Glasvey House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Sited on a former triangular piece of ground where the Loughermore Road meets the Clooney Road at their western approach to Ballykelly. The site has been reduced in size because of the encroachment of other buildings and change of ownership. The main facade of the building faces north east and overlooks Ballykelly village and before the advent of further development presented a pleasing prospect and a commanding position for the Fishmongers’ primary school. To the north of the building , very close to it and at right angles is a single storey special care school. In front occupying the apex of the triangle is a series of individual houses and to the south west a small local authority housing scheme. Access to the building is from both roads by means of a minor road linking them and serving the housing scheme too. There is an additional entrance from the Loughermore Road across the front of the main facade. A number of boundary walls and hedges have been formed in recent times around the building.

The building is a symmetrical composition of central pedimendal two storey former teacher’s resident block, almost square in plan, with two identical one storey classroom pavilions with hipped slated roofs with long axis at right angles to main facade and connected to central block with two entrances with lower pitched slated roofs. The gables of the three blocks are in line on the entrance facade but in the rear the canted block is set back. The internal plan dimensions of the pavilions are a close approximation of the Golden Section. The style of the building is a bold neo-classical composition built of a pleasing smooth red brick in Flemish bond trimmed with ashlar sandstone forming plinth, clasping quoins, string courses, keystones, friezes etc. Brickwork walls articulated with bold semi-circular arches and piers with round headed windows to the pavilions some of which at a high level are semi-circular only.

The central block has a dominating pediment similar to that on the Ballykelly Presbyterian Church, filled with brick work and trimmed with sandstone with projecting timber barges. The principal facade is two bays wide with ground floor flattish segmented headed two pane windows and at first floor square headed two pane. In the centre a shallow breakfront in brick work with blank semi-circular headed recess, the arch of which trimmed in sandstone with a shallow prominent keystone which reaches to the underside of the sandstone frieze. The impost of the arch forms a string course carried across the facade to the clasping sandstone quoins and forming the cill to the first floor windows. In the centre of the semi-circular arch there was a plaque now removed but in the possession of the present owner.

The gables of the pavilions are two bays wide with semi-circular headed windows set in brick work recesses. That on the north corner retains its wooden sash windows, though with broken panes and deteriorating paint work. The bottom sash has 15 panes and the upper 15 plus 11 in the arched part. The links containing the former boys and girls entrances have central double panelled doors with small vertical window on either side, each with segmental head. In front of the north entrance a low structure has been built to form boiler house and blocks former door. The pavilion quoins are similar to those of the central block.

The long facade of the south east pavilion is four bays with similar window to gables except that the brick work is not recessed. That of the north west pavilion has four bays but the windows are high level, semi-circular. There is a string course at impost level which runs round three sides. The south west facade, though greatly marred by additions is treated slightly differently from the principal in that the outside quoins of the pavilions have sandstone clasping quoins, elsewhere these are brick, the pediment of the central block is missing its horizontal enclosing member and while the central block has windows similar to the front, there is no window on the rear gables of the pavilions.

The central block retains its two chimneys on the ridge though these have been re-built but the pavilions don’t retain their original chimneys, though one retains a later corner chimney.

The exterior has had additions, principally to the rear, single storey and two storey which have been insensitively done and obscures the former architecture. Windows have been altered and some added. Some of these additions and alterations have been carried out over a number of years and it is interesting to compare the Campbell c1880 photograph of the main facade with that of 1998.

Present guttering and downpipes PVC.

Historical information

The Fishmongers’ Company was one of the more enlightened of the Companies on the plantation of Co Londonderry and when the leases terminated in 1820 it carried out a building programme to provide a good social structure for its tenants. It established the Glasvey School, plans were drawn by local architect David McBlain, Society agent Arthur Sampson, in 1821. However when the school was ultimately built in 1828 (the school is indicated much closer to the road than built on the 1831 Ordnance Survey Map) the plan was slightly altered and the elevations changed by the Company’s architect, Richard Suitor (see McBlain’s plan and elevations). The edifice built by James Turnbull contractor for £1,200. Sometime after 1880 the windows of the residences were altered on first floor and small windows inserted on either side of the entrance doors and possibly around this time the school came under the National School System. The large classrooms of the Lancasterian systems divided in two by folding partition in much the same way as that at Largy Primary School. Additional corner fireplaces would have been added at the same time. When the school was taken over by the Co Londonderry Education Committee and later the Western Education and Library Board additional indoor toilets were built.

On 30th June 1966 the school closed. The Fishmongers’ Company donated the building and six others to the University of Ulster as an endowment. Seven years later it was purchased by the present ownert who converted it into a dwelling making the alterations described under interior description above. He purchased the entire site, sold off parts for other dwellings so that the area in front of the principal elevation is greatly reduced.

References:

Ordnance Survey Memoirs Vol.36
Ulster Architecture 1800-1900 by H Dixon
The Lodonderry Plantation 1609-1914 by J S Curl
Buildings of North Derry Ulster Architectural Heritage Society
Topographical Dictionary Vol. 1 by Lewis
Present owner of the building (1998)
Western Education & Library Board School records files

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
G. Innovatory Qualities
H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

This building, partly marred by rear extensions and window alterations, displays a vigorous neo-classic style and illustrating the individual character of the Fishmongers’ Company architect, Richard Suitor who used the same style in other Company buildings e.g. Ballykelly Presbyterian Church, Banagher Presbyterian Church, Churchill (model farm building). Suitor’s neo-classicism was restrained yet severe and dogmatic and this building is similar, it is like his other nearby efforts, complete in its totality. Proportions are good, bold and robust, ornamentation restrained but carefully considered with pleasing interplay between brick and sandstone. The rigid symmetry of the plan is in keeping with the neo-classic composition and somewhat similar in conception to the school (now Orange Hall) in the Drapers proportion at Moneymore.

This former school building has significant historical association in the context of the Fishmongers’ Company efforts at social service within their proportion. It has great local and national interest, with important social implications and is one of the few such schools surviving in Northern Ireland albeit serving a different purpose.