Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB18/13/060

Address :
Manor House 26 Middle Tollymore Road Tollymore Newcastle BT33 0JJ

Townland:
Tollymore

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
11/07/1977 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:
255/6

IG Ref:
J3654 3267

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

The Manor House is a substantial, two storey, gabled house probably dating from the early 1700s, and possibly originally the residence of the local landlord, James Hamilton. The property is set gable end on to the S side of the Middle Tollymore Road, roughly a mile NW of Newcastle town centre, and has two walled gardens, one dated 1726, and two large outbuildings, of probable mid 19th century origin. The house was completely renovated c.1950, at which time a large single storey extension was added to the rear. The front façade faces roughly E and is symmetrical. To the centre of the ground floor is an panelled timber door with semicircular fanlight with tracery. The doorway has a granite surround with keystone. Either side of the doorway (but not connected to it) are narrow sidelights with lead tracery. To the left of the doorway ensemble are two sash windows with Georgian panes (6 over 6), with two more to the right. To the first floor are five similar windows. The front façade is finished in an unsuitable pebble and sea shell dash with smooth cement cill courses and in/out surrounds to the windows. This render was added c.1930. To the left of the S elevation is the is the S façade of a two storey, hipped roof portion which was added c.1840s. This has two windows (as front) to the first floor, whilst a modern flat roofed conservatory extension has been added at ground floor level. To the right of all this is the gable of the original house is a window to the right on the ground floor, as before. This window is a mid 20th century insertion. To the first floor is another window, as previous but narrower. The N faces , which directly out onto the roadside, is blank. To the right the gable merges with a high rendered wall which encloses the yard to the rear of the house. The rear has a complex appearance due to the fact that large extensions were in the mid 20th century. The 20th century extensions are to the left side and consist of a large single storey flat roofed section which is roughly L shaped. This section has five modern windows of various sizes, two of which are of the large picture variety. This extension may incorporate the fabric of a much older rear portion of the house. To the right the 20th century section abuts a much larger, two storey return of probable pre 1834 construction. This section is gabled, but, to the S has a hipped roofed section which apparently dates from c.1840s (see above). To its W face a small, single storey flat roofed extension has been added, with modern windows and door. This section is L shaped, and to the SW abuts a large two storey outbuilding (see below). To the left of this (on the main W face of the return), is a window with a modern frame. To the first floor is a larger window with modern frame. To the small exposed section of the N face is a sash window, as front. To the left of this the face is abutted by a relatively small, flat roofed projection with modern window to W and tall chimney stack to N. This projection appears to be 20th century. The N gable and the entire S and W facades are all finished in rough cast. The gabled roof of the main house has rendered parapets and two rendered chimney stacks (to main gables). To the front the roof is covered in a roughly hewn local slate, with the size of the slates diminishing as they climb higher. These slates were re laid recently using traditional timber pegs. To the rear and the return are regular Bangor Blue slates. The return has a rendered chimney stack to its gable. Cast iron rw goods. To the rear of the house is the yard. To the N this is enclosed by a tall rendered wall with large vehicle entrance (which may have been widened in the mid 20th century) and an accompanying pedestrian entrance. To the S is a large, two storey gabled outbuilding which evidence suggests dates from the mid 1800s. The structure is rubble built with a slated roof. To the N there are two large elliptical archways to the ground floor, with an arched pedestrian doorway to the left of these. To the first floor left is a window (with recently installed multi-pane frame), with a timber sheeted loft doorway to the right. This façade is white washed. To the E gable the building is abutted by the small, modern looking single storey extension attached to the return. The W gable has an upper level doorway with stone steps sandwiched between the gable and the E façade of another outbuilding to the W (see below). To the S the ground level rises slightly and a large lean-to glass house has been attached. This glass house covers most of the façade, but to the very right it is still exposed and here there is a ground floor doorway with timber sheeted door. The slightly higher ground to the S of the above outbuilding used to be even higher and was surmounted by a horse walk, which drove milling machinery on the first floor of the said outbuilding. All evidence of the horse walk was removed in the mid 1900s. To the W side the rear yard is bounded by another two storey outbuilding, which may also be of mid 19th century construction. This is also rubble-built and has a hipped roof. The openings to the (E) front façade of this building appear to have been altered over the years, with a modern-looking window opening to left on ground floor, two pedestrian doorways and a large elliptical arched vehicle entrance now filled with a modern up & over garage door. To the first floor are two loft doorways and a large roundel window. To the far right hand side the building is abutted by a small single storey shed with mono-pitched roof. The other facades of the outbuilding appear to be blank. To the E side of the house the roadside is fringed by a low rendered wall with wrought iron pedestrian gate close to the house itself and a curved gate screen further to the E, with wrought iron gates of perhaps c.1900. To the E of this there is a large walled garden with high rubble wall and much tree growth within (the garden appears to have remained unattended for many years). Directly N of the house (on the other side of the Middle Tollymore Road) is another large walled garden. This has an arched gateway in the wall to the S, which apparently once had a date stone of 1726, but this could not be found. The garden itself appears to have been laid out in the geometric fashion.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

