Gortin House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical two-storey three-bay detached red brick farmhouse, built c.1850 and located on mature grounds to the south side of Ballygawley Road, south of Coleraine. Rectangular plan with projecting porch to front and single-storey canted bays to east and west; shallow two-storey extension and original two-storey return abutted by a modern lean-to porch extension (c.1980) to rear.

Hipped natural slate roof with rounded tiles to hips and ridges; two centred rendered chimneystacks. Plastic rainwater goods on overhanging boxed eaves. Walling is English garden wall-bonded red brick on a stone plinth with stone string-course between floors; roughcast render to rear. Windows are 6/6 timber sash without horns set into stone-lined reveals with projecting stone sills at ground floor and flush stone sills at first floor; all with red-brick voussoirs and apron detail. Canted bays are 6/6 to central facet, flanked by 2/2 windows and surmounted by lead-lined roof.

The principal elevation faces south and is symmetrically arranged about a single-storey projecting porch, with five openings at each floor. Porch is clasped by slightly projecting piers, has a slightly projecting header-brick frieze, and is surmounted by a moulded stone cornice; opens to south with a recessed round-headed entrance containing a replacement raised-and-fielded four-panel timber door surmounted by a timber fanlight and accessed via a single stone step. Original bronze bell-push on a timber plate to right side of door. Porch is lit by a round-headed multi-paned window at left and right cheek.

The west elevation has two widely-spaced windows at first floor; window to ground floor left and canted bay window at ground floor right.

The north (rear) elevation has shallow two-storey extension (lower) at right, having modern rendered chimneystack abutting exposed section at west. Extension has three modern window insertions at first floor; 2/4 window to ground floor; abutted at right by a modern rendered single-storey garage. Two-storey rendered return with hipped roof at left, having three uPVC windows and a uPVC door at east elevation. Return is abutted at north and west by a modern porch (c.1980), partially open with timber-sheeted ceiling supported on square metal columns.

The east elevation is detailed as west, with canted bay window at ground floor left.

Setting:
Situated on a large site accessed from northwest by a long concrete tree-lined laneway, with flat concrete bridge over river having wrought-iron parapet. Lane leads to agricultural yard to rear and entrance to front of house; modern cattle grid is flanked by roughcast rendered walls with saddleback coping and square piers having pointed caps. To front of house is a concrete forecourt and a small lawned garden, bounded to south by mature hedges. To west is a concrete lean-to garage, opening to south with timber-sheeted garage door. Modern timber fence to east bounds neighbouring farmland. Concrete yard to rear has a modified two-storey former coach-house to north, having hipped natural slate roof and roughcast rendered walls on a smooth rendered plinth. South elevation has three narrow metal lattice windows to first floor and four six-paned timber windows at ground floor. To centre is a set of large replacement square-headed timber sliding doors, surmounted by a segmental-headed fanlight with red brick infill. Replacement timber-sheeted door to left and round-headed timber-sheeted door to right. East gable of former coach-house is abutted by a single-storey brick outbuilding, with timber-sheeted door at left under timber lintel. Yard enclosed to west by a modern single-storey concrete block outbuilding with corrugated tin roof. To north and east of yard are a group of large modern agricultural sheds.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: English garden wall-bonded red brick
Windows: Timber sash
RWG: Plastic

Historical information

Gortin House, a two-storey redbrick farmhouse situated in the townland of Gortin Mayoghill was constructed between 1832 and 1849-53; the farmhouse did not appear on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map for the area (1832) but was first depicted on the second edition which was carried out in the mid-19th century. The map records that the single-storey return, and the coach house located to the rear of the dwelling, had also been constructed by c. 1850; the layout of the dwelling and its associated outbuilding has not been significantly altered since the early-Victorian period, however a bleach mill that was located to the north-west of the dwelling on the second edition map has been demolished. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1858) records that Gortin House was originally occupied by James Lancey who leased the property, valued at £25, from the Marquis of Waterford. Lancey, a local landowner and gentleman leased his bleach mill out to the textile firm William Clarke & Co., however Lancey died in July 1859 leaving Gortin House and effects of under £6,000 to his widow Jane Lancey (PRONI Wills).

