Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB23/10/002 D

Address :
Private Chapel Clandeboye Estate Bangor County Down BT19 1RN

Townland:
Ballyleidy

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
06/01/1975 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Church

Former Use
Church

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
131/3

IG Ref:
J4737 7950

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Small single-storey rectangular plan barn style chapel completed c.1860; renovations to its present appearance with Hiberno-Romanesque style detailing c.1890. Located in the Clandeboye Estate, forming the southwest corner of the stable yard, located west of Clandeboye House. Pitched natural slate roof; saw tooth crested terracotta ridge tiles with terminating finial cross over apex. Cast-iron rainwater goods; motifed hopper heads with decorative wall brackets; box section down pipes. Rubble masonry walling with red brick surrounds to north and west window. Timber framed stained and plain glazing. South windows; traceried bipartite/tripartite with moulded Portland cement surrounds; dog tooth reveals and head with foliated billeted label mould and figurative mould stops. West window lancet arched reticulated tracery, stained glass depicting the Ascension. North window; paired segmental arched stained glass. Timber sheeted door with filigree wrought iron strap hinges and cast-iron handle; embraced by Portland cement gable sandstone entrance comprising heavily moulded Hiberno-Romanesque style round arch; three diminutive niches with a variety of chevron detailing and statuettes inset into gable head. Principal south-west facing elevation is symmetrically arranged; gabled porch breaking eaves level centrally located flanked by windows. Remains of cills and brick surrounds of four previous square openings located on right hand side, now infilled with matching rubble masonry or brick. Arrowloop opening with red brick surround located on left hand side. North-west gable elevation has large centrally located stained glass window with rectangular over light located in the gable head. Right hand side abutted by rubble masonry wall with large round piers and modern timber gates. North-east elevation asymmetrically arranged. Infilled red bricked camber-arched door opening on right hand side. High level paired segmental arched stained glass windows to right. Left hand side abutted by single storey link block between chapel and gas house; now serving as vestibule, accessed by modern timber door with fixed round arched light over. The gabled south-east elevation is abutted by the stable block with partial exposure of the gable head at high level. Setting The chapel is abutted by various outbuildings which together form a stable yard enclosure. The chapel is only accessed from outside the enclosure on the north and south elevations. Located adjacent to the main buildings in the estate the
setting is primarily heavily wooded and landscaped surrounds. To the north west of the chapel is a large gravel/stone carpark encompassed by rubble masonry walls. South elevation is approached by a sloping path lined with yews trees and various other planned vegetation. To the south east are further outbuildings and a formal garden. Roofing: Natural slate Walling: Rubble masonry Windows: Timber / Stained / plain glass RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The ‘Chapel’ is shown captioned on the third edition OS map of 1901, forming part of a stable courtyard to the north west of Clandeboye House. The courtyard is in existence on the first edition OS map of 1833, and may date from the building of the house in 1801-4, the chapel being fashioned from remodelled outbuildings. Former window openings are still visible in the chapel walls. The stone is greywacke with some secondary buff-pink sandstone (Rankin, p.19, 25; www.stonedatabase.com). The chapel enters valuation records in 1900 when the valuation of Clandeboye House is raised to £283 due to the addition of a ‘covered tennis court and private chapel’. (Annual Revisions) However, a letter from Lord Dufferin, the first Marquess, to his mother Helen, Lady Dufferin suggests that the chapel may first have been constructed as early as 1862. In a letter of December of that year Lord Dufferin writes that the chapel has at last been finished and that he has included in the walls a stone from Nubia, a cornice from an Egyptian Coptic church (eighth century) and the shaft of a celtic cross. (Estate papers; Estate information) According to the Archaeological Survey of Down, this cross, bearing an interlace ornament, originates from the site of Bangor Abbey and may therefore be of considerable antiquity. The Clandeboye estate believes it to be sixth century. (Archaeological Survey of Down, p.266; Estate information) It appears that a second phase of rebuilding and improvement to the chapel took place c1897, following which the building made its first appearance in valuation records and was considered of sufficient worth to add £13 to the valuation of Clandeboye House. (Annual Revisions) Lord Dufferin appears to have consulted at least two architects with regard to his plans for the chapel. A letter of February 1897 from Lord Dufferin to John Lanyon (son of Charles Lanyon) states, ‘I have already begun the chapel and the tennis court and I think we should be able to manage them ourselves’. (Estate Papers) In May 1897 W H Lynn wrote to Lord Dufferin returning tracings of the chapel and photographs of the doorcase at Kilmore cathedral. He enclosed an elevation for the doorcase and showed how antique green marble pillars that Lord Dufferin had obtained in Corinth could be used in the interior. (Rankin, p.25) Two white marble columns built into the fire place were brought from Cnidas by Frederick Lord Dufferin where they had been used in a third century Christian chapel. (Estate information) A red sandstone tombstone relating to a member of the Hamilton family was brought to the chapel from Holywood and a number of memorial tablets and a stained glass window have been erected to members of the family. According to the Dowager Lady Dufferin, Lord Dufferin himself, “after 24 years of service abroad...planned and supervised the alterations necessary to an old building, which had hitherto been used as a barn, into a chapel...the door was copied from the door of an ancient Irish cathedral, while the windows and all the ornamentation were taken from correct architectural drawings.” (Dowager Lady Dufferin, quoted in Brett, p.95) The chapel was consecrated on 1st January 1898 and restored and improved in its centenary year, 1998 (Brett, p.95) References: Primary Sources 1.PRONI OS/6/3/2/1 – First Edition OS Map 1833 2.PRONI OS/6/3/2/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858 3.PRONI OS/6/3/2/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901 4.PRONI OS/6/3/2/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-26 5.PRONI OS/6/3/2/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1939 6.PRONI VAL/12/B/23/8A-C – Annual Revisions (1894-1923) 7.PRONI D/1231/D/4 – Letter from Lord Dufferin to his mother, 19 December, 1862 8.PRONI D2815/11 – Lord Dufferin to John Lanyon, 24th February, 1897 Secondary Sources 1.Brett, C.E.B. “Buildings of North County Down” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2002 2.Estate information 3.Ministry of Finance, Government of Northern Ireland “An Archaeological Survey of County Down” Belfast: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1966 4.Rankin, P in “Clandeboye” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1985

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 X. Local Interest Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Small single-storey barn style private chapel originally built in the early nineteenth century. Converted from an earlier barn c.1860 with renovations to its present Hiberno-Romanesque style detailing and Gothic style windows c.1890. The chapel is a picturesque element in the group of adjoining outbuildings. The introduction of historic artefacts into the fabric of the building contributes to the idiosyncratic character of the building; these elements themselves, originating in antiquity, are of considerable interest in their own right. Externally the building has undergone little alteration, retaining its original character with the addition of some high quality historic details. It is a fine example of a rare building type which provided a place of worship for both workers and residents of the estate.

General Comments

This record has been renumbered as part of the Clandeboye Estate. Previously HB23/10/005. Within Clandeboye Local Landscape Policy Area BR24

Date of Survey

05 October 2010