Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB19/06/020

Address :
Former School House 129 Saintfield Road Ballymacbrennan Lisburn County Antrim BT27 5PG

Townland:
Ballymacbreenan

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
05/07/1988 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

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OS Map No:
165/16

IG Ref:
J3103 6181

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Detached two-storey stone former school house, built c.1830. Rectangular on plan facing south with two-storey redbrick extension and gabled porch to rear, built c.1900, extension added to west side elevation c.2000, set within its own landscaped grounds on the north side of Saintfield Road with diminutive stone toilet block to the east and modern stone structure to the west. Pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, stone verges, replacement brick chimneystacks and plastic rainwater goods to stone eaves course. Snecked uncoursed random basalt walling with two carved stone plaques set in redbrick surrounds, that to the left stating : 'The / Most Noble the / Marquis D.shir,s / Donum. / To this Parish.' that to the right indecipherable. Round-headed window openings formed in redbrick with replacement masonry sills and replacement multi-pane timber sash windows. Symmetrical front south elevation is three windows wide. West gable has two round-headed windows to the first floor and a single round-headed door opening to the ground floor with replacement timber glazed and panelled door. The redbrick rear return is set slightly back from the gable with corbelled yellowbrick eaves and abutted by a single-storey gable-fronted redbrick glazed extension and a further gabled entrance porch with replacement timber panelled door. Rear gabled elevation to return is rendered with a single replacement timber casement window with the remainder of the rear elevation having exposed stone wall and a single central round-headed window opening to the ground floor with replacement timber sash window. The east gable has two round-headed window openings to each floor, as per above, while the east side elevation to the return is rendered with replacement timber casement windows and glazed panelled door. Setting: Set within its own landscaped ground with a diminutive rubblestone toilet block to the east having replacement natural slate roof. Further modern stone faced structure to the west with uPVC windows. Gravel driveway through front lawn enclosed to the road by modern stone-clad wall and steel gates. Roof Natural slate RWG Plastic Walling Snecked uncoursed basalt Windows Replacement timber sash

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

This former schoolhouse in the townland of Ballymacbrennan first appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 where it was recorded as an oblong building simply captioned ‘School house.’ A stone plaque located at the site tells us that this school was granted by ‘the Most Noble the Marquis Downshire Donum to this Parish.’ The school appears little altered by the second edition of the map in 1859; however the north facing rear return, which was used as the teacher’s residence, was first depicted in the third edition of the maps (c. 1900). The 1859 map tells us that the school had joined the National School system by that time; the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1861) records that the ‘National Schoolhouse’ was valued at £5 10s. Ballymacbrennan School, as it was known from at least the third edition of the Ordnance Survey map (c. 1900), operated until c. 1923 when it was closed. During its history the school had applied for School grant aid c. 1850 and c. 1870; however in the mid-1920s a Mr. Deans, who was the teacher at that time resident in the adjoining dwelling, applied to have the school closed and have himself named as a beneficiary (due to falling attendance). A number of farmers in the locality opposed this move and took Mr. Deans to court. The court decided to place the school in the care of a committee who would use the building as a community centre; Mr. Deans was asked to vacate the adjoining residence which was then let out to tenants. Between 1923 and 1930 a proposal was presented to the local authority to reopen the school, however this was not successful and the school continued in its role as a centre for the community for the next 70 years. In its role as a community centre, the former schoolhouse has been used for a variety of purposes including a venue for wedding receptions, a meeting place for members of the local Unionist Party and a polling station during national and local elections. However, the former school has been mainly used as a meeting place for religious events; a Sunday school met in the building for a number of decades before classes finished c. 1980 and from 1952 the Faith Mission organisation used the building for Gospel Meetings and annual conferences. The former Ballymacbrennan Schoolhouse was listed in 1988 during which time the school was owned by Trustees of Drumbeg Church, the rear residence still occupied by tenants. In 1999 renovation work was carried out on the building when a new roof and single-storey redbrick conservatory was added. The building was sold by Drumbeg church in 2001 to finance the recent construction of a new School Hall which was opened in September 2000 (Heaney). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/15/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1834 2. PRONI OS/6/3/15/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1859 3. PRONI OS/6/3/15/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map c. 1900 4. PRONI OS/6/3/15/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1919-1920 5. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/25C – Griffiths Valuation 1861 6. PRONI ED/1/16/249 – Ballymacbrennan School grant application (1846-1860) 7. PRONI ED/1/18/27 – Ballymacbrennan School grant application (1866-1899) 8. PRONI ED/14/C/433 – Ballymacbrennan School: Proposal to reopen school (1923-30) Secondary Sources 1. Heaney, M., ‘Lisburn, life in the County Down: A 1950’s trip down memory lane’ Shiloh Publications, 1996.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

Detached two-storey stone former school house, built c.1830. Built as a school house, this modest building is well proportioned and simply detailed in a neo-classical idiom with the main symmetrical elevation displaying a series of round-headed windows. Despite undergoing a significant refurbishment, with the loss of some original fabric, the overall composition remains intact and the building retains its character as a school house. It is an example of nineteenth-century civic projects providing schooling for the rural community and represents part of the social and architectural history of this rural part of Lisburn.

General Comments

This record was completed without access to original source material held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Criteria R & S apply.

Date of Survey

11 November 2010