Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/15/002

Address :
Faith House 25 Orpen Park Finaghy Belfast County Antrim BT10 0BN

Townland:
Ballyfinaghy

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
25/11/1987 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:
146-8

IG Ref:
J3039 6964

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

A single- and two-storey building complex with its central block possibly dating from the late 17th C. L-shaped plan with single- and two-storey pitched roof extensions abutted to NE and SW. The building is located on the W side of Orpen Park. The building complex has been constructed in stages and this is illustrated on sketch Plan A which shows the chronological development of the site. The gabled two-storey building of rectangular plan facing S (Block 1) dates possibly from the late 17th C. The two-storey pitched roof L-shaped building to the rear (Block 2) was constructed sometime in the first half of the 18th c. Followed by the single-storey pitched roof extension to SE (Block 3) and the porch to S (Block 4) in the second half of the 18th c. The modern extensions to block 3 facing the middle courtyard (Block 5) were constructed in 1989-1990 and the rest of the modern extensions to the N and SW of the site (Blocks 6) date between 1991 and 2011. Principal elevation: The principal elevation faces S and consists of a two storey, three bay block (1) having crow stepped gables and single storey porch (Block 4) to east side; single storey four-bay wide elevation to E (Block 3). Rectangular section rendered chimney stacks with chamfered coping and polygonal chimney pots. Rendered walling with projecting quoins and base plinth. Pitched natural slate roof to block 1 with angled red-clay ridge tiles and decorative fish scale banding. Cast iron hoppers discharging to circular downpipes. Rendered architraves to square-headed window openings to W with moulded hoods and projecting cills having timber casement windows to the ground floor and sliding sash windows to the first floor with 1/1 panes. Single-storey porch having pointed segmental arched door opening with moulded architrave and replacement timber panelled door with fanlight and side lights. There are bipartite window openings to the E and W return faces of this porch, each having four-centred arch, fitted with fixed glazing and having dressed stone surround with moulded hood and splayed cill. Diagonal two-stage buttresses to porch, moulded cornicing and raised crenellated parapet above. First and third gables have plaques with coats of arms at high level. Half-hipped slate roof to Block 3 with angled red clay hip tiles. Cast iron ogee guttering to E part with decorated hoppers discharging to circular downpipes. Square-headed window openings having timber casement windows with moulded hoods and chamfered cills. Three-part window to third bay and a slightly projecting bay to E end with four-part window, both with four-centred arch to each opening and dressed stone surround with hood mould. The projecting bay has a crenellated parapet above. East elevation: The E elevation consists of a single storey gabled bay (E elevation of Block 3), a projecting single-storey gabled bay immediately to N, abutted to N by a modern single storey pitched roof building (part of Block 6). Rendered walling to blocks 3 with projecting quoins to S end. Pitched slate roof to single storey gabled bay with roll-top black clay ridge tiles. Painted red-brick walling to block 6. A square-headed window opening with uPVC casement window to gabled bay with projecting cill. North elevation: No access to N elevation, although see notes below under the heading 'Middle Courtyard'. West elevation: The W elevation consists of a two-storey gabled bay to S end (Block 1), a two-storey recessed four-bay wide part immediately to N (Block 2) and a two-storey stepped gabled bay (Block 2) abutted by a modern two-storey flat-roofed extension (part of block 6). The gabled bay to S end has a three-sided hipped roof bay window to GF with a square-headed door above that opens on to a modern steel fire escape stair. Plaque with coat of arms and the date 1727 centred on crow-stepped gable above. Moulded corbel stones at eaves. A modern two-storey flat-roofed corridor connects the next bay to the modern extension to SE. Pitched natural slate roof to Block 2 with decorative bands of fish scales, angled red and black clay ridge tiles and exposed rafter tails. Three rectangular painted chimney stacks centred on the ridge to Block 2, with chamfered corners. The central chimney has three octagonal clay pots, with a fourth pot missing, whilst the two either side each have two octagonal clay pots. Replacement uPVC casement windows to recessed bay and GF of gabled bay (Block 2), all of which have raised architraves and stone cills . Three part timber sliding sash window, with 1/1 panes to FF below crow-stepped gable. The render to the walls on Block 2 has been scored to resemble ashlar stone, and a raised plinth runs along the base. Middle courtyard: The middle courtyard is accessed through the E elevation and is enclosed by the N elevation of blocks 1 & 3, most of which is obscured by single- and two-storey modern extensions, the E and S elevations of block 5 and the two smallest of the modern extensions (part of Block 6). Natural slate roofs with angled red-clay ridge tiles. uPVC semi-circular guttering discharging to circular downpipes. Modern skylights to S end of block 5. Red brick walling laid to English bond. Square-headed window openings with projecting cills having uPVC casement windows. Single storey flat roofed porch projecting from the S elevation of block 5, with leaded lights, heavy cornice and paried brackets. Setting: Tarmaced parking to S and to the middle and rear courtyards with modest landscaping and some mature trees to the W. The modern extensions include a two-storey flat-roofed building to the N forming and L-shaped plan with a single storey flat-roofed building, and a large complex to SW with single- and two-storey buildings and an internal courtyard. The site is accessed via a narrow street to the W side of Orpen Park. Materials Roof: Natural slate RWG: Cast iron / uPVC Walling: Rendered masonry Windows: Timber sliding sash and casements / uPVC casements

