Mourne Grange

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two storey / three bay country house of moderate size in Lombardic Romanesque Style. South facing, its main front is symmetrical.

Roof is hipped and the top is flat, surrounded by a decorative cast iron balustrade. It has recently been re-roofed and the flat is now covered in butyl rubber, with only two main slopes are natural slate. All other roofs are artificial slate and hips have grey concrete tiles. Four cement rendered chimneys with corbelled copings are irregularly placed. Bracketed overhanging eaves support plastic and cast iron rainwater goods. Walls are smooth painted render with advanced basecourse, stepped stucco quoins, and a chamfered string course between ground and first floors.

Central bay of façade is abutted by a single storey porch, which has a flat roof behind a block parapet. Walls are as façade with the chamfered string continuing from main block as its eaves. Its front wall has a triple light window (central one wider) with moulded semicircular heads and a common rendered cill. On its left (west) face is a single light window and on the right (east) is the main entrance. This consists of a pair of narrow three panelled (bolection moulded), doors with a semicircular headed plain glazed fanlight over. Ground floor left bay has a pair of modern top hung timber casements divided horizontally in imitation of the original sliding sashes. Windows are similar to each remaining bay on façade, except that over porch which has a triple light of these windows, central one widest.

Abutting the east elevation is a modern (much altered dating c1900) two storey dormitory wing, which advances onto the front lawn.

West elevation. Ground floor (L-R) is a canted flat roofed bay of dressed granite then two separate windows and a door which appear to be an alteration to a window. At first floor from L-R has a pair of windows followed by three other evenly spaced separate windows.

At the rear the only feature of note is the large semicircular-headed window to the staircase, this is sliding sash and is the only remaining original window in the building. The lower sash is six paned and the upper is three with radial glazing divisions above, both a glazed with coloured glass. All other windows are modern and there is a modern external spiral stair. To right is a two storey return with three bays and beyond that is a modern extension of roughly the same scale.

Chapel in grounds is recorded HB16/05/004B. There are some remains of the original planting around the house but much has been lost to provide space for a range of separate modern buildings in the grounds.

Historical information

A house is shown at this location on the 1834 OS 6” map. The 1838 Valuation notes its owner as Eliza Anne Thompson, and the dimensions of the main block are given as 58ft x 21ft x 12ft 6in. A similar ground plan is shown on the 1859 map which captions it as ‘Drumindoney’. It is described in the 1861 Valuation as a “neat cottage in part, but old in rere” belonging to Robert Thomson. Its measurements are 19yd x 6yd 2ft x 1.5 storeys (broadly in accord with the 1830s statistics).

The present house appears to date from the mid 1870s. The 1873 Valuation notes a house “