of scenery of the Lough. The materials are brick and Scotch stone. Mr J Boyd of the firm of Boyd and Batt is the architect. Contractors, Mr James McCracken.” Lorne first appears in the Annual Revision record as a ‘house in progress’. The house is valued in 1866 at £200 and is the property of Henry Campbell who leases the property from James McCutcheon. Henry Campbell was partner and director of the Mossley Mills – linen thread manufacturers and Messrs. Gunning and Campbell, flax spinners of North Howard Street. He retired from business life to live in the house with his sisters in 1873. The house was named ‘Lorne’ after the traditional home of the Clan Campbell in Scotland. (Auld, p.61) Campbell died at Lorne in 1889 and left an endowment of £200,000 to found Campbell College at Belmont. The next occupier, in 1893, was Mary Langtry who owned the house in fee. The valuer commented, “A fine large house, well situated. Would let for £250+”. In 1900 it was taken over by Alexander Mateer. Henry C Craig was the occupier in 1906 and the Craig family remained lessors, letting the house to James Gamble in 1914. A valuer’s notebook from this year shows a plan and dimensions for the building, including the house, conservatory and extensive outbuildings. The house remained in the Gamble family, being occupied by Jane Gamble from 1922. (Auld, p.61) In 1933 the immediate lessor of the house was the Governors of Campbell College. The accommodation on the ground floor comprised, an entrance hall, main hall, writing room, conservatory, sitting room, drawing room, dining room, three pantries, cloakroom, WC, WB, kitchen, wood store and laundry. On the first floor, there are six principal bedrooms, two maids’ bedrooms, a lumber room, three bathrooms with washbasins, a shower and spray, a dressing room, sitting room (in tower) and a WC. On the second floor there is an attic bedroom, box room, sewing room (in tower) and a disused room on the 3rd floor in the tower. In the basement are a heating room, wine cellar and electric plant. One 7 HP gas engine is used for lighting and driving a water pump. The valuer comments that the building is a “fairly modern, substantially built premises...Secluded position but having a splendid unrestricted view over Lough”. Part of the land is used for grazing. The house is valued at £147, later raised to £160. In 1946 the house was bought by the Girl Guide Association and a 25% reduction in valuation was given bringing it to £120. In 1950 it is noted that the building is used as a Training Centre for Guide Officers and the ‘charge during training’ is 8 shillings per day. The capacity of the building is about 40 and there is a staff of two supervisors, a caretaker and his wife. Lorne now serves as an activity centre for girl guides, and has undergone refurbishment including modern single-storey extensions to the rear courtyard. References: Primary Sources 1.PRONI OS/6/3/1/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-02 2.PRONI OS/6/3/1/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-31 3.PRONI OS/6/3/1/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1938-41 4.PRONI VAL/12/A/3/21 – Valuer’s Notebook (1911-17) 5.PRONI VAL/12/B/17/10A-G – Annual Revisions (1867-1930) 6.PRONI VAL/12/B/17/11A-C – Annual Revisions (1888-1930) 7.PRONI VAL/VAL/3/D/4/4/F/7 – Valuer’s RV Binder (1933-57) 8.Dublin Builder, 15 June 1865, p.157 Secondary Sources 1.Auld, C. ”Forgotten Houses of Holywood, Co Down” Holywood: Con Auld, 2002

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 large Jacobethan two-storey former dwelling, with four-storey tower built c.1870 to designs by Boyd and Batt. High quality fabric and detailing survive and the principal part of this building has remained largely unaltered. The conservatory is one of the best in the Province. Additions to the rear have affected the courtyard to some extent and the setting has been somewhat compromised by additional modern accommodation erected towards to the rear of the site. Of note is its history as the retirement residence of Henry Campbell a wealthy linen merchant whose benevolence founded Campbell College, Belfast. Overall, it is a fine example of an unusual style by a noteworthy local architect surviving in original condition.

General Comments

Please note this record has been renumbered previously HB23/16/002

Date of Survey

21 April 2010