Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB16/22/009

Address :
The Institute Town Hall College Square East Bessbrook Co. Armagh

Townland:
Maytown

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Survey 2:
A

Date of Listing:
15/05/1981 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Town Hall

Former Use
Town Hall

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
266/1NE

IG Ref:
J0497 2875

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Two-storey multi-bay asymmetrical Gothic style late-Victorian community building, known as The Town Hall or The Institute, built of local stone in 1885-1886 to designs by Architect W. J. Watson and restored in 1998 to designs by T. Gilsenan. Irregular plan form facing SE having a rectangular plan hall block to rear and a pair of ball alleys detached to SE. The Institute is located at the SE end of College Square East (HB16/22/013A-W); part of a formally designed late-Victorian square consisting of 53 dwellings in total, arranged on three sides around a central bowling green and playground, primarily accessed from Fountain Street to the SE. Generally random-coursed rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite stone walling, squared to front elevation, with smooth granite dressings, cills, stepped window jambs and quoins. Pitched and hipped natural slate roof with roll top terracotta clay ridge tiles, rolled lead hips and triangular dormers with painted timber ogee lucarnes. Central section has a monopitched roof with two tall rectangular-section dressed granite chimneys, each with a moulded cornice to cap, angled coping and two buff clay pots. Projecting open eaves with exposed painted sheeted timber and decorative moulded brackets. Generally cast iron RWGs; half-round guttering discharging to circular section downpipes. Principal elevation The front elevation is asymmetrical facing SW and consists of a central range of 5 bays in width with projecting hipped by to NW and gabled bay to SE. Central bay has 5 windows to FF; GF has 3 windows to SE side and a single storey dressed stone porch with balustrade parapet having pierced quatrefoil detailing. Pointed arch doorway has attached columns; panelled painted timber two-part door with pointed arch fanlight and stone drip mould with block stops above. Central range has two dormers. NW wing is square having a hipped roof with a single dormer. Five part window to GF and four part window to FF. Projecting gabled wing at SE end has raised verges, moulded kneelers and stone gablets at apex of pitched roof. There are 3 square-headed windows to GF and a three part window in-line to FF with ocular and trefoil lights to a pointed-arch above; clock-face above FF window. Generally front elevation has a moulded stone stringcourse between GF and FF with windows having splayed dressed granite cills; all with double hung 1/1 sliding timber sash windows with horns. Northwest elevation NW elevation faces onto the rear access route for College Square East and consists of a hipped roof block to SW and a larger gabled pitched roof hall block to NE, which is fronted by a monopitched rectangular plan block to NW. Hipped roof block has four timber sash windows to FF with stepped red brick jambs, red brick heads and projecting granite cills; two windows to GF have galvanized metal grills. Monopitched block has two similar windows to its SW elevation and painted sheet metal doors to its NW elevation. There is a separate barrel roof building to N which is now derelict and has only one or two Belfast Roof Trusses surviving (no access). Monopitched block has a section of smooth cement render walling at NE side. Northeast elevation Rear elevation faces NE consisting of a rectangular section pitched roof hall block having raised verges and two rectangular dormer skylights. Flush eaves with painted timber facia and smooth cement render band at eaves level. Southeast Limited access to SE elevation but, where visible, consists of a gabled hall block to NE having a smooth cement render finish and a pitched roof gabled block to SW having stone walling, two pairs of square headed windows to FF. Moulded kneelers with moulded trefoil detailing to gablets at eaves and apex of raised verges. A modern painted metal security gate provides access to remainder of elevation (no access) and a pair of ball alleys to SE which have a painted smooth cement render finish. Setting The Institute forms part of College Square East; being part of a planned arrangement of 53 mill workers dwellings comprising a formal square composed of East, North and West terraces arranged around a central bowling green, playground and lawned area; each house being set back from the perimeter public road and footpath with a modest sized front yard typically enclosed by dwarf walling topped by hooped metal railings. Terrace to East is initially stepped in groups of six dwellings respecting the subtle relief of the site. Terrace to West is composed of paired dwellings although in a similar style. Located on the East side of College Square the Institute forms the SE end of College Square East looking onto an area set to lawn and enclosed by dwarf smooth rendered walling topped by galvanized hooped metal railings set between square section rendered pillars with concrete caps; walling to SE of lawned area has a concrete balustrade with ball finials to pillars. Former school building (HB16/22/016) is located directly opposite on the West side of the Square. To the front of the building, SW of the ball alleys, there is a polished granite obelisk type memorial to the 'innocent victims murdered at Kingsmill, 5th January 1976'. Materials Roof: Natural slate RWGs: Cast iron Walling: Newry Granodiorite Windows: Timber sash

