Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB11/12/002

Address :
Lisnamallard House 11 Old Mountfield Road Omagh Co. Tyrone BT79 7EG

Townland:
Lisnamallard

---

Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
02/08/1978 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Office

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

---

OS Map No:
138-1

IG Ref:
H4570 7296

---

Owner Category

Local Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

A symmetrical three-bay two-storey-over basement house, built c.1820, extended and remodelled c.1890, located on the south side of Old Mountfield Road. The house is U-shaped on plan (east side is extended by two bays), with additional ridge to central valley and further two-storey addition (c.1890) to north. Half-hipped natural slate roof, angled clay ridge tiles, half-round cast-iron rainwater goods, decorative hopper heads. Mid twentieth-century red brick chimneystacks, decorative brick corbelled caps and terracotta chimneypots. Plain timber bargeboards throughout, except to oriel additions (see later). Walling is painted and harled, bellcast over a smooth rendered plinth. Windows are generally 6/6 timber sliding sashes (except where otherwise stated) some with horns, some without; those to principal elevation have moulded stucco borders and painted stone sills; those to later extensions with painted concrete sills. Principal elevation faces south and is symmetrically arranged about a semi-circular-headed entrance door, encased within a substantial glazed gabled porch. The original entrance consists of a replacement pair of double-leaf doors divided from geometric sidelights by decorative and half-engaged reeded collonettes on plinth blocks, the whole surmounted by a spider-web fanlight. The porch is fully glazed over a harled plinth; four-pane windows with margined obscurely glazed toplights, all divided by timber transoms and mullions; timber cornice and fluted corner pilasters; the apex has lattice glazing with central stained glass oval panel surmounted by a timber pediment and decorative metal finial. Access is at right cheek, through double leaf replacement doors (copied from original), consisting of elongated glazed top panels and timber lower panels with central brass knob between. White marble threshold. Left (west) elevation has two windows to each floor; those to first floor are timber box oriels on coved corbels having panelled aprons beneath dipartite 3/6 sash windows to front, 2/4 to cheeks; decorative drop finials to corners. Rear elevation of original block is exposed to right bay only and has a window at first floor. Central bay is abutted by addition, which occupies the re-entrant angle of the main block and extended left bay. Rear elevation of the left bay has a window to first floor and is abutted at ground floor by a monopitched garage (of no interest); right cheek has a dipartite window to ground floor, two windows to first floor. Addition has a variety of sash windows to ground floor and a replacement entrance door at ground floor left rear elevation (concrete canopy over); first floor has a round-headed window to rear elevation, two windows to left cheek. Right (east) elevation is four bays wide over two-bay basement. From left, bay one has a window to each floor, that to first floor is 3/3; bay two has French doors opening onto concrete bridge enclosed to either side by mild steel railings, first floor has a 6/6 window set into gablet with decorative bargeboards and finial; bay three has French doors opening onto bull-nosed concrete steps enclosed by plinth walls to either side, 3/3 window to first floor; bay four has a set of double-leaf doors to each floor enclosed by a gabled oriel at first floor supported on a narrower projecting glazed porch beneath; oriel is glazed to all sides over a panelled apron with timber sheeted apex, decorative bargeboards and finial; porch is fully glazed with latticed front pane, 6/6 side panes over panelled apron. Rear elevation of garage sits flush and attaches to outbuilding at north. Setting:- The house occupies a mature garden
setting, with mature trees, lawns, and a terrace to east; the rear wall of the terrace is inset with a rectangular datestone marked ‘E.P.1724’; it also contains several ‘bee-bole’ niches. Access from the main road is via a long straight tarmac avenue to north, flanked at entrance by modern cement rendered alcoved walls surmounted by steel railings and terminating with two pairs of piers with pyramidal caps. There is a gravelled turning circle directly to south and the southern boundary is marked by the mill race of a former mill. To rear is a two storey outbuilding with pitched slate roof, painted roughcast to south and west, rubble stone to north and west, square-headed openings. Roof: Natural slate Walling: Painted roughcast Windows: Timber RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

