Ballydevitt Gate Lodge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A detached symmetrical single-storey rendered gate lodge to Ballydevitt House (HB03/03/057A), built prior to 1830 and originally serving Wigmore House (formerly known as Ballydevitt Hose). Gothick-style, rectangular on plan comprising two rooms and located on the north-west side of Ballydevitt Road.

Pitched slate-roof with copper roll-moulded ridge-tiles and rendered chimney having no pots. Ogee cast-iron rainwater goods mounted on timber fascia to overhanging, boxed eaves; decorative timber barge-board to gables. Continuous painted masonry platboard wraps around elevations above lintel level, having painted roughcast render above and smooth unpainted render below. Windows and door openings are pointed-arched (unless otherwise stated).

Symmetrical principal elevation faces south and contains a central replacement timber sheeted door with windows either-side having internal timber sheeting and timber plant boxes fixed to sills.

West gable is blank.

North elevation is asymmetrical, containing two rectangular window openings (uneven heights); windows have been removed but timber frames remain.

East gable is blank.

Setting:

Situated on the north side of Ballydevitt Road, the principal elevation addresses the main entrance gates to Ballydevitt House (HB03/03/057A), on the opposite side of the road. A capped rendered and painted masonry wall abuts to the southern edge of the two gables, extending a short distance along the road; the west-side is punctuated by a pedestrian cast-iron gate. A dwarf rubblestone wall of a small bridge abuts the wall to the west, carrying the road over a small stream. The site is bounded by mature trees to all but the south elevation.

Roof: Slate
Walling: Smooth render
Windows: Timber sheeted
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The gate lodge now associated with Ballydevitt House is thought to have been built as a lodge for the residents of Wigmore (formerly Ballydevitt) which is still present to the east of Ballydevitt House (Dean). Wigmore/Ballydevitt and the present gate lodge were built in 1806 as a residence for the owners of Ballydevitt Bleach Works (Dean).

The lodge was originally a picturesque thatched building in the Gothick style with a steeply pitched hipped roof and outsized eaves. It was known locally as the ‘wren’s nest’ but was radically altered sometime during the twentieth century. (Dean) The building has been raised to one and a half storeys and now has a tiled, gabled roof. Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) records the occupier as James Miller and values the building at 10s. A succession of occupants followed, all leasing the lodge from the resident at Ballydevitt House. At the time of the 1901 census the lodge was occupied by widower William Clarke and his son who both worked as linen bleachers. By 1911 the house was home to John Milliken, a watch man in the bleach works who lived with his wife and three adult sons, two of whom worked as linen bleachers while a third was an agricultural labourer. The former gate lodge currently lies derelict.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/11/1 First Edition OS Map 1831-2
2. PRONI OS/6/5/11/2 Second Edition OS map 1849-52
3. PRONI OS/6/5/11/3 Third Edition OS Map 1904
4. PRONI OS/6/5/11/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1923
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/1A-F Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
6. Griffith’s Valuation online
7. 1901/1911 census online

Secondary Sources

1. Day, A., P. McWilliams, English L., eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Londonderry VI, 1831, 1833, 1835-6, Vol. 22.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1993.
2. Dean, J. A. K. “The Gate Lodges of Ulster: A Gazetteer.” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994.
3. Mullin, Rev T H “Aghadowey, A Parish and its Linen Industry” Belfast, 1972

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

X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

A single-storey Gothick-style gate lodge, with origins pre-dating 1830 and associated with both Ballydevitt (HB03/03/057A) and Wigmore House (HB03/03/037). Originally thatched, the roof has been replaced by a pitched slate construction and the building is currently disused. Although the original form and appearance has been altered through the removal of the thatched roof, much of its character is retained and its interest is enhanced by the mature woodland setting. Constituting an unusual example of a gate lodge it has group value with Ballydevitt and Wigmore House.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity also apply.