Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB19/05/046

Address :
Harty House 25 Ballynahinch Street Hillsborough County Antrim BT26 6AW

Townland:
Hillsborough

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
01/12/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
184/5NE

IG Ref:
J2444 5890

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached asymmetrical two-storey stucco street-fronted house, built c.1820. Rectangular on plan facing north with two-storey return, located on the south side of Ballynahinch Street, Hillsborough. Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack rising from either gable end with terracotta pots. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Painted ruled and lined rendered walling with rusticated render quoins and smooth rendered plinth course. Square-headed window openings with moulded architrave surrounds and keyblocks (to ground floor only), painted masonry sills and early twentieth-century 6/6 timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes. Front elevation is asymmetrical, four windows wide with round-headed door opening having replacement hardwood panelled door, architrave surround broken by keystone and replacement semi-circular fanlight. Door flanked by plain pilasters and pair of oversized scrolled foliate console brackets supporting large cornice and canopy. Ceramic Blue Plaque to wall states: 'Sir/ Hamilton/Harty/ 1879-1941/ Musician and/ Composer/ Lived here' East gable is blank and abutted by decorative iron pedestrian gate supported on tall render pier with screen wall to side garden. Rear elevation not viewed. West gable has a single window opening to the first floor with glass bricks. No.23 Ballynahinch Street (HB19/05/050L) abuts the back section of this gable. Setting: Located on the south side of Ballynahinch Street to the east of Arthur Street. Modern decorative steel gates to the east give vehicular access to the rear and to the neighbouring modern house No.27. Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron Walling Ruled and lined render Windows Replacement 6/6 timber sash

