Former Gate Lodge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached four-bay single-storey rendered former gate lodge to Glenmona House (HB05/03/020A), built c.1920. Rectangular on plan facing south west with flat-roofed extension to the rear, built c.1970. Now forming the entrance and office to Cushendun Caravan Park and set back slightly on the south east side of the Glendun Road.

Hipped natural slate roof with black clay ridge and hip tiles. Two symmetrically-placed redbrick chimneystacks with cement coping and terracotta pots. Cast-iron rainwater goods to overhanging eaves. Painted rough-cast rendered walling with smooth rendered plinth course and rusticated render quoins. Square-headed window openings with moulded architrave surrounds, painted masonry sills and original multi-pane timber sliding sash windows with ogee horns. Much historic glass remains intact.

Four-bay south west front elevation with an off-centre square-headed door opening having timber panelled and glazed timber door. Tripartite windows having 9/9 to the centre flanked by 6/6 sashes.

Blind north east side elevation.

Rear elevation (north east) has two original 15/15 timber sliding sash windows and an off-centre corridor connecting the rear extension.

Two-bay south east side elevation with tripartite windows.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-Iron
Walling Painted rough-cast render
Windows Original multi-pane timber sliding sash

Setting:
Located on its own site on the south east side of Glendun Road enclosed by rubble red sandstone walls. Though now under separate ownership, the building is within sight of the main house, Glenmona Lodge (HB05/03/020A). Now forming part of Cushendun Caravan Park, with double vehicular bitmac entrance and barriers.

Historical information

No. 14 Glendun Road, a single-storey four-bay Neo-Georgian lodge located at the entrance to Cushendun Caravan Park, was constructed in c. 1920. The building was originally constructed as a gate lodge to Glenmona Lodge, a summer mansion which had been originally constructed in c. 1840. Cushendun was developed along the River Dun 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 popular 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).

In his Five Big Houses of Cushendun (1997), Brett noted that the first building on the site of Glenmona Lodge was constructed prior to 1832 by Edmund McNeill (1821-1915), a prominent local landlord, however this building was significantly increased in size between the 1830s and the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) which first depicted Glenmona Lodge along its current layout. In the mid-19th century the house possessed a single gate lodge which was located at its northern entrance and was depicted on the Ordnance Survey map as a simple rectangular-shaped structure (this building was located to the south-east of the later lodge at No. 14 Glendun Road). The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859) set the total rateable value of Glenmona Lodge and its gate lodge at £60. The original gate lodge continued to stand at the northern entrance of the estate until some point in the early-20th century. The building was depicted on the third edition Ordnance Survey map (1903-04) but had been demolished by the fourth edition map (1922). The lodge had certainly been demolished by 1920 as it was in that year that the Annual Revisions first recorded that a new gate lodge (No. 14 Glendun Road) had been erected at the northern entrance to Glenmona Lodge.

It is very likely that the new lodge was designed by Sir. (Bertram) Clough Williams-Ellis (1883-1978) as the Dictionary of Irish Architects records that the English architect prepared designs for a new gate lodge at Glenmona as early as 1913. Williams-Ellis had also been responsible for the design of The Square (1912) (HB05/03/014A-G) and Maud Cottages (1926) (HB05/03/018A-D), each of which he designed in a Neo-Georgian style. The gate lodge at No. 14 Glendun Road was also designed in a Neo-Georgian manner, possessing a hipped roof and Georgian-style window frames. Further, Williams-Ellis carried out an extensive refurbishment of Glenmona Lodge in 1923-24 after the house had been vandalised and set on fire (DIA; ODNB; UAHS guide, p. 42). Following its refurbishment, Glenmona Lodge was reoccupied by Ronald McNeill and his family; the combined value of the house and its gate lodge was increased to £155 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). Following McNeill’s death in 1934 Glenmona Lodge remained with his family until 1954 when the residence (and the majority of buildings in the village) passed into the care of the National Trust. Glenmona Lodge was subsequently converted into a retirement home which was administered by the County Antrim Welfare Authority; the total rateable value of the house and its outbuildings (including the gate lodge at No. 14 Glendun Road) stood at £300 by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72).

Glenmona Lodge (HB05/03/020A)was listed in 1980. In that year the property was included in the Cushendun Conservation Area which was designated as a means of ‘protecting and enhancing the special qualities of the village.’ The Cushendun Conservation Area Guide states that ‘in the association of such diverse buildings as The Square, Maud Cottages and Glenmona (not to mention other schemes that were planned but not carried out) it is possible to see a manifestation of the same spirit that created the kaleidoscopic harmony of [William Ellis’] Portmeirion. In that sense, at least, Cushendun may be regarded as a true precursor of the renowned architect’s famous architectural fantasy village.’ Field inspection of the site, carried out as part of the Second Survey, has found that the former gate lodge at No. 14 Glendun Road is no longer associated with Glenmona Lodge but is utilised by the Cushendun Caravan Park (Cushendun Conservation Area Guide; NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/15/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/15/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/15/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903-04)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/15/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922)
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/15 – Townland Valuations Map (c. 1830)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/133 – Townland Valuations (1834)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/27B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/8A-D – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/15D – Annual Revisions (1909-30)
10. PRONI VAL/12/E/25/1 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1909-c. 1935)
11. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/5 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
12. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/11 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
13. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837)
14. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
15. Bassett’s County Antrim: A guide and directory (1888)

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. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Five big houses of Cushendun and some literary associations’ Belfast: Lagan Press, 1997.
4. Dean, J. A. K., ‘The gate lodges of Ulster: A gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994.
5. ‘Cushendun Village Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1980.
6. ‘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
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Detached four-bay single-storey rendered former gate lodge, built c.1920 at the entrance to Glenmona Lodge (HB05/03/020A) to replace an earlier gate lodge. Despite the loss of much internal fabric, the former lodge retains much of its external character. The later extension has been built to facilitate a change of use in the 1970s, with minimum intervention to the exterior of the original building. Now forming part of the Caravan Park, amongst the recreational facilities of Cushendun Village, the former lodge has group value with Glenmona Lodge (HB05/03/020A), but is also an important part of the collection of buildings designed by Sir (Bertram) Clough Willams-Ellis which create Cushednun's distinct identity.

General comments

This record has been re-numbered and was previously HB05/03/039.