Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB16/06/061

Address :
CARPENHAM GREENPARK ROAD ROSTREVOR CO.DOWN

Townland:

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Survey 1:
B

Date of Listing:
22/09/1981 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
HOUSE

Former Use
HOUSE

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:

Vernacular:

Thatched:
No

Monument:

Derelict:

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OS Map No:

IG Ref:
J1750 1870

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Owner Category

PRIVATE

Exterior Description And Setting

Carpenham was ‘commenced’ in 1826 on land leased from the Ross-of-Bladensburg estate in or shortly before that year by Henry Hamilton (c.1775-1850), a brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington. The name of the house was a play on that of Henry’s wife, the Hon. Caroline Penelope Pakenham (d.1854), whom he married in 1808. The building was the work of the celebrated Dublin architect William Vitruvius Morrison (1794-1838), his involvement in the design attested to in the OS Memoirs of 1836 and (seemingly) in an appreciation of Morrison in the first volume of John Weale’s ‘Quarterly Papers on Architecture’ of 1844. Morrison would undoubtedly have been well-known amongst the Rostrevor gentry, having supplied the design for the nearby Ross Monument a few years previously. At Carpenham, he is said worked around an existing dwelling, which in itself may have been relatively newly-built at that date, for nothing is shown in this vicinity on Williamson's county map of 1810 – or at least nothing of sufficient import to merit inclusion. Morrison is thought to have extended the building to the south, remodelled the whole in a Picturesque Tudor style and added a range of outbuildings to the north. In the valuation book compiled in autumn of 1835 the house is recorded as ‘new’ building in good condition (grade ‘A+’) consisting of various sections measuring 57ft x 27 x 18, 13 x 11½ x 18, 21½ x 20 x 15, 38 x 19 x 15 and 20 x 10 x 7. The grounds also included a ‘gate house’ of 22 x 14 x 7 with return of 14 x 14 x 7, and outbuildings of 66 x 15½ x 7½, 62 x 18½ x 15, 38 x 7½ x 7½ and 33 x 12 x 6. The residence is referred to in the OS Memoirs of the following year as ‘a large house of the old English style of architecture’, and an illustration showing it much as today appears in the 1846 ‘Picturesque handbook to Carlingford Bay’, whilst in the second valuation of c.1861 it is referred to as ‘a very handsome Elizabethan villa’. The dimensions of the components of the house in the latter valuation are noted as 4yds x 4 x 2[storeys], 5 x 6yds 2ft x 2, 6yds 2ft x 6yds 2ft x 2, 11 x 4 x 2, [figures unclear] x 2, 7 x 7 x 1½ and 6yds 2ft x 13 x 1½. It is difficult to reconcile these with those recorded in 1835, which suggests that either the building had been altered in the interim or that the valuers simply broke the house into different-sized portions for the purposes of measurement at this time (a not uncommon occurrence.) The small scale of the 1834 and 1860 Os maps makes it difficult to conclude whether any changes took place between these dates, although it is possible that some of the outbuildings may have been removed by this