Glassdrumman House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey T-planned house aligned north-south with gabled two-storey wing abutting its right gable; later extensions to rear and mature garden at front. The roofs are pitched with a natural slate covering. There are three chimneys on the main block and two on the return; all are cement rendered and have between two and four tall pots set at a skew rising from each stack. To the east elevation there are gables above the three first floor windows, all of which rise to the level of the main ridge line; there is a skylight in the roof between the left and middle gables. Walls are granite cement wet dashed , now overgrown with ivy. A wooden trellis is attached to the front elevation of the end wing.

The east (front) elevation has an offset single-storey gabled porch beneath the central gable with a 9-panel door to its right side. To its left is a tripartite sliding sash window; to right is a French window with 10-paned glazed panels. Each of the first-floor gables contains a single sliding sash window. The east elevation of the wing has a 4/4 sliding sash window at ground and first floor levels.

The south elevation of the main block is plain save for a sliding sash window at ground floor.

The west (rear) elevation faces a courtyard enclosed by modern single-storey outbuildings, now derelict. Modern windows have been inserted at wall head level and project above the eaves. There is a flat-roofed square water tower central to the main block and a one-storey lean-to at the junction of the main block and wing. Both these extensions have wet dashed rendered walls similar to the main building and also glazed sliding sash windows. There is an 8/8 sliding sash window on the right of the west elevation of the wing. The north elevation of this wing is plain with a single doorway to the ground floor.

The other buildings in the complex are of no architectural interest.

The landscaped gardens and winding driveway are intact but overgrown. The wall to Glasdrumman Road is of dashed and painted concrete blocks.

Historical information

A building is marked on this site on the 1834 OS 6” map. It appears to have been enlarged by the time of the 1859 map. The garden is marked in the Heritage Gardens Inventory as having “ornamental planting around stream and lawns” (Ref D-23).

In 1992 a Blue Plaque was placed on the house in memory of Elizabeth Shane who lived in the house from 1927-51 and is best remembered for her poem “Wee Hughie”. No trace of it can now be found in the dense ivy.

Primary Source:
1. PRONI – OS 6/3/53/1(1834 OS map).

Secondary Source:
1. Glassdrumman House plaque, in ‘Twelve Miles of Mourne’, vol. 6 (1993), p.72.
2. B.Jupp, 'Heritage Gardens Inventory' (QUB 1992).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
V. Authorship

Evaluation

A rambling picturesque country house of later 18th or early 19th century date, extended in the mid-19th century and enhanced by its end-on chimney stacks and first floor window gables. It retains much of its original character and charm. It has a mature and attractive setting, especially in the wooded gardens to the front.

Local connections with poet, dramatist and musician Elizabeth Shane.

The building is now in poor condition: some of the roof flashing has been stolen and many windows vandalised.