Orange Hall, 39 Hillhead, Stewartstown, Dungannon, BT71 5HT

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

This is a detached single-storey hall, ‘Kennedys Memorial Orange Hall’, built c. 1926. It is long and rectangular in plan, with a projecting gabled entrance porch to the East. There is a single-storey return to the West. The hall is set at the junction of Hillhead and Chambre Park to the South side of Stewartstown.

The front (South) elevation faces onto Chambre Park. It has the projecting entrance porch to the right, three windows to the centre and a door to the left.
The entrance porch to the right has a square-headed door to the front and a small square-headed window to each side of the porch. The door is timber-panelled.. The porch has a pitched roof with red roof slates and timber fascia. There is a small carved finial to the apex of the porch gable.
The windows are four-light timber casement window. Metal grills cover the windows.
The door to the left is square-headed with a timber sheeted door and a rectangular overlight.

The side East elevation is gable-ended. It has a square-headed timber casement window.

The rear North elevation is four windows in width. Windows are square-headed timber casement with cut stone sills.

External walls are dry roughcast with painted quoin stones to edges. The roof is double pitched with original shaped red fibre cement slate and pierced clay ridge tiles. There are two rendered chimneys with profiled stepped capping to the roof, one to each gable end. there is a metal ventilator to the roof.

There is a carved segmental-headed datestone recessed into to the front elevation. It has a carved keystone to the top and a projecting roundel set within the recess. It is inscribed ‘1926 KENNEDYS MEMORIAL ORANGE HALL ERECTED BY THE MEMBER OF LOL No. 142’
There is a inscribed stone to the base inscribed ‘BUILT BY R STEWART CONTRACTOR COALISLAND’.

Return:
The single-storey return has square-headed timber casement windows to the elevations. External walls are roughcast render to match the main hall. There is a smooth rendered band to the base. The roof is flat, with cast-iron rainwater goods.

Setting:
The hall is set facing onto the junction of Hillhead and Chambre Park Road. There is a roughcast render wall to the front with a curved recessed entrance gate screen and wrought iron entrance gates. The wall has cut-stone capping. There are pillars to the gate which have cut-stone pyramidal capping. The rest of the site is secured with a post and wire netting fence.

Historical information

This Orange Hall was built in 1926, with R. Stewart of Coalisland the contractor. The name of the hall, ‘Kennedys Memorial Orange Hall’, is undoubtedly a reference to the Kennedy family who owned nearby Mullantain House - possibly to Mr. Charles Kennedy [died c.1907] in particular.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/12B/37/20G Annual valuation revision book, Stewartstown ED, 1912-29
2 PRONI VAL/3B/7/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Stewartstown ED, 1935
3 PRONI VAL/3C/7/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Stewartstown ED, 1936-57
4 PRONI VAL/4B/6/6 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Stewartstown ED, 1957-72
5 Information gathered on site, January 2008

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This is a modest twentieth century Orange Hall, of a type that is becoming increasing rare. It has good proportions and details and retains much of its original character both externally and internally. The decorative artificial slate and decorative ventilator enhance the external visual character.
The gate screen adds to the overall composition and enhances its urban setting. It has social importance.
Due to its late date this hall was not considered for listing.