date (or perhaps incorporated into the dwelling?), for only the two large 60ft long structures are noted in 1861, and the plan of these buildings as shown the respective OS maps does not match exactly. The Hamiltons had no children and the house was subsequently leased by the Ross estate to Theodosia H. Forde, a relation of the family of Seaforde, before passing in 1865 to Major Charles Forde, another relation. The property then went through a long list of tenants starting with a retired Indian army colonel, Francis John Oldfield in 1873, Adam Samuel Forester (from 1879), Edward Courtenay Biggar (1887-) and Joseph William Warbuton (c.1900-). In the 1901 census, Warburton, (a 63yr-old widower, and retired ‘assistant clerk Foreign Office, subsequently Consul General’), was occupying the house with three domestic servants , with the building itself noted as a ‘1st class’ dwelling with 15 rooms in use. By the time of the 1911 census and Frederick Radford, a retired Captain of the Royal Dragoons, was living there with his wife Constance, their son Francis Vaughan Radford (a J.P.), and three domestic servants. George Walker had succeeded the Radfords as tenant by 1915, followed by Rev. John Howard Murphy in 1926.[8] A Miss Laura Waldegrave Hewson was resident for much of the 1930s, the Liddle family from at least 1946 to 1950, with a family named Ball residing there in 1969. It remains in private hands. At some point before 1901 the gate lodge was demolished. The surrounding garden laid out ‘with great taste’ to complement the house in typically Romantic manner, remained largely intact until c.1960 when part of the land to the south was acquired for housing development (St. Rita’s Park), whilst to the north the pitch belonging to St Bronagh’s GAC was created some time prior to 1979. References - primary sources 1 ‘A Map of the County of Down…by James Williamson, (1810) 2 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1834) 3 PRONI VAL/1/B/361 (1835-36) 4 Day, Angelique and McWilliams, Patrick ed., ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland…vol.3’ (QUB, 1990), (1835-36) 5 Greer, E., ‘Picturesque handbook to Carlingford Bay’, (Dublin, 1846), p.50 6 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1860) 7 PRONI VAL2B/3/61B (1861) 8 PRONI VAL12B/19/21A-F (1865-1929) 9 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1901-02) 10 Census of Ireland, 1901, 1911 [http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie, accessed 2020.05.26] 11 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1919) 12 ‘Belfast telegraph’, 19 May 1937, p.1 13 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 23 May 1946, p.1 14 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1950) 15 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 21 April 1950, p.8 16 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 2 September 1969, p.8 17 OS map, 1979 Secondary sources 18 Weale, John, ‘Quarterly Papers on Architecture Vol.I’, (London, 1844) 19 Crowe, W.H., ‘Village in seven hills’, (Dundalgan Press, 1972), pp.32-33 20 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 29 January 1976, p.3 21 Heritage Garden file in NMBR-NI (c.1992- ) 22 Smith, Philip, ‘The Buildings of South County Down’, (Belfast, UAHS, 2019)