The property at Gortin Mayoghill presumably remained in the Lancey family as James Lancey continued to be recorded as occupant of the farm for over a decade after his death in 1859; it was not until 1872 when a Mr. William Thompson purchased the farm outright that the name of the occupant was changed. Thompson resided at Gortin House until 1900 when William Hill, a local farmer took possession of the lease, however the property was reduced in value to £19 10s. in that year.

The 1901 Census records that William Hill was not residing at Gortin on Census night, however his relatives (most likely his sisters) Annie Hill and Marian Hill occupied the house; the census building return described Gortin House as a 1st class farmhouse that consisted of 15 inhabited rooms and possessed a number of outbuildings including a stable, coach house, two cow houses, a boiling house and a barn which were located in the outbuildings located to the north of the dwelling. By 1911 ownership of the farmhouse had passed to a Dr. Hugh Rankin Torrents (66, Presbyterian) who was employed as a lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast and resided at Gortin with his wife Harriett (45) and their infant son. The Torrents continued to reside at Gortin House until 1919 when a Mr. Hugh McFetridge took over ownership of the farm resulting in a further reduction in its value to £14; McFetridge resided at Gortin until the cancellation of the Annual Revisions in 1929.

By the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland (1935) a Mr. Robert Warwick had taken over possession of the farm; in that year the value had been increased, mostly through inflation, to £27. The third and fourth editions of the Ordnance Survey map (1904-1905; 1924-1933) recorded no change to the layout of the farm throughout the intervening decades; however the occupants of Gortin House continued to change with great frequency and by the second revaluation (1956-72) the farmhouse was occupied by a Mr. John Clyde and valued at £38.

Gortin House is an interesting structure architecturally as it was constructed in the early-Victorian period utilising the innovative techniques and cheap materials of the time, however the design of the dwelling is clearly an imitation of the grand formal farmhouses of the Georgian period. Although the building was likely constructed in c. 1850, Rowan believed that Gortin House dated from the 1830s, possibly as a result of its deceptively Georgian appearance. Under John Clyde the farm at Gortin Mayoghill was expanded with the construction of the modern farm buildings and barns to the north-east side of the dwelling; the modern structures were erected prior to the current edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1984); the single-storey extension at the end of the rear return was similarly constructed in c. 1980. Gortin House continues to be occupied as a private dwelling and has been sensitively maintained by the current owners resulting in the retention of the sites original character.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/18/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map 1832
2. PRONI OS/6/5/18/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1849-53
3. PRONI OS/6/5/18/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1904-05
4. PRONI OS/6/5/18/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1924-33
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/1A - Griffith’s Valuation 1858
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/6A-F – Annual Revisions 1862-1929
7. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/1 – First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland 1935
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/4 – Second General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland 1956-1972
9. PRONI Wills Catalogue (3 July 1859)
10. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
12. First Survey Record – HB03/03/029 (1972)
13. First Survey Image – HB03/03/029 (No Date)
14. Ordnance Survey map – 31-14SW (1984)

Secondary Sources

1. Rowan, A., ‘The buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ Yale: Yale University Press, 1979.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Gortin House is a symmetrical three-bay two-storey red brick farmhouse, built c.1850 and located on mature grounds to the south side of Ballygawley Road, south of Coleraine. Well-proportioned and retaining much of its original detailing and character, this is an elegant and well-preserved example of a mid-nineteenth century farmhouse. A good representative example of the wealth of the farming industry in the area during the mid-nineteenth century Gortin House illustrates the aspirations of the mid-nineteenth century farmer to emulate the more formal dwellings of the landed gentry. Gortin House is of local interest and makes a significant contribution to the historic landscape of the surrounding area.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and T - Historic Importance also apply.