Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB17/03/017

Address :
Lisnagade House 27 Lisnagade Road Lisnagade Co Down BT32 3QN

Townland:
Lisngade

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
25/10/1977 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:
220/11

IG Ref:
J0840 4410

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

A detached symmetrical two-storey three-bay Regency house built c.1827, on large grounds to the south side of Lisnagade Road northeast of Loughbrickland. Rectangular plan with central segmental projection to front; L-shaped two-storey return (c.1870) and single-storey lean-to extension to rear. Hipped natural slate roof with blue-black angled ridge tiles and some leaded hips; rendered chimneystacks with tall clay pots. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods on projecting eaves with timber soffits and paired modillions. Walling is roughcast render. Windows are timber sliding sash with projecting sills; 6/3 to first floor and 6/6 to ground floor. The principal elevation faces south and is three bays wide arranged about a central two-storey segmental projection terminating in a plain frieze. First floor overhangs slightly on four semi-engaged columns (more closely spaced to left and right) with entablature all in painted stucco on a flagstone stepped plinth. Central raised-and-fielded six panel timber door surmounted by a rectangular timber fanlight and flanked by narrow round-arched timber windows with geometric glazing; window to first floor. Flanking bays are one window wide to each floor. The west elevation has two blind windows to first floor; abutted at ground floor by a modern timber conservatory (of no interest). The north (rear) elevation is abutted at left by the L-shaped two-storey hipped roofed return (ridge level lower than main block). To right are two windows to first floor and a single-storey lean-to extension with a right of centre modern timber-sheeted entrance door flanked by two windows to left and a single window to right. Return has a single central window to ground floor; left cheek has three equally spaced windows to first floor and two windows to ground floor positioned to centre and left; right cheek has two widely spaced windows to first floor with two windows directly below and a window to right; abutted to right by the two storey 'leg' of the return incorporating a window to first floor north face. The east elevation is two windows wide to each floor. Setting The house occupies a large mature site between two historically significant raths, with unspoiled views over surrounding farmland. Accessed via a long gravelled lane leading to a gravelled courtyard to the rear of the house. To secondary entrance are two large granite piers with chamfered plinth recessed panels and stepped pyramidal caps. Entrance to rear yard has two round rubble stone piers and a metal water pump; to west is a refurbished two-storey random rubble stone barn with red-brick dressings, having replacement timber casement windows and a variety of timber-sheeted doors in segmental-arched surrounds. Roof: Natural slate Walling: Render Windows: Timber RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

Lisnagade House can be dated stylistically to the early nineteenth century and was built by local landowner Edward Hill Trevor. In 1827 Trevor married Mary Lucy, the daughter of Major Trevor of Loughbrickland, and it can be surmised that the house was built as the newly-weds' first home. (The Standard) According to Magennis the house was built on the site of an earlier castle and it is situated in what has been described as ‘probably the most archaeologically important area in the Banbridge district’. The house lies midway between two raths, Lisnavaragh and Lisnagade. In addition, the Dane’s Cast, an ancient linear earthwork running as far as Meigh in South Armagh, begins here. (Magennis) ‘Lisnagade House’ appears, captioned, on the 1834 OS map as a rectangular structure with porch to the front elevation. The rear return was added before the third edition of 1903. The house and offices are listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) as the home of Edward Hill Trevor Esq. Dimensions are given for the house, a single storey return which spans the width of the house and a two-storey outbuilding and the property is valued at £16.18s. The outbuilding is shown on the 1833 map as a single long range at right angles to the rear of the main house. Lewis’s Topographical Survey of 1837 states that “Lisnagade House of E H Trevor Esq…is on a lofty eminence, close to the ancient fort from which it is named” Edward Hill Trevor remained the occupier until 1873 and is listed in Griffith’s Valuation of 1863 as the owner in fee. The house and offices are set in over 135 acres of land and the buildings are valued at £27. The valuation of the buildings was raised in 1869 to £33, and this gives a likely date for the addition of the return to the rear. Edward Hill Trevor died c.1873 and the house passed to his representatives and then to Charles Douglas in 1874. The house is not identifiable in the 1901 census and may have been empty at the time, Douglas having died in 1898, an extremely wealthy man with a fortune equivalent to more than £2 million today. Douglas had no children and left his fortune to his sister and a female friend. (Will of Charles Douglas) In 1903 the occupier is noted as Miss Trevor and then William Teggart. In the same year the valuation was reduced to £16. The valuer notes that the building was on a 21 year lease and the rent was £111 per year. The 1911 census shows William Teggart, farmer, resident in the house with his wife and three staff; two farm servants and a general domestic. The house is a ten-room dwelling of the first class and there are twelve outbuildings including a stable, coach house, harness room, cow house and piggery. The Teggart family became the owners in fee under land purchase legislation in 1932 and at the same period the house was revalued in the First General Revaluation at £16 and £5.10s for agricultural outbuildings. A plan and dimensions are given and the interior layout at this time included six bedrooms, three receptions, a kitchen, pantry and scullery but was stated to be ‘in poor repair’. The house was purchased in December 1945 by James Sinton for the sum of £1900 and a slight adjustment of the valuation followed because Sinton began to use part of the single-storey return to the rear of the house as agricultural outbuildings. The Sintons are descendants of Thomas Sinton, the founder of linen manufacturing firm Thomas Sinton and Co Ltd of Tandragee, a firm which was active until the early 1990s. (Rankin) The house continues in use as a dwelling. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/33/1 First Edition OS Map 1834 2. PRONI OS/6/3/33/2 Second Edition OS map 1860 3. PRONI OS/6/3/33/3 Third Edition OS Map 1903 4. PRONI OS/6/3/33/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18 5. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/55D Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/22A-D Annual Revisions (1864-1929) 7. PRONI Will of Charles Douglas, died 1898 8. The Standard 13th September 1827 9. Lewis, Samuel. “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland” London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837. Secondary Sources 1. Magennis, P “Banbridge, An Illustrated History and Companion” Donaghadee, Cottage Publications, 1996 2. Rankin, K “The Linen Houses of the Bann Valley, The story of their families” Belfast, Ulster Historical Foundation, 2007

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two-storey three-bay early nineteenth-century Regency house in extensive grounds northeast of Loughbrickland. Composed on a symmetrical plan about a central curved projection containing the entrance. Architectural detailing and historic fabric are largely intact and of good quality. A two-storey rubble stone barn to rear yard and original entrance piers add to the historic interest of the site. Lisnagade House is a fine example of an early nineteenth-century country house with later additions surviving virtually unchanged and is locally significant.

General Comments

Date of Survey

18 November 2011