Architects

Historical Information

Carpenham was ‘commenced’ in 1826 on land leased from the Ross-of-Bladensburg estate in or shortly before that year by Henry Hamilton (c.1775-1850), a brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington. The name of the house was a play on that of Henry’s wife, the Hon. Caroline Penelope Pakenham (d.1854), whom he married in 1808. The building was the work of the celebrated Dublin architect William Vitruvius Morrison (1794-1838), his involvement in the design attested to in the OS Memoirs of 1836 and (seemingly) in an appreciation of Morrison in the first volume of John Weale’s ‘Quarterly Papers on Architecture’ of 1844. Morrison would undoubtedly have been well-known amongst the Rostrevor gentry, having supplied the design for the nearby Ross Monument a few years previously. At Carpenham, he is said worked around an existing dwelling, which in itself may have been relatively newly-built at that date, for nothing is shown in this vicinity on Williamson's county map of 1810 – or at least nothing of sufficient import to merit inclusion. Morrison is thought to have extended the building to the south, remodelled the whole in a Picturesque Tudor style and added a range of outbuildings to the north. In the valuation book compiled in autumn of 1835 the house is recorded as ‘new’ building in good condition (grade ‘A+’) consisting of various sections measuring 57ft x 27 x 18, 13 x 11½ x 18, 21½ x 20 x 15, 38 x 19 x 15 and 20 x 10 x 7. The grounds also included a ‘gate house’ of 22 x 14 x 7 with return of 14 x 14 x 7, and outbuildings of 66 x 15½ x 7½, 62 x 18½ x 15, 38 x 7½ x 7½ and 33 x 12 x 6. The residence is referred to in the OS Memoirs of the following year as ‘a large house of the old English style of architecture’, and an illustration showing it much as today appears in the 1846 ‘Picturesque handbook to Carlingford Bay’, whilst in the second valuation of c.1861 it is referred to as ‘a very handsome Elizabethan villa’. The dimensions of the components of the house in the latter valuation are noted as 4yds x 4 x 2[storeys], 5 x 6yds 2ft x 2, 6yds 2ft x 6yds 2ft x 2, 11 x 4 x 2, [figures unclear] x 2, 7 x 7 x 1½ and 6yds 2ft x 13 x 1½. It is difficult to reconcile these with those recorded in 1835, which suggests that either the building had been altered in the interim or that the valuers simply broke the house into different-sized portions for the purposes of measurement at this time (a not uncommon occurrence.) The small scale of the 1834 and 1860 Os maps makes it difficult to conclude whether any changes took place between these dates, although it is possible that some of the outbuildings may have been removed by this date (or perhaps incorporated into the dwelling?), for only the two large 60ft long structures are noted in 1861, and the plan of these buildings as shown the respective OS maps does not match exactly. The Hamiltons had no children and the house was subsequently leased by the Ross estate to Theodosia H. Forde, a relation of the family of Seaforde, before passing in 1865 to Major Charles Forde, another relation. The property then went through a long list of tenants starting with a retired Indian army colonel, Francis John Oldfield in 1873, Adam Samuel Forester (from 1879), Edward Courtenay Biggar (1887-) and Joseph William Warbuton (c.1900-). In the 1901 census, Warburton, (a 63yr-old widower, and retired ‘assistant clerk Foreign Office, subsequently Consul General’), was occupying the house with three domestic servants , with the building itself noted as a ‘1st class’ dwelling with 15 rooms in use. By the time of the 1911 census and Frederick Radford, a retired Captain of the Royal Dragoons, was living there with his wife Constance, their son Francis Vaughan Radford (a J.P.), and three domestic servants. George Walker had succeeded the Radfords as tenant by 1915, followed by Rev. John Howard Murphy in 1926.[8] A Miss Laura Waldegrave Hewson was resident for much of the 1930s, the Liddle family from at least 1946 to 1950, with a family named Ball residing there in 1969. It remains in private hands. At some point before 1901 the gate lodge was demolished. The surrounding garden laid out ‘with great taste’ to complement the house in typically Romantic manner, remained largely intact until c.1960 when part of the land to the south was acquired for housing development (St. Rita’s Park), whilst to the north the pitch belonging to St Bronagh’s GAC was created some time prior to 1979. References - primary sources 1 ‘A Map of the County of Down…by James Williamson, (1810) 2 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1834) 3 PRONI VAL/1/B/361 (1835-36) 4 Day, Angelique and McWilliams, Patrick ed., ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland…vol.3’ (QUB, 1990), (1835-36) 5 Greer, E., ‘Picturesque handbook to Carlingford Bay’, (Dublin, 1846), p.50 6 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1860) 7 PRONI VAL2B/3/61B (1861) 8 PRONI VAL12B/19/21A-F (1865-1929) 9 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1901-02) 10 Census of Ireland, 1901, 1911 [http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie, accessed 2020.05.26] 11 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1919) 12 ‘Belfast telegraph’, 19 May 1937, p.1 13 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 23 May 1946, p.1 14 OS map, Co Down sheet 54 (1950) 15 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 21 April 1950, p.8 16 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 2 September 1969, p.8 17 OS map, 1979 Secondary sources 18 Weale, John, ‘Quarterly Papers on Architecture Vol.I’, (London, 1844) 19 Crowe, W.H., ‘Village in seven hills’, (Dundalgan Press, 1972), pp.32-33 20 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 29 January 1976, p.3 21 Heritage Garden file in NMBR-NI (c.1992- ) 22 Smith, Philip, ‘The Buildings of South County Down’, (Belfast, UAHS, 2019)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Historic Interest

Evaluation

General Comments

Date of Survey