Building Number 63

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey, 6 bay house in the Georgian style. Rendered and painted, natural slate roof with chimneys on the top of each gable. Central doorway surrounded by projecting painted stone architrave with keystone. Semicircular fanlight with radial pattern (modern replacement) over original eight panelled raised and fielded door with lion’s head knocker. Door at head of four granite steps (with incised diagonal grips) flanked by simple wrot iron railings on painted sandstone coping. Windows six over six pvc replacements for previous sashes. Concrete cills to windows maintaining depth of originals. Windows aligned and symmetrically proportioned on façade.

Railings along front of façade on dwarf wall with painted sandstone coping returning to each corner. Void behind lighting basement storey. Sandstone flags to void which continue around the side of the building with roadway vaulted over.

Side gables both blank but with projecting chimney flues front and back joining via a semicircular arch to the centrally placed chimney. Gable to the west currently disfigured by the addition of numerous aerials and associated cable work. None of this has damaged the fabric of the building however. Void continues under road along side of basement and is vaulted over at this point,

To rear, six over six arrangement of windows continues .with a return in central bay spanning the basement void. This has a lean- to roof finishing below eaves level. Stepped access to basement at this point from the south, granite steps and railings as at front. Railings and dwarf wall also along void as at front.

Surrounding the building a concrete footpath with granite kerb concrete open drain with cobbles on outer side against tarmac.

Historical information

Building built as part of the initial construction of the barracks in 1841 and unaltered in plan and general external appearance since. Though windows and fanlight have been replaced by inferior imitations. Labelled on the 1854 ordnance survey as ‘officers quarters’, it appears to have been used for this function at least until 1970. During the period of Sea Eagle (1947-1970) it was the ‘Captain’s House’ and residence of the second of command on the base. When first constructed, a wall linked the front gable of this building to the adjacent boundary wall of the ‘star fort’, it is likely that this was very similar to the surviving wall with arched gateway of building No 71, which is symmetrical about the parade ground.

References-
Primary sources

Ordnance Survey Maps 1831, 1854, 1873, 1904, 1933, 1955
O’Hagan’s Map of Londonderry 1847
Derry Journal 6th April 1841 ‘Notice to Builders’

Secondary sources

History of Ebrington Barracks (Anonymous, circa 1970’s) EHS files
Current site officer.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two storey, 6 bay house in the Georgian style. An important constituent part of the first phase of development of Ebrington Barracks which is symmetrical about the parade ground with a similar building and designed to be clearly visible to the city across the river. A well-proportioned and considered piece of architecture, whose historical appearance has been reduced to some degree by the insertion of pvc windows and a crude fanlight.