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

25 Ballynahinch Street does not appear on an 1803 town plan of Hillsborough. The house does not appear until the first Ordnance Survey map of Hillsborough in 1833 where it is depicted as an oblong building situated half way up the Ballynahinch road and next to the entrance of the town’s ‘pleasure grounds.’ The Townland Valuations of the 1830s record that this house was valued at £8. at this time and was occupied by a Mr Aaron Hunter. By 1861 Griffith’s Valuation records that the house has come into the possession of Capt. James Balcombe, who had served with the 57th Foot Infantry during the Crimean War (1853-56). In 1861 the house was valued at £18. and measured 14 yards by 6 yards; a two and a half-storey house classed 1B+. Balcombe paid rent of £1. 10s. to the Marquis of Downshire. Balcombe lived in 25 Ballynahinch Street until his death in 1872 and over the next two decades the house was occupied by a number of occupants. Barry states that 25 Ballynahinch Street was provided by the Marquis of Downshire as the residence of the Parish Church Organist; however, Barry does not record whether Capt. Balcombe was an organist and in a list he publishes of the Church organists only a Mr. W. Penry Williams is recorded as filling the position between 1856 and 1878. The Annual Revisions records five separate occupants of the house between 1861 and 1889, none of whom appear on Barry’s list of organists (Barry, p. 105). In 1878 William Harty became the new Parish Organist. Harty and his family, including his infant son Hamilton, had previously lived in 14 Main Street (HB 19/05/008B), however, some time after becoming Church organist Harty moved to the house on Ballynahinch Street. The 1901 Census records that William Harty (49) lived at 25 Ballynahinch Street with his wife Annie Harty (47) and a number of their children. Harty was born in Dublin and described himself as a ‘Professor of Music.’ The building was recorded as a 1st class dwelling which consisted of 13 inhabited rooms; the out offices in the garden included two stables, a cow house, a calf house, a fowl house and a barn; however in 1911 only one stable, a coach house, a harness room and a cow house are recorded. William Harty does not appear as the occupant in the Annual Revisions until 1889; he resided there until 1920 when a Mr John Vine was recorded as the new resident before being replaced in 1923 by a Thomas Forster (both of these occupants are recorded by Barry as past organists; Vine (1918 1921), and Forster (1921-1932) suggesting that the tradition of letting the house to the Parish Organist only began after Harty’s time there (Barry, p. 104). The recorder believes that the house was built c. 1820 and Brett states that the house was ‘set aside by the Downshire family as a residence for the parish organist’ (Brett, p. 22). Walker tells us that a direct path was created for the Organist to the Parish Church through the adjoining Pleasure Gardens. The organist was able to exit through his garden into the pleasure ground and then passed through the ‘Organists gateway’ beside the Parish Church (HB19/05/003) allowing him quick and unobstructed access to the Church (Walker) The most famous resident of the house was undoubtedly the composer and conductor Herbert Hamilton Harty (1879-1941). From the age of 10 Hamilton Harty assisted his father in his duties as Church Organist. At the age of 12 he was appointed organist of Magheragall Parish Church and at 16 he became the organist and choirmaster of Christ Church in Bray, Co. Wicklow. He quickly established himself, both in Ireland and in England, as one of the most accomplished Irish musicians of his time. At the age of 20 Harty appeared before Queen Victoria when he accompanied Madame Ella Russell, a famous singer of her day. Harty went on to become a conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra and in 1920 he became the permanent conductor of the Hallé Orchestra. Such were his accomplishments that in 1925 he received a knighthood for his services to the arts and in 1934 was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society which at that time was recognised as the highest award in music. He composed many famous works such as ‘An Irish Symphony,’ ‘The Children of Lir,’ and ‘The Mystic Trumpeter’ to name a few. Harty died in 1941 at the age of 61. His ashes were brought to Hillsborough and buried in the Parish Church; Harty’s childhood home was renamed Harty House in his honour (Barry, pp 57-63; Hillsborough Information Guide, p. 11). Harty House was listed in January 1976. Since that time, the house has been renovated in 1976 and again in 1981. In 1992 repairs were made to the chimney and other parts of the exterior. The house was further renovated in 1994 (NIEA File). A plaque has been added to the wall of the house reading: ‘Sir Hamilton Harty (1879-1941) Musician and Composer lived here.’ References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI D671/M/8/25 – Hillsborough Map c.1800 2. PRONI D671/M/8/57/1 – Hillsborough Illustrated Map 1803 3. PRONI VAL/1/B/344 A-B – Townland Valuations 1834 4. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/14 – Field Map 1834 5. PRONI OS/6/3/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1834 6. PRONI OS/6/3/14/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858 7. PRONI OS/6/3/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-1903 8. PRONI OS/6/3/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-1920 9. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/45A-C – Griffith’s Valuation 1856-64 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14A – Annual Revisions 1864-1879 11. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14B – Annual Revisions 1880-1889 12. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14C – Annual Revisions 1890-1908 13. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14D – Annual Revisions 1909-1928 14. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14E – Annual Revisions 1928-1930 Secondary Sources 1. Barry, J., ‘Hillsborough: A parish in the Ulster plantation’ (3rd ed.), Belfast, Universities Press., 1982. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in the towns and villages of Mid Down: Hillsborough, Dromore, Dromara, Ballynahinch, the Spa, Drumaness and Saintfield’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1974. 3. ‘Gravestone Inscriptions: Vol. 18 Co. Down’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1979. 4. Hobart, B. R., ‘The village of Hillsborough Co. Down: A short architectural and historical description’ (Unpublished illustrated book c. 1950s). 5. Walker, S., ‘Hillsborough: An illustrated history and companion’ Belfast: Cottage Publications, 1994). 6. NIEA File – HB19/05/046.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting

Historic Interest

V. Authorship X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Attached asymmetrical two-storey stucco street-fronted house, built c.1820. Rectangular on plan facing north with two-storey return, located on the south side of Ballynahinch Street, Hillsborough. The fine decorative façade to this house appears to be a late nineteenth-century alteration to a much earlier structure. While the interior appears to have been largely altered the exterior retains most of its historic character. Adjacent to the former entrance of the towns 'Pleasure Grounds', it was traditionally the residence of the Parish Organist in the nearby St Malachi's Church of Ireland (HB19/05/001A), with the nationally renowned composer Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty, being its most notable former resident.

General Comments

Criteria R & S also apply.

Date of Survey

29 September 2010