Architects

Historical Information

The Institute, a two-storey Gothic Revival-style granite building also known as Bessbrook’s Town Hall, was constructed to the east side of College Square in 1885-86. The Institute was constructed as part of the civic and industrial development of the village of Bessbrook which had been initiated by the Richardson family from as early as the 1840s. Bessbrook was effectively founded in 1845 when John Grubb Richardson (1813-1891), a linen merchant from Lambeg, purchased one of the derelict mills at the site and began to build housing for the textile workers in the immediate vicinity. Richardson, in his own words, ‘had a great aversion to be responsible for a factory population in a large town, so on looking around, fixed upon a place near Newry … with water power and a thick population around, and in a country district where flax was cultivated in considerable quantities’ (Harrison, p. 50). Bessbrook was established as a ‘model village’ in a number of phases with the layout influenced by the work of William Penn, an American Quaker who had been responsible for the planning and development of Philadelphia in the late-17th century. Richardson was also a member of the Religious Society of Friends and, according to Harrison, possessed a ‘typical Quaker mix of pragmatic and altruistic expectation to provide jobs and good working conditions for his employees.’ By providing his workers with good standards of living Richardson hoped to ensure good relationships between employers and the employed. He therefore established the village as a social experiment where his workers could both live and work in contentment. Harrison states that Richardson’s philanthropic spirit led him to bring the poor, the unqualified and beggars from the surrounding countryside to work and live at Bessbrook, hoping that he could encourage them to improve themselves and excise old habits. Bessbrook is often referred to as a village without the ‘Three P’s’ due to Richardson’s stipulation that there would be no ‘Public House’ or ‘Pawn Shop’ in the settlement and therefore no need for ‘Police’ to be stationed there. In exchange for keeping the village free of alcohol Richardson provided recreational and educational facilities at the Institute (HB16/22/009), a number of well-stocked shops (located at nos 1-5 Charlemont Square East) and also had milk, tea and cocoa distributed to his mill workers. The strategy was effective as the majority of the population voted to preserve the ordinance in the 1870s and, to this day, there remains no public house at Bessbrook. Police were not stationed at the village until the turn of the 20th century (Harrison; Brett, p. 243). Brett states that the Institute was one of the last major benefactions made by the Richardson family to its workers, who had requested the creation of a purpose-built building for local civic and social functions. The Institute was erected to the south-east side of College Square East between October 1885 and March 1886. In a contemporary account Bassett (1888) recorded that the Town Hall was constructed at a cost of £2,600 to designs by William James Watson, a local architect and magistrate who was also responsible for the design of many contemporary churches, hotels and civic structures in Newry, Rostrevor and Warrenpoint. According to the Irish Builder, the Town Hall was completely funded by Richardson and was constructed by his own workers whilst the Natural Stone Database notes that the building was primarily constructed of Newry Granodiorite. This granite was utilised in the masonry of most buildings at Bessbrook and was produced locally at a quarry opened on the former Charlemont Estate (granite from the Bessbrook Quarry is of a high quality and was used to build Manchester Town Hall and the great steps of St. George’s Hall in Liverpool). Bassett described the completed Institute as ‘a handsome granite structure [which] has a spacious assembly room and reading room and library. The working people elect their own committee of control and appear to enjoy the benefits of the institution’ (Brett, p. 328; Bassett; Irish Builder, p. 85; DIA; NSD). The Annual Revisions initially set the total rateable value of The Institute at £65 and noted that the building was owned outright by Richardson’s firm, the Bessbrook Spinning Co. which leased the majority of housing in the village. Brett states that The Institute possessed one of the largest halls in County Armagh (capable of seating approximately 1,000 people) and rooms that were open to all workers including a library, billiard room and newsroom. The Institute became Bessbrook’s main social venue where villagers came to play chess, draughts, table tennis, badminton and billiards and attend lectures. A motto located in the main hall reads ‘In essentials Unity, in non-essentials Liberty, in all things Charity.’ The Institute was recorded on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1906) which depicted the building along its current general layout with a pair of ball alleys to its south-east side. There was little change to the layout or use of the building throughout the 20th century when The Institute remained in use as Bessbrook’s primary social and meeting venue. The value of The Institute was increased to £85 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that the building was partially occupied by the local Young Men’s Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.). The building was also utilised as a hall for the Bessbrook District Loyal Orange Lodge (No. 11) which met at the institute from at least the 1950s. The Institute was further raised in value to £100 by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72). Following the closure of Richardson’s mill in 1972, and its subsequent conversion into an extensive army base, The Institute suffered a number of bomb attacks during the 1970s and fell into a state of advanced disrepair. In 1983 the building was included in the Bessbrook Conservation Area, which had been designated in recognition of Bessbrook’s ‘historical significance as a planned mill village and its distinct form and character.’ The Institute was listed in 1985 and in that year the NIEA HB Records note that the building underwent a series of general repairs and renovations in support of its listing. Brett, writing in 1999, described The Institute as ‘a dignified two-storey building of locally quarried granite, deliberately asymmetrical, of considerable merit: in a sort of sub-Ruskinian style, with more than a whiff of Venetian Gothic; clock in the gable; triangular dormers containing ogee lucarnes; fine, upstanding chimney-stacks.’ The Institute underwent a restoration in 1998, which was designed by T. Gilsenan and aided by Lottery funding. The extensive refurbishment of the former Town Hall resulted in its conversion into a multi-purpose community centre that continues to be utilised by the villagers of Bessbrook (Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide; NIEA HB Records; Brett, p. 238). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/2/26/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1861) 2. PRONI OS/6/2/26/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1906) 3. PRONI OS/8/31/3 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1906) 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/22A-F – Annual Revisions (1866-1929) 5. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/15 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 6. PRONI VAL/4/B/2/24 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 7. George Bassett: The Book of County Armagh (1888) 8. Irish Builder (15 Mar 1886) 9. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1918) 10. First Survey Record – HB16/22/009 11. NIEA HB Record – HB16/22/009 Secondary Sources 1. ‘Bessbrook: A record of industry in a Northern Ireland village community and of a social experiment, 1845-1945’ Belfast: Nicholson & Bass Ltd., 1945. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of County Armagh’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1999. 3. Harrison, R., ‘The Richardson’s of Bessbrook: Ulster Quakers in the linen industry (1845-1921)’ Dublin: Original Writing Ltd., 2008. 4. ‘Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment (N. I.), 1983. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/ 2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com/

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

R. Age Z. Rarity S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance U. Historic Associations V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Two storey multi-bay asymmetrical Gothic style late-Victorian community centre, known as The Town Hall or The Institute, built of local stone in 1885-1886 to designs by Architect W.J. Watson and restored in 1998, after bomb damage, to designs by T. Gilsenan. Irregular plan form facing SE having a large rectangular plan hall block to rear and a pair of ball alleys detached to SE. The Institute has local historical importance and significant group value being located at the SE end of College Square East (HB16/22/013A-W), part of a formally designed late-Victorian square consisting of 53 mill workers dwellings in total. The building retains its original plan and internal features having good quality external stone walling with well designed proportions and quality detailing. The Town Hall, as it is sometime known, is of considerable local social significance and is an important building for Bessbrook Village, adding much to the character of the place, being one of the most distinctive buildings within Bessbrook's Conservation Area.

General Comments

Date of Survey

11 March 2015