1 THE SQUARE,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey four-bay white painted Edwardian Cornish style house, rectangular plan-form with a mansard roof. Set within a square of seven two-storey houses, positioned around three sides of an enclosed green, each block is linked at the corners by rendered arches containing painted timber gates. Built in 1912 to designs by Clough Williams-Ellis, a London-based architect. No. 1 is situated to the South-east, left of the pillared single entrance containing a pair of iron gates, accessed just off the Main Street.

White painted rendered walling having rendered quoins at each corner, set on a plinth painted in contrasting colour; small-pane Georgian casement windows with timber shutters painted in contrasting colour incorporating a 'cottage' style expressed within the design of the dwelling houses; steeply pitching slated mansard roof with the lower slope punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper; concrete ridge; two tall painted rendered chimney-stacks at mid-ridge having black painted clay pots and stepped cornices; deep overhanging eaves having exposed painted rafter tails which overhang the face of a wall; half-round cast-iron guttering discharging to circular section downpipes.

Principal elevation faces North-west onto a green square, accessed via a paved footpath from the main front entrance pillars leading to the Main Street. No. 1 is situated perpendicular to the Main Street and the 9-bay block situated to the South-west side. A paving stone pathway from the main entrance gates leads to a panelled painted timber door, just off-centre of the elevation; door has small multi-pane upper lights and painted metal door furniture, all set within a plain painted timber architrave surround. Facade has regular fenestration pattern; 4-bays on ground floor align with slated dormers on first floor level.

North-east elevation faces out onto Main Street, consists of a single bay on ground and first floor; ground floor has a three-side canted bay window projecting into eaves above and aligned with slated dormer window on first floor level.

South-east elevation is adjoined to No.4 Main Street [HB05/03/011] on the right (NE) side and overlooks the rear yard of No.4 on the left (SW) side; limited view of rear elevation; where visible from No.2 Main Street [HB05/03/010] rear yard consists of a slated dormer on first level to mansard roof.

South-west elevation overlooks yard, access from rendered arch gateway to the West corner of the building; modest concrete and grassed yard enclosed by a white rendered high wall to the left side containing timber entrance gate and a low stone wall to the right side overlooking rear yard of adjoining property No.4 Main Street [HB05/03/011]; the fenestration pattern of the facade is irregular consisting of a single panelled painted door, off-centre of elevation, to the left of the door is a small-pane double casement window and to the right is a smaller square window, there is a slated dormer above, centred on the slated mansard roof.

Setting:
Situated within a planned square of seven white painted rendered two-storey houses, set around a bounding green and behind a white painted rendered and stone wall. No.1 & No. 7 are a pair of two-storey 4 bay blocks to the South-east and North-West sides of the square, built as large dwellings with 'cottage' elements, whilst the two-storey 9-bay building between them consists of five smaller dwellings (no’s 2-6). No.1 is situated to the left of the pillared entrance containing a set of iron gates. 'The Square' is situated within a Conservation Area in the village of Cushendun, within close proximity and positioned perpendicular to the River Dun, located within a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate
RWGs: Cast-iron painted
Walling: White rendered
Windows: Timber small-pane Georgian-style

Historical information

Nos 1-7 The Square, a group of three two-storey Edwardian buildings arranged around a green in the centre of Cushendun village, was constructed in 1912 for Ronald John McNeill, the first (and only) Baron of Cushendun. The village, located along the River Dun, was developed from the early-19th century when travel across mainland Europe was cut off by the Napoleonic wars. Ireland became a popular destination for British tourists during this period, necessitating the development of new routes and hotels between Belfast and the picturesque sites along the Antrim Coast such as Dunluce Castle and the Giants Causeway. The previously isolated Glens of Antrim at once became accessible with the development of the Coastal Road between 1832 and 1842. Villages along the coast such as Cushendall and Cushendun were transformed from minor settlements into popular seaside resorts that soon became thronged with seasonal visitors. A number of summer houses (or ‘Bathing Lodges’) were constructed along the coast by city-based professionals and merchants, including the impressive residences of Glenmona Lodge and Glendun Lodge at Cushendun (Lewis; Bassett, p. 137; Cushendun Conservation Area Guides).

