Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB16/22/019 B

Address :
23 Chapel Road Bessbrook Co. Armagh BT35 7AU

Townland:
Clogharevan

---

Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
08/08/1989 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

---

OS Map No:
266/1NE

IG Ref:
J0457 2834

---

Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Two-storey three-bay Edwardian former school master's house in local stone with lined cement render dressings, built c. 1906 to designs by an unknown architect. Rectangular plan form facing NE on to Chapel Road having an additional single storey rear return to SW, with attached garage block to its rear W corner. Pitched natural slate roof with roll top terracotta clay ridge tiles. Two equally spaced cement rendered and lined mid-ridge square-section chimneys to roof both have four buff clay pots. Flush eaves to front elevation with dressed granite corbel course; cast iron ogee guttering discharging to circular section downpipes. Projecting eaves at side elevations have a painted sheeted timber soffit and painted timber facia. Generally squared rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite stone walling brought to courses. Decorative stepped lined cement render door and window surrounds with bevelled edges; stepped dressed granite quoins and stone cills. Typically square-headed double hung 1/1 sliding timber sash windows with horns. Principal elevation Front elevation faces NE into a private garden set to lawn and having a paved drive leading from Chapel Road to the NE. Elevation is symmetrical having a regular fenestration pattern; narrowly recessed central doorcase is flanked a window on both sides. Segmental arched door opening has a decorative timber frame with a three part mullioned fanlight, panelled and glazed side lights and a four panelled painted timber door, with modern polished metal furniture, opening onto two concrete steps, with concrete dwarf walling to cheeks. Three reduced height windows to FF in-line with GF opes. Southeast elevation Side elevation faces SE having original stone walling and projecting eaves to gable. Single window to elevation located to NE at GF level. Some cement strap work pointing visible at GF level. Southwest elevation Rear elevation faces SW and is a two storey three bay stone-built block, with attached single storey stone-built block to SW having a low pitched roof and a monopitched rough cast cement rendered block attached to its W corner. Two storey block has three equally spaced windows of differing cill heights at FF level. Painted timber patio doors, with a square-headed fanlight and multiple glazed sections, in-line below window at SE. Single storey pitched roof block has a paired timber sash window and monopitched block having a two part uPVC casement window to SW elevation. Northwest elevation NW elevation consists of original stone walling with projecting eaves to gable of two storey block, there being a single window opening to SW at GF. From the SW of the two storey block a single storey block is narrowly set back and extends SW having stone walling and a panelled painted timber door with four glazed sections to its top half. Monopitched garage block projects to West from single storey block, having a set of painted sheeted timber garage doors to its NE elevation which open onto a paved drive leading NE to Chapel Road. Setting The Former School Master's House is located within private grounds enclosed by random-coursed rock-faced stone boundary walling with half round reconstiuted stone coping and mature hedging to interior. The site is bound on the NE by Chapel Road, with Bessbrook Lake on the NE side of the road, and on the SE by a road leading to a private housing estate at SW. Private garden of neighbouring dwelling, Knockdonagh, is located to NW. A set of painted metal scrollwork vehicular gates, hung on square-section pillars of squared granite blocks with reconstuted stone pyramidal caps, lead from Chapel Road to a private paved drive. Drive leads SW to front of dwelling and to monopitched garage block to rear of NW elevation. French doors at rear of two storey block open onto a paved patio with painted concrete balustrade and an area of garden set to lawn at SW. Former school house to SE is now demolished and site is crossed by a public road leading to a private housing estate at SW. Materials Roof: Natural slate RWGs: Cast iron Walling: Newry Granodiorite Windows: Timber sash

Architects

Historical Information

No. 23 Chapel Road, a two-storey three-bay Edwardian house located to the south-west of the village of Bessbrook, was constructed in c. 1906. The building was originally utilised as a dwelling for the schoolmaster of the adjoining St. Malachy’s School, a Roman Catholic schoolhouse that was demolished in the 1980s. Photographs dating from the mid-20th century show that St. Malachy’s School was a single-storey four-bay building which possessed an entrance porch. The Annual Revisions note that St. Malachy’s School and the schoolmaster’s house had been constructed by 1910 whilst the contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan notes that both buildings had been erected by at least 1906. The architect of the former schoolmaster’s house is not known. The dwelling was constructed of Newry granite from a local quarry which was utilised in the masonry of most buildings at Bessbrook a (granite from the Bessbrook Quarry is of a high quality and was used to build Manchester Town Hall and the great steps of St. George’s Hall in Liverpool). The valuer noted that St. Malachy’s School was administered under the National School System and was valued at £16 and 10 shillings. The neighbouring dwelling was valued at £10 and 10 shillings and was initially leased by the Trustees of the National School to a Mr. James Mulligan. The 1911 Census of Ireland recorded James Mulligan as a local National Schoolteacher and also noted that two of his daughters were employed at the school as monitors. The census records that Mulligan resided at No. 23 Chapel Road with his wife and their eleven children whilst the accompanying census building return described the house as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of eight inhabited rooms. Mulligan had vacated the site by the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which recorded Patrick Fearon as the new resident schoolmaster and increased the value of the building to £18. Fearon continued to be recorded as occupant of the schoolmaster’s dwelling until the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the value of the house stood at £30. St. Malachy’s School was known as St. Malachy’s Boy’s Primary School in the mid-20th century, however the building was demolished in the 1980s. The former schoolmaster’s house at No. 23 Chapel Road was subsequently listed in 1989 with the NIEA Listing File describing it in the following terms: ‘detached two-storey double-fronted; built of granite; quarry faced and brought to courses.’ The NIEA HB Records note that the former schoolhouse underwent an extensive renovation in 1997 which included the reslating of its roof in natural slate, the installation of cast iron rainwater goods, and the addition of new sliding sash window frames and a new entrance door (Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide; NIEA Listing File; NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/2/26/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1861) 2. PRONI OS/6/2/26/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1906) 3. PRONI OS/8/31/3 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1906) 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/6H-J – Annual Revisions (1909-29) 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/5A – Annual Revisions (1924-29) 6. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/12 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 7. PRONI VAL/4/B/2/20 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 8. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 9. Ulster Town Directories (1901-1918) 10. First Survey Record – HB16/22/019B 11. NIEA HB Record – HB16/22/019B Secondary Sources 1. ‘Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment (N. I.), 1983. Online Resources 1. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com/

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting

Historic Interest

S. Authenticity X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance R. Age T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

Two-storey three-bay Edwardian former school master's house in local stone with lined cement render dressings, built c. 1906 to designs by an unknown architect and extensively renovated in 1997. Rectangular plan form facing NE on to Chapel Road having an additional single storey rear return to SW, with attached rendered garage block to its rear W corner. The building has well designed proportions and modest detailing with good quality local stone walling and it retains its Edwardian character. No 23. Chapel Road is of local historical and social importance being the former school master's house; the formerly adjacent similar style school building is now demolished, representing a considerable loss to the building in terms of its group value and setting, as well as to this area of Bessbrook Village which narrowly falls outside the established conservation area boundary. The Former School Master’s House remains a locally imporant building which adds to the architectural interest and significance of the area.

General Comments

Date of Survey

26 March 2015