Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB01/16/003 D

Address :
Lumen Christi College Bishop Street Londonderry Co. Londonderry BT48 6UJ

Townland:
Londonderry

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Survey 2:
A

Date of Listing:
26/02/1979 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
School

Former Use
Library

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
36-7NE

IG Ref:
C4285 1611

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Detached symmetrical pedimented single-bay two-storey stucco neo-classical library, dated 1898, built to the designs of Edward J. Toye. Rectangular on plan facing southeast with lower two-storey extension to rear, built c.2000. Located on an elevated site at the south end of Lumen Christi College campus overlooking River Foyle to the south and connected to the Junior House to the north (HB01/16/003B) via cast-iron verandah. Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridgecomb tiles and set behind raised verge with lead flashing to coping at either gable end. Central circular domed copper ventilation lantern rising from lead-lined square base. Moulded cast-iron guttering set on moulded eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. Painted stucco walling, ruled-and-lined to the upper floor, rusticated to the ground floor. Round-arched window openings to the first floor, square-headed to the ground floor with original multi-pane fixed glazing to steel windows. Symmetrical pedimented front elevation is three bays wide with dentilated pediment, plain entablature supported on engaged Ionic columns and clasping Ionic pilasters framing the first floor. Columns and pilasters rise from four rusticated piers on plinths framing the ground floor with plain entablature and stepped cornice. Rectangular blind panels over the first floor windows have Greek key moulding to frames. The first floor windows have fluted architraves broken by continuous impost course with wave moulding, repeated to sill panels. Ground floor windows have recessed splayed sills and sill course between piers with blind apron panels. To the right of the front elevation, is an ornate cast iron verandah comprising a colonnade of 6 arches that span between cast iron Corinthian-style columns on fluted bases supported by an octagonal concrete plinths. Cast iron plate afixed to base of each column with imprinted lettering: 'David King & Sons, Glasgow'. Round-arch has ornate fretwork spandrels topped by a continuous beam punctuated with quatrefoil motifs. Studed cast iron uprights, with stop chamfered corners entend from each of the columns to the beam and terminate in a decorative foliate detail. Within the cloister, a later hardwood glazed side entrance porch is housed, built c.2000. Southwest side elevation is four bays wide with tall round-arched window openings to the first floor flanked by Ionic pilasters and entablature blocks rising to eaves with moulded sills and impost course between pilasters. Steel windows have centrally pivoted operable sashes and continuous margin lights. Ground floor detailed as per front elevation with steel windows having single swivel sashes and margin lights. Pedimented rear elevation abutted by later gabled two-storey extension that rises to base of plain entablature. Northeast side elevation, as per southwest side elevation with former entrance porch now housed within modern hardwood glazed entrance porch and set within cast-iron verandah. Setting: Located on an elevated site at the south end of Lumen Christi College campus. Overlooking Foyle River to the south and forming part of a wider collection of nineteenth and twentieth-century buildings set on a northeast-southwest axis. Bitmac parking areas to front and side elevations with enclosed yard to rear. Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron Walling Painted stucco Windows Original multi-pane steel