Lisnamallard derives from “Lis na Mallacht” meaning “the cursed fort,”. Mitchell dates the “oldest part of the house” to “between 1790 and 1820” (Mitchell, p.40). The early OS map series shows various stages of evolution throughout the nineteenth century. The earliest edition of 1833 shows the main rectangular front of the house (captioned “Millbank”) as existing today, with rear return. By the second edition in 1854, this footprint is reduced to a plain rectangular block, with the current outbuilding shown to rear; however, “there is evidence of more planting and formal gardens” (Mitchell, p.40). Valuations throughout are around £25, and record the Orr family as owners and occupiers until its purchase in the 1880s by Charles Scott (of W. & C. Scott), owner of Excelsior Mills, who also owned Mullaghmore House (HB11/12/001). The third edition of 1906 shows the house much extended to rear, and with the main porch. An inspection of the building fabric provides evidence of a major remodelling phase about 1890. The main block is late Georgian in character, with oriels and glazed porch typical of the late Victorian period. Internally, much of the original fabric has been replaced, although there are at least two architraves which appear to date from the early nineteenth-century. The presence of a coal hole in the basement, located beneath the present third bay of the rear extension, strongly suggests that the right side of the house was extended to north, probably at the time of the late nineteenth-century remodelling. The addition may be slightly later again, originally containing sanitary facilities and self-contained housekeepers quarters, according to the current property manager. The walls now flanking the internal basement stairs certainly have the appearance of external walls. The earlier date stone (1724) found to rear suggests the presence of an earlier house on the site, although no primary source evidence has been found to support this. Mitchell refers to a line of three greenhouses constructed along the south facing wall in the 1890s by Charles Scott’s wife, Margaret, “which extended 86 feet from the potting shed to the end of the terrace and which survived until the mid 1980s. On their demolition, seven brick-lined recesses or niches were discovered in the surviving retaining wall – a bee wall of an earlier period which would have provided honey for the household before sugar was commercially available” (Mitchell, p.40) A brief history written by a member of the Scott family states that Charles and Margaret Scott bought the property from the Orr family in 1881. He writes: “At this time the house was a rectangular Irish Georgian country house of vernacular style, having a basement kitchen and service area, a front hall and four ground floor reception rooms, a central staircase rising to a landing and five bedrooms on the first floor.” He goes on to state that Margaret Scott extended the house to rear to incorporate modern kitchen facilities, two additional bedrooms and a bathroom. No further changes were apparently made between 1900 and 1940, with the exception of a second bathroom, and the house was painted a dark red. Lisnamallard was requisitioned for military use during the Second World War. Two large murals apparently painted by GIs survive in the house, one of which was “a tasteful reclining nude;” both are presently concealed: one painted over, the other concealed by a notice board (Mitchell, p.40). The period following the war saw major refurbishment works, including the replacement of chimneystacks Lisnamallard House was purchased by Omagh District Council in 1994, the Scott family remaining in residence until September 1997. It now functions as the Council’s Environmental Health Unit. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/6/35/1-First Edition OS Map (1833) 2. PRONI OS/6/6/35/2-Second Edition OS Map (1854) 3. PRONI OS/6/6/35/3-Third Edition OS Map (1905-6) 4. PRONI VAL/2/B/6/47A-Griffith’s Valuation (1858) 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/41/36A-J-Valuation Revisions (1860-1903) 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/36A-M –Valuation Revisions (1860-1929) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/41/37A-G-Valuation Revisions (1903-1929) Secondary Sources 1. Dean, J. A. K. “The Gate Lodges of Ulster: A Gazetteer.” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994. 2. Mitchell, C. J. Haldane. “Omagh: Paintings and Stories from the Seat of the Chiefs.” Donaghadee, Co. Down, Cottage Publications, 2000. 3. Rowan, Alistair. “North West Ulster: Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.” Buildings of Ireland Series. Dublin: Penguin Books, 1979. 4. Scott, Richard. “Lisnamallard House.” 1997. (on file - NIEA)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two-storey three-bay house of early nineteenth-century date, modified in the late nineteenth-century and situated in a mature landscaped setting. There is evidence that the house may have earlier origins, and the bee-bole-wall to rear contains an early date stone. The Victorian elaboration of the porch and oriels is unusual and distinctive. More recent conversion to office accommodation has not detracted from its character and historic fabric has been retained. The house has associations with nineteenth-century industry in the area, and is of some significance as one of the larger historic properties on the outskirts of Omagh town. It is an unusual example of a restyled Georgian house and of interest as such.

General Comments

Date of Survey

04 March 2009