St. Eugene's Lodge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single storey with half-dormer attic, three-bay Gothic-revival gate lodge of un-coursed squared local schist with Barony Glen Sandstone dressings. Built in 1905. Square headed windows, overhanging slate roof and string course in sandstone.

Front elevation faces South onto Creggan Street. Centred entrance through an open timber porch with square headed doorway and plain fanlight above, paired narrow external doors with 3 unequal moulded panels apiece . Projecting gabled bay at West end with paired 1/1 timber sliding sash windows on ground floor and single 1/1 timber sliding sash window on first floor. One window of same to right of door. Carved bargeboards with pierced trefoil at apex. Eaves supported by timber corbel brackets with sandstone string course below.

Canted bay window on East elevation.

West elevation repeats the window style of the front with a side extension abutting St. Eugenes School (HB01/21/003) outbuilding at the rear.

M-shaped extension to the rear (North side) at right angles to main roof. Square headed stained glass window at West end of North elevation on first floor.

Decorative crested ridge tiles to pitched slate roof with scroll finial tile to each gable end. Paired corniced sandstone chimney stacks centred on ridge of main roof with clay pots. Tall brick and stone chimneystack to north side of west end bay.

Setting:
Located on a triangular site to the south-east corner at the Francis Street gate, with low schist and sandstone dressed walls with wrought iron railings to roadside, within the grounds of St. Eugene's Cathedral.

Materials:
Roof Slate with terracotta crested ridge tiles.
RWG Cast-iron.
Walling Sandstone
Windows Timber sliding sash.

Historical information

St. Eugene’s Lodge, a one-and-a-half-storey gate lodge located at the corner of Francis Street and Creggan Street, was constructed in 1905. The L-shaped building was designed by Edward J. Toye (1857-1932), a local architect whose independent practice ‘was a busy one in which work for the Catholic Church predominated.’ He was also responsible for the extension of the adjoining Convent School (HB01/21/003), the spire of St. Eugene’s Cathedral (HB01/21/001) and new wings at St. Columb’s College (HB01/16/004). The Natural Stone Database records that Toye utilised locally-quarried Derry Schist and Barony Glen Sandstone from Draperstown as building material for the lodge (NSD).

The gate lodge was initially valued at £9 under the Annual Revisions which described it as the ‘sexton’s house.’ The Census of Ireland records that the gate lodge was originally occupied by Hugh Carlin, the Cathedral’s Sacristan; the census building return described the lodge as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of five rooms. The value of the gate lodge was increased to £21 under the First Revaluation (1935); this was increased further to £26 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72).

The gate lodge at St. Eugene’s Cathedral was listed in 1979. The NIEA HB Records note that the lodge was extensively conserved in 1993. In that year McCormick Tracey Mullarkey Architects upgraded the building, both internally and externally, and included the reslating of the roof, the repointing of the stonework, the replacement of the windows and the restoration of the ornate bargeboards (NIEA HB Records). Dean, writing in the following year, described the lodge as a ‘sturdy High Victorian Picturesque style gate lodge of generous proportion … it has large bargeboards curved to form trefoil motifs in the spandrels’ (Dean, p. 120).

References
Primary Sources
1. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2C-2F – Annual Revisions (1898-1931)
2. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/4 – First Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
3. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/16 – Second Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
4. Census (1911)
5. Ulster Town Directories (1901-1918)
6. First Survey Record – HB01/21/022 (No Date)
7. First Survey Image – HB01/21/022 (No Date)
8. NIEA HB Records – HB01/21/022

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970.
3. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Natural Stone Database website - 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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Single storey with half-dormer attic, three-bay Gothic-revival style gate lodge of un-coursed squared local schist with Barony Glen Sandstone dressings. Built in 1905 to the designs of Edward J. Toye (1857-1932), a prominent architect at the time whose work was predominantly for the Catholic church. The gate lodge is located within the grounds of the cathedral and former Bishop's house and is constructed with complementary materials and details to both buildings. Despite minor changes to the internal layout, the interior retains some interesting elements. It is well proportioned and has group value with St Eugenes's cathedral (HB01.21.001); The former Bishops house (HB01.21.002) and the Convent school (HB01.21.003).

General comments

Additional listing criteria apply - R-Age, S-Authenticity & T-Historic Importance