Architects

Historical Information

Lumen Christi College, a co-educational Roman Catholic grammar school located on Bishop Street, was originally constructed in phases between 1877 and 1941 and was occupied by St. Columb’s College until 1997. The Library Block to the south of the site was erected in 1897-98 as a museum, library and recreation hall for the college complex. In the 18th century the grounds of Lumen Christi College was located to the south-west of the Bishop’s gardens. In c. 1784 the Earl Bishop of Derry, the Rev. Frederick Hervey, had a two-storey summer residence (known as the Casino) built next to his gardens on the site of the future school buildings. The Casino was purportedly designed by the Milanese architect Placido Columbani who had supervised the construction of contemporary structures at the Bishop’s estate at Downhill. Calley states that the Casino (now demolished) was ‘a stuccoed building 50 feet in length of Ionic temple form with matching bows on its north east and south west elevations.’ The Earl Bishop made little use of the Casino on Bishop Street and by the mid-19th century it formed the centrepiece of a small park that was owned by the Skipton family (Calley; Seeking the Kingdom; DIA). The Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry, the Rev. Francis Kelly (1812-89), acquired the plot of land and Casino from the Skipton family in 1869 in order to construct a seminary which would provide education for students wishing to join the priesthood. Kelly had been the driving force behind the completion of St. Eugene’s Cathedral in 1873 and had provided £8,000 of his own money towards the construction of the seminary. The foundation stone of St. Columb’s College (briefly known as St. Columbkille’s Seminary) was laid on 11th May 1877. Rowan states that the seminary originally consisted of the Casino, which was adapted into a chapel, and the three-and-a-half-storey seven-bay block (HB01/16/003B) which was attached to the south side of the converted Casino. The seminary was designed by O’Neill & Byrne, a Belfast and Dublin-based architectural partnership which predominantly carried out work on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church, and was constructed by Mr. Matthew McClelland, a local builder and contractor. The Natural Stone Database notes that the new building was constructed of locally-quarried Derry schist and Barony Glen Sandstone. The school bell was cast by the Dublin-based Murphy Bell Foundry in 1879. The completed buildings cost £10,000 and were officially opened on 3rd November 1879 with the Londonderry Journal describing the seminary as ‘one of the most eligible sites about the city of Derry – elevated, enclosed, and well sheltered with plantations. [The seminary comprised] residences and a dining hall for the professors, study hall, student’s rooms, and a large dormitory for the students of the junior classes’ (Seeking the Kingdom; DIA; NSD). The Annual Revisions initially set the total rateable value of St. Columb’s College at £150 with the adjoining chapel (exempt from taxation) valued at £10. The seminary attracted a large number of boarders leading to the construction of the north wing of the college (HB01/16/003C) in 1892-93. The next addition to the college came in 1897-98 when the museum, library and recreation hall and bathhouse was constructed to the south side of the Junior House. The hall was designed by Edward J. Toye (1857-1932) who had entered into an independent practice following Croom’s death. Edward J. Toye (1857-1932) became the most prolific Roman Catholic architect in the city in the late-19th and early-20th century and carried out a large number of contracts for the Catholic Church. Toye was responsible for some of Derry’s most important Roman Catholic structures including the Girl’s School at Long Tower (1893), the extension to St. Eugene’s Convent School (1895), the construction of the spire at St. Eugene’s Cathedral (1900-02), the extension to Long Tower Church (1908) and the design of St. Joseph’s Primary School on Artillery Street (1911). Toye modelled the design of the museum, library and recreation hall on the Casino. Rowan states that the design ‘lifts the Protestant Bishop’s 18th Century Casino up a storey to set a replica of this small Ionic temple on a high rusticated podium with salient plinths beneath the columns.’ The hall was connected to the Junior House by the covered cloister located to the front of the bathhouse (Seeking the Kingdom; Rowan, pp 390-391; DIA). There were few further changes to the layout of St. Columb’s College until after the Partition of Ireland. Madden and Bradley state that the school and its pupils were frequently attacked during the War of Independence and that the school buildings were raked by gunfire in the summer of 1920. The next addition to the school came in 1932 when a large extension, consisting of a dormitory block, refectory and kitchen was added to the rear of the Junior House. The addition was designed by James Patrick McGrath (1875-1948), a local architect ‘who developed a varied practice of commercial, domestic, school and Catholic ecclesiastical work’ (DIA). This was followed by the demolition of the 18th Century Casino and the construction of the current college chapel (HB01/16/003A) in its place in 1936-41. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) set the total rateable value of St. Columb’s College at £575 with the new chapel valued at £150. Following the 1947 Education Act, attendance at St. Columb’s College trebled resulting in the erection of temporary classroom accommodation in the school grounds. The value of the school and its chapel had been increased to £2,584 by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72). Accommodation remained a problem for the Trustees and from as early as the 1950s it was recognised that the school facilities on Bishop Street had become inadequate. The solution was reached by the construction of new school buildings on the Buncrana Road which would be utilised as the Senior School whilst the original buildings on Bishop Street remained in use as the Junior School. The new school building was opened in 1973 and was designed by Frank Corr (of Corr & McCormick). St. Columb’s College was listed in 1979. The Junior School of the college continued to be sited at Bishop Street until 1997 when the entire school was relocated to the Buncrana Road (following the completion of a new Senior Block at the site in that year). In that year the vacated school was acquired by Lumen Christi College, a co-educational Roman Catholic grammar school (founded in 1997). The NIEA HB Records note that a number of alterations and extensions were made to the original school buildings in 1998 in order to make the buildings ready for Lumen Christi pupils. In 2010 the school’s spire and bell system underwent a restoration (NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853) 2. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910) 3. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-Y – Annual Revisions (1860-97) 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/3A-3C – Annual Revisions (1898-1929) 5. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/12 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 6. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/17 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 7. Londonderry Journal (Nov 1879) 8. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1943) 9. First Survey Record – HB01/16/003 (1970) 10. NIEA HB Records – HB01/16/003 Secondary Sources 1. Bradley, T; Madden, F., ‘Seeking the kingdom: St. Columb’s College 1879-2004’ Londonderry: St. Columb’s College, 2004. 2. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013. 3. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970. 4. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/ 2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com/ 3. St. Columb’s College website - http://www.stcolumbs.com/

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form E. Spatial Organisation H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

Z. Rarity R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Detached symmetrical pedimented single-bay two-storey stucco neo-classical library, dated 1898, built to the designs of Edward J. Toye. Upper half based on the original 1784 ‘Casino’ that was replaced by the current school chapel and modelled on an ionic temple; lower half forms a rusticated podium. Whilst the exterior retains a wealth of interest in terms of its style, proportion and ornamentation, the library interior is what makes this building an outstanding architectural set-piece. Set at first floor, the piano noble, the organisation of books displayed on an innovative zigzag plan fully exploits the inter-relationship between the complex function of a library and the external facade making it exemplary. The quality of light and sense of intimacy created between the curved-end bookshelves and ornate wrought iron gallery is sublime and provides a well-ordered and elegant solution. Although the original doorcase is encased by a later glazed porch, an ornate cast iron verandah encompasses both and adds further interest. The library has group value with a linear arrangement of four buildings set on a mature elevated site including the late Victorian Junior and Senior Houses (HB01.16.003 B & C) that flank a Gothic Revival Chapel (HB01.16.003A), all forming an impressive vista from the entrance on Bishop Street. As an intact collection of ecclesiastical buildings and a school they are of social and cultural importance to Northern Ireland. Past pupils of St Columb’s College, which occupied the school complex until 1997, include John Hume, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Seamus Heaney, awarded the Nobel Literature Prize.

General Comments

Date of Survey

18 November 2014