Architects

Historical Information

Faith House, a two-storey and single-storey house located in the town land of Ballyfinaghy, possesses a history dating back to the late-17th century. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs suggest that the main body of the building was over 140 years old by the mid-1830s. If accurate, the house would have been constructed by approximately c. 1695. Finaghy House was originally built as the residence of a Mr Richard Woods but was purchased in 1727 by the linen manufacturing Charley family who resided there for five generations. The two-storey (originally thatched) building was purchased by Ralph Charley (1674-1759); a plaque located on the southwest gable records the date when the Charley’s first took possession of the site in 1727. At the time of its acquisition Finaghy House consisted of six reception rooms and 12 bedrooms and was described by a descendent of the family as ‘an imposing mansion in a large park, with extensive outhouses and stables … a remarkable feature [of the interior] being a revolving fireplace between the drawing room and the dining room’ (Lilburn Historical Society Journal). Ralph Charley was a successful linen merchant who owned a number of bleach greens in the Dunmurry area and later established looms (for the weaving of linen) at Finaghy House. Rankin states that the Charley family were originally from Lancashire but fled to Ireland following their involvement in the failed Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. It was likely Ralph Charley who established his family’s Irish line in Dunmurry. In 1824 his descendants, John and William Charley, formed the partnership J. & W. Charley & Co. Rankin states that ‘the Charley linen business was always a speciality one, confining itself to the finest and most luxurious qualities in all sorts of household linen goods and often carrying out commissions for the Royal Family.’ Five generations of the Charley family subsequently resided at Finaghy House over a period of more than 150 years (Rankin). In the 1830s the Ordnance Survey Memoirs described the house as a commodious two-storey dwelling that continued to possess a thatched roof noting that ‘the walls are nearly four feet thick and run together by grouted lime, similar to other ancient buildings.’ The contemporary First Edition Ordnance Survey map (1832-33) depicted the main two-storey building along its current layout and also depicted a number of outbuildings to the north-west side of the building. The memoirs recorded that these outbuildings were slated buildings that had been built by the Charley family during the last forty years. The Townland Valuations (c. 1830) set the total value of the house and its outbuilding at £26 and 8 Shillings (OSM, p. 125). The value of Finaghy House was raised to £40 under Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1860). The Ordnance Survey maps record that the attached two-storey rear return and outbuilding (located to the northwest of the dwelling) had been constructed between the 1830s and 1858. John Stouppe Charley (1825-1878), a local magistrate and committee member of the Northern Bank, occupied Finaghy from 1866 until 1885. Following his death in 1885, Charley’s widow sold the mansion and its contents (Rankin). A Mr James Moore came into possession of the dwelling during the 1890s and it was during his occupancy that the formerly thatched building was most likely reroofed and altered into its current appearance. By 1898 the value of Finaghy House had been greatly increased to £160 suggesting that a significant alteration had been made to the building, although the valuer did not record what changes had been made. Between the second and third editions of the Ordnance Survey maps (1858; 1901) the layout of the house was altered. The most discernible change was the construction of the current single-storey entrance porch. The census of Ireland records that Finaghy House’s formerly thatched roof had been replaced with slate by at least 1901 further suggesting that the formerly thatched building was reroofed shortly after the building was purchased by Moore in c. 1890. The Moore family continued to reside at Finaghy House until 1930 when the property was acquired by Major and Mrs Tyler. Finaghy House remained in use as a private dwelling until 1960 when it was converted into a home for elderly residents and renamed ‘Faith House.’ Faith House was listed in 1987. The NIEA HB Records note that work was carried out to the two-storey return in 1989-90 when the original windows were replaced and the side porch (located in the courtyard to rear) was altered. It was at this time that the outbuilding to the north-west side of the original building was replaced with the current two-storey wing. Despite the addition of this modern wing, the original two-storey gable bay to the north-west end of the return (which had been erected between 1833 and 1858) was retained. Between 1991 and 2011 a number of further modern extensions were constructed to the northwest and southwest sides of Faith House. These extensions have greatly increased the capacity of the care home (NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/64/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map (1832-33) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/64/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map (1858) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/64/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map (1901) 4. PRONI OS/6/1/64/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1921-21) 5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/64 – Townland Valuation map (c. 1830) 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/126 – Townland Valuations (c. 1830) 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/20 – Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1860) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/15A-J – Annual Revisions (1862-1930) 9. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Antrim, Vol. 8 (1832-38) 10. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) 11. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943) 12. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 13. First Survey Record – HB26/15/002 (1970) 14. First Survey Image – HB26/15/002 (No Date) 15. NIEA HB Records – HB26/15/002 Secondary Sources 1. Charley, R., ‘Charley family houses in Dunmurry’ Lisburn: Lisburn Historical Society Journal, 1995. 2. Rankin, K., ‘Linen houses of the Lagan Valley and their families’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002. Online Resources 1. Faith House website - http://www.faith-house.co.uk/index.html

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance U. Historic Associations X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Originally known as 'Finaghy House', this mainly two-storey gabled building is thought to derive from the late 17th C when it had a thatched roof and rectangular plan. Various extensions have been added between 1830 and 2011. Located to the W side of Orpen Park, the complex has been constructed in stages. The site is tucked in behind a street of semi-detached houses, with an unassuming entrance. This was once the rural townland of Ballyfinaghy, and home to the Charley family, who were wealthy linen merchants and also owned a number of bleaching greens nearby, for five generations from 1727-1885, during which time the building was extended and a number of outbuildings were added. Around the 1890s the building was re-roofed and took on its current appearance with the addition of a two-storey pitched roof L-shaped building to the rear, a single-storey pitched roof extension to SE and a single storey porch to S. Finaghy House remained in use as a private dwelling until 1960 when it was converted into a home for elderly residents and renamed as Faith House. A number of modern extensions were constructed in the last 20 years together with some window replacement and the loss of historic fabric inside. However, the stepped gable to the smooth rendered principle elevation, together with its entrance porch and similar detailing repeated in the additions immediately adjoining, all of which date back to the 19th Century, combine to provide a noteworthy composition of both historic and architectural interest.

General Comments

Date of Survey

29 January 2014