184 Coast Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A one and a half storey gate lodge designed in Tudor Revival style, of symmetrical design to the front, built of squared random rubble blackstone with ashlar quoins and moulded dressings in sandstone.

Main entrance faces south. Three-bay south elevation has a central entrance in a projecting gabled porch flanked by a window either side. Roofs of Bangor blue slates in regular courses set between gable copings of dressed sandstone. Cast iron gutters and downpipes. Doorway of timber, Gothic panelled, new, set in a Tudor arched opening surmounted by a projecting drip moulding carried on moulded corbels. Above doorway, a carved sandstone shield bearing the Agnew arms, set in a gable which has shouldered kneelers and an ornate octagonal stone finial with lozenge-patterned shaft. Side walls of porch have small rectangular timber casement windows with Tudor arched heads and small panes, set in raised rectangular surrounds. Windows flanking porch are two-light timber casements of similar detailing, set in rectangular surrounds with projecting Tudor style drip mouldings.

West elevation comprises main gable of original lodge with a large new extension to the left which includes a gabled projection, all partly hidden behind a basalt wall with rough basalt crenellations. Gable of original lodge has stepped kneelers, surmounted by an ornate octagonal stone finial as previous, carried on a coved corbel. Three-light window to ground floor, similar detailing to entrance front but divided by stone mullions; Tudor style drip moulding. Gothic arched lancet to first floor, with projecting Gothic drip moulding.

East elevation similar to west, with similar gable to original lodge, and modern extension to the right.

The modern extension replicates in part some of the lodge’s original features using reconstituted stone for dressings, as in the new rear gable which is copied from the main gables of the original lodge, and the new chimney which is based on the original but is not exact in detail. It doubles the building size and introduces new elements such as shaped timber barge boards and a long panelled and glazed conservatory on the side facing the main road.

SETTING: The building stands in a rural area, occupying a narrow plot of land between the main Coast Road and the driveway to a country park, and is exposed to public view on all sides. Hard surfacing within its own curtilege but a flat lawn to its front beyond its front boundary. Front boundary formed by low wall of boulders surmounted by a fence of vertical boards protecting a low hedge. It curves round to east side to incorporate a pair of square basalt gate piers (without gates), and round to the west to abut a basalt rubble screen wall, with sandstone dressed end, which terminates at the north in a wide gateway (construction work in progress).

Historical information

Built for James Agnew as a secondary gate lodge to his residence Carncastle Lodge which was built at the same time but which was later demolished, in 1937, to be replaced by Carnfunnock House which itself became a Lions Holiday Home for old folk in 1974 and with which this gate lodge is no longer connected. The year of construction of this lodge is not recorded but it and the nearby main gate lodge associated with it (ie 179 Coast Road: Ref. no. HB06/03/003) appear on the second OS map of 1857 and may be dated to c. 1850. The modern extension to the rear was approved by ES in 1995.

References - Primary

1. OS Map 1857, Co Antrim 35.

Secondary

1. J.A.K. Dean, The Gate Lodges of Ulster, (U.A.H.S., Belfast, 1994), pp 6-7.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An example of an early Victorian gate lodge designed in a Tudor Revivalist style which presents an unspoiled appearance to its entrance front.