Lakeview House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Site of substantial country residence built c.1858-62, possibly to designs by Thomas Jackson, demolished 2018.

Historical information

The first edition OS map shows the building, uncaptioned, as a rectangular block with returns, having an L-shaped range to south-west. It is recorded under plot number 3 and assigned a value in the Townland valuation of £7, revised to £11, on a plot of c.15 acres with a land value of over £20.

Lakeview House is assigned plot number 15a in the townland of Cornreany, in Griffiths Valuation of 1861. At this time, the property was occupied by Francis Watson, and leased from Alexander Stewart. Francis Watson leased the entire demesne, which included 13 additional estate buildings, all sub-let by Watson to various tenants. Amendments to the notebook indicate that the ‘house, offices and land’ were initially valued at £32, with undated revisions in red adding a gate lodge, and revising the value to £67, indicating a period of substantial improvements during the 1860s or 70s. The estate was a total of 73 acres having buildings at a total value of £127 and 15 shillings.

Rankin (2007, p.135-138) provides an interesting history of the Watson family and Lakeview House. She describes the house as five-bay two-storey, cement faced with sash windows and asserts that it has been “recently restored to its original state, with intricate plasterwork in the main reception rooms.” According to Rankin, Lakeview House was occupied by the mid-1800s, and she believes that the present house was built c.1870 to a design by Thomas Jackson on the site of Francis Watson’s original house. Francis Watson (1809-1879) was the eldest son of Robert Watson (1776-1848), a linen merchant of Ballyblagh, County Armagh. The company operated under the name of Robert Watson & Sons, The Flush, Lurgan, but was dissolved following the death of Robert Watson, with the business carried on as Robert Watson & Sons. In 1888, Bassett records Francis, Thomas and Joseph Watson and their sisters, living at Lakeview. The Census of 1901 records Francis Watson, Magistrate and linen manufacturer, aged 55, as head of the family, living with four sisters and two brothers, the youngest of whom is 37 – none of the siblings were married. The house and buildings return records a first class dwelling of masonry construction, with twelve windows in the façade and thirteen or more rooms; thirty-six out offices are also recorded, indicating a substantial holding – they are listed as 2 stables, 1 coach house, 1 harness room, 2 cow houses, 3 calf houses, 1 dairy, 2 piggeries, 2 fowl houses, 1 boiling house, 1 barn, 1 potato house, a shed, and sixteen other ancillary buildings. Thomas Watson, son of Francis, carried on the business and lived at Lakeview until his death in 1923, and the family remained in occupation until the mid-1950s. Lurgan was a centre of linen production in the nineteenth century, and the first Watson establishment may have been among the earliest hand loom factories in Ireland, founded in 1808. The family were noted for upholding good welfare standards for employees.

Lakeview House was advertised for sale c.2017, and was subsequently demolished in October 2018.

References - Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/1/A/3/19 – Townland Valuation field map
2 PRONI VAL/1/B/340 – Townland Valuation field book
3 PRONI VAL/2/A/3/19A – Griffiths Valuation field map
4 PRONI VAL/2/B/3/44B – Griffiths Valuation field book (1861)

Secondary sources
5 Rankin, K: Linen Houses of the Bann Valley; Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast, 2007

NOTE: There are estate documents and diaries relating to Francis Watson in PRONI. These documents are ‘not found’ at the time of writing, but may be located at a future time. They are:
D1929/4/63 (Testamentary papers 1877)
D1929/19/39 (Miscellaneous Papers and diaries 1874-1907)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Site of substantial country residence built c.1858-62, possibly to designs by Thomas Jackson, demolished 2018.

General comments

Listing query ref: HB14/LQ041