Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB18/19/001

Address :
Down Arts Centre (former Assembly rooms) 2-8 Irish Street Downpatrick Co Down BT30 6BP

Townland:
Downpatrick

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
20/10/1982 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Gallery/ Museum

Former Use
Assembly Room

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
224/11

IG Ref:
J4865 4464

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Owner Category

Local Govt

Exterior Description And Setting

Prominent, two storey, red brick, Venetian gothic town hall of 1882 by William Batt with tall, hipped roof corner clock tower. The building, which is now an arts centre, is set on the corner of Irish Street and Scotch Street, in the centre of Downpatrick. The building is entered via a large pointed arch doorway to the left side of the ground floor of the longer W elevation. The doorway consists of a panelled timber folding door with two light rectangular fanlight. The door is flanked by recessed marble ¾ column jambs with tall red sandstone bases and floral capitals and above is a sandstone lintel. Within the tympanum above this there is a carved sandstone panel with a coat of arms [?of Downpatrick, ?Mulholland]. The opening (like all others throughout the building) has blue and red brick voussoirs and a dentilled archivolt. To the immediate right of the doorway is a large opening similar in general styling to the previous but broader, without column jambs or tympanum and totally filled with relatively recent glazing. To the right of this are two sets of three tall narrow pointed arch windows which are identical except for that to far left which has small recessed ¾ column jambs as main doorway but completely in sandstone. This particular window was originally a doorway (to a shop), whilst the rest were originally much shorter. To the right of the windows is a doorway, much as the former doorway to left but with marble ¾ column jambs, panelled door, fanlight and carved quatrefoil panel to tympanum. Directly above this doorway is a small ‘eyebrow’ window. The ground floor openings are linked by a moulded string course. To the first floor of the W elevation are five large pointed arch windows with sandstone with sandstone ¾ column jambs and timber frames. The windows are linked by a string course as ground floor and between the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th windows are carved roundel panels (three in all). The 2nd panel contains the monogram of John Mulholland, Downpatrick’s landlord and MP who was responsible for the building of the assembly rooms. The short N elevation has a doorway to far left on the ground floor, much as that to far right on ground floor of W elevation. To far right is a tall narrow window opening, as those to W elevation, which was originally a doorway. To the centre of the ground floor are two small sash windows with flat arch sandstone heads. To first floor are three large windows. The two outer windows are as those to first floor of W elevation. That to the centre has two sandstone lights with cusped heads and quatrefoil to the tympanum. This window sits within a shallow oriel bay supported on brick corbels. Above window level the bay narrows to form a gabled half-dormer, which contains a small window, similar in style to that directly below. The N and W elevations have three blue brick courses and a short beveled base. Part of the base of the W elevation is in rubble [?a leftover from the original 17th century market house previously on this site]. Both elevations are topped with a bracketed eaves cornice with balustrade-like parapet above. The parapet is broken on the W side by a tall chimney stack with splayed base. Modern up lights have been attached at first floor sill level and to the W raised lettering (spelling out ‘Down Arts Centre’). To the immediate E of the and S the building is abutted by the terraces on Scotch Street and Irish Street. The (somewhat modernised) two storey gabled building to the immediate E is integrated internally with the Arts centre itself, though originally it was a separate property. To the NW corner of the building, above first floor level, rises the clock tower. To each face of the tower there is a large pointed arch recess with voussoirs, archivolt and column jambs as before, with a small ‘balcony’ with balustrade and corbel brackets at base. Each recess has two louvered pointed arch openings with large traditional clock face above. The tower is topped with a tall pyramidal roof with slightly splayed base and overhang supported on brackets with corner corbels. There is a small gabled dormer to each face of the roof and the whole structure is topped with a decorative cast iron finial. The roof of the main section of the building is hipped and slated with several small dormer-like ventilation openings to the W side, with two small turret ventilators to the ridge. Red clay ridge tiles. Cast iron rw goods. To the NW corner of the building is a triangular granite (‘presentment type) milestone. The milestone is well worn but ‘Castlewellan’ and ‘Newry’ (and an OS benchmark) are still discernable on its SW face.

Architects

Batt, William

Historical Information

This building was constructed in 1882 by John Mulholland (later Lord Dunleath), the then landlord of Downpatrick and local MP. It was designed by William Batt and built on the site of the town market house, itself dating from 1660. The new building, which in total cost £5,000, originally contained a large assembly room to the first floor which was open to the townspeople without charge ‘for lectures, concerts, and social meetings’, with Mulholland’s estate office, a shop (‘Roden Johnston’s Medical Hall’), and a minor hall to the ground floor. Up until 1945 the assembly rooms also fulfilled the role as a town hall. In 1983 the building was gutted by a fire. In 1988 it was rebuilt internally and given by Lord Dunleath to Down District Council for use as an arts centre. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI D.1167 Dunleath Papers 2 George Henry Bassett, ‘County Down guide and directory’ (Dublin 1886), pp.187, 190 3 PRONI OS/8/9/2 OS town plan of Downpatrick, 1901 Secondary sources 1 Lady Dunleath, P.J. Rankin, A Rowan, Historic buildings…Downpatrick’ (Belfast 1970), p.15 2 Anthony M. Wilson, ‘Saint Patrick’s town’ (Belfast 1995), p.185 3 R.H. Buchanan and Anthony Wilson, ‘Irish historic towns atlas no.8: Downpatrick’ (Royal Irish Academy 1996)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation H+. Alterations enhancing the building

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Prominent, two storey, red brick Venetian gothic assembly rooms building of 1882 by William Batt, with tall, hipped roof corner clock tower. In the 1980s, following a fire, the building was rebuilt internally with some of the ground floor windows to the west lengthened to give an arcade effect. The property now serves as an arts centre.

General Comments

Date of Survey

07 November 2000