This house and the return are shown on the OS map of 1834 and accounted for in the valuation records of the following year. At this stage the property appears to have been of considerable age, for the valuers graded it ‘B+’, that is, a ‘reasonably old’ building in ‘good repair’- probably 18th century. The Georgian appearance of the building (notwithstanding the present render and 1950s extensions), suggests an 18th century date also, as does the one time presence of a 1726 date stone on the gate of the accompanying walled garden. Moreover, a reasonably large house (by the standards of the day) is indicated on this general site on James Kennedy’s 1755 map of the area as well as on that of 1777 by Tayor & Skinner. A further clue to the property’s date, and the identity of its builder(s) may also lie within its name, ‘The Manor House’. Though Tollymore never appears to have been a ‘Manor’ in strict the legal sense, this name suggests that it was once home to the local landowners. In the 1700s the landlords would have been Hamilton descendants of James of that name and his wife Ellen Magennis, who inherited Tollymore on the death of her brother, Bernard Magennis, in c.1685. If this was indeed the actual Hamilton residence, then it predates the 1750s- when James Hamilton (later 1st Viscount Limerick and 1st Earl of Clanbrassil) began construction of Tollymore House- and is therefore likely to have been standing in 1726, when the aforementioned walled garden appears to have been laid out. Both James and his father are both styled as ‘of Tolemor’ in letters dating back to the late 1680s, suggesting that the family had a house within the townland at that date- a building which may have been the pre 1685 Magennis home of his wife, Ellen. But whether the residence alluded to in the 1680s is that we see today is difficult to tell. In the light of the available evidence it does appear that the house is certainly 18th century, and may well be contemporary with the 1726 walled garden, but beyond this little is certain. Whatever the age and origins of The Manor House, we can be certain that in 1835 the main front portion and the return were already standing, along with single storey section to the rear, probably where the large flat roofed section now stands. At this stage the property (which possessed the substantial rateable value of £14-16-3), was in the hands of a Madam de Spalier. This family, who one would assume were of French or Walloon origin, may have acquired the building from a John Keown, who is listed as the local notable in Tollymore townland in the ‘Directory of Noted Places’ of 1814 and Pigot’s ’Provincial Directory’ of 1824. They remained in ownership of The Manor House until the early 1900s, with Jules de Spalier recorded as resident in 1905, but during the 1840s and1850s appear to have leased the house to Rev Christopher Usher (of Kilcoo parish church, Bryansford), for he is listed as the occupant in ‘Slater’s Directory’ of 1856. It may have been Usher who added the hipped roofed portion to the south end of the return and the two outbuildings, all of which are shown on the OS map of 1859. By 1915 the property was home to a Mr C. McManus, who in the late 1920s sold it to an Edward McAtier. McAtier lived there until c.1935 (adding the present render to the front façade) and then rented the building out. In 1948 he sold The Manor House to Brigadier Russell (apparently the one time the Sergeant at Arms at Stormont), who completely renovated the interior and added the large flat roofed extension to the rear. The current owner acquired the property in 1985. Neither the OS map of 1834 or that of 1859 show any evidence of a horse walk to the south of the property as mentioned by the owner, nor is a mill of any kind mentioned in the valuations of 1835 and 1863. With grants of manors usually manorial rights, such as the right to grind the tenants’ corn, thus one might expect to find a mill close to a ‘manor house’. As was stated above, however, Tollymore never appears to have been part of a manorial grant, the name ‘The Manor House’, in this case, probably originating as an informal reference to the residence of the local landlord. The horse walk may have been used for other purposes other than milling (they frequently were), however, as no machinery has survived on site it is difficult to tell what this purpose was, or when it was actually carried out. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI MIC.147 Roden Papers 2 Map of Co Down by James Kennedy M.D. (1755) [reprinted in ‘Kilcoo Parish Church, Bryansford’ (Newcastle, Mourne Observer Press, 1971)- original in PRONI] 3 ‘Taylor’s and Skinner’s Maps of the roads of Ireland’ (Dublin 1777), map 8 4 ‘The Directory of Noted Places’ (Dublin 1814) 5 Linen Hall Library ‘Pigot & Co.’s Dublin and Hibernian Provincial Directory’ (Manchester 1824) 6 PRONI OS/1/3/49 OS maps 1st ed. 1834, Co Down sheet 49 7 PRONI VAL/1A/3/43, 49 Valuation maps, Kilcoo (c.1836) 8 PRONI VAL/1B/362 First valuation records, Kilcoo (1836) 9 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1846) 10 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ Vols.1-21, 1852-1900, (Belfast, Henderson [1852-65], Belfast News-Letter [1865- ]) 11 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1856) 12 PRONI OS/6/3/49/3 OS maps 1st rev.1859, Co Down sheet 49 13 PRONI Second (Griffith’s) valuation records, Kilcoo (1863) [in print] 14 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1870) 15 George Henry Bassett ‘County Down Guide and Directory’ (Dublin 1886), pp.137-139. Secondary sources 1 P.J. Rankin, 'Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in the Mourne area of South Down', (Belfast UAHS 1975), p.44

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Substantial two storey gabled house probably dating from the early 1700s, extended at the rear c.1840s and c.1950. The property has two large walled gardens, one of which dates from 1726 and two large outbuildings, of probable mid 19th century construction. There was apparently a horse mill next to one of the outbuildings, but no trace of this remains. As its name, ‘The Manor House’ suggests this may once have been the residence of the local landlord, James Hamilton (later 1st Viscount Limerick and 1st Earl of Clanbrassil), prior to the building Tollymore House in the 1750s.

General Comments

Date of Survey

07 February 2000