The Square in Cushendun was constructed in 1912 at the behest of Ronald John McNeill (1861-1934), a prominent local landowner and politician who resided at Glenmona Lodge with his wife Elizabeth Maud (d. 1925). Ronald McNeill was an outspoken Ulster Unionist who campaigned vigorously against Home Rule and served as a Unionist Member of Parliament. He held several important political offices including the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1922-25) and Financial Secretary to the Treasury (1925-27) and twice served as the British Representative to the League of Nations (McNeill signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact on behalf of the British Government in August 1928). McNeill’s residence of Glenmona Lodge was burned to the ground in 1922 as a result of his outspoken opposition of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Ronald John McNeill was created the First Baron Cushendun in 1927, however the title became extinct after his death in 1934 (ODNB).

Ronald John McNeill commissioned Sir. (Bertram) Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978) to design The Square. A London-based architect best known for the Italianate design of Portmeirion, a tourist village in Wales which he designed in stages between 1925 and 1975, Williams-Ellis was also responsible for the design of Maud Cottages (HB05/03/018), the redesign of Glenmona Lodge (HB05/03/020) in 1923-24, and the First Church of Christ (Scientist) in Belfast (HB26/27/058) which was erected in 1936-37 and is stylistically similar to Cushendun’s The Square. Ronald McNeill requested that Williams-Ellis design nos 1-7 The Square in a Cornish style for his Cornish-born wife Elizabeth Maud. The Square consists of three two-storey blocks; a pair of two-storey four-bay blocks to the south-east and north-west sides of the square were built as large individual dwellings (nos 1 and 7) whilst the two-storey nine-bay building between them contained five smaller dwellings (nos 2-6). Each of the seven dwellings possessed a mansard roof, Georgian-style glazing and tall chimney stacks. The buildings along The Square were first depicted on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1922 along their current layouts. An oval slate located in the central gable of the nine-bay block is inscribed with the date 1912 and the initials RMcN and MMcN (Ronald McNeill and Maud McNeill) (DIA; ODNB, UAHS Guide, p. 42).

No. 1 The Square, a two-storey four-bay Edwardian dwelling, was constructed in 1912 and was initially valued at £10 by the Annual Revisions. The first recorded tenant of the building was a Mr. John McBride who continued to be noted as occupant until 1930. The value of No. 1 The Square was increased to £17 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The valuer recorded that the house was occupied by a Mr. Charles Brennan who remained at the address until 1966; ownership of nos 1-7 The Square passed to the National Trust in 1954. No. 1 The Square was occupied by a Mr. Michael Brogan by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the value of the house stood at £20.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim described The Square in the following terms: ‘Seven white-painted two-storey houses, set around three sides of an enclosed garden, with mansard roofs, Georgian glazing, and shutters, the blocks linked by arches at the corners’ (UAHS Guide, p. 42). Nos 1-7 The Square were listed in 1980. In that year the buildings were included in the Cushendun Conservation Area which was designated as a means of ‘protecting and enhancing the special qualities of the village.’

The NIEA HB Records note that No. 1 The Square underwent a general renovation in c. 2011 which included the reslating of its roof and the restoration of its windows (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/15/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903-04)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/15/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922)
3. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/8A-D – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/15D – Annual Revisions (1909-30)
5. PRONI VAL/12/E/25/1 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1909-c. 1935)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/5 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/11 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
10. Bassett’s County Antrim: A guide and directory (1888)
11. First Survey Record – HB05/03/014 (1971)
12. NIEA HB Record – HB05/03/014A

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.
2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Co. Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1996.
3. ‘Cushendun Village Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1980.
4. ‘Cushendun Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1996 – includes Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1922.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http:// www.dia.ie/
2. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography - http:// www.oxforddnb.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

V. Authorship
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
Z. Rarity
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

A modest two-storey dormer four-bay Edwardian style house, built in 1912 to designs by Clough Williams-Ellis, a London-based architect. Set within a square of seven two-storey dormer houses, almost identical in design, No. 1 and its neighbouring properties exhibit much character externally, including distinctive multi-paned shuttered windows, mansard roofs and tall chimneys. Commissioned by Ronald McNeill , the prominent Unionist Politician, the houses were designed in a Cornish 'cottage' style for his Cornish-born wife Elizabeth Maud. Built before the First World War, 'The Square' represents a break from the usual vernacular building traditions in Ulster. Situated in the heart of the Village the house has significant group value with its neighbouring properties on the square (HB05/03/014 B-G) and the nearby Maud Cottages (HB05/03/018) and Glenmona Lodge (HB05/03/020), also designed by Clough Williams-Ellis. It represents part of a significant phase of development in the village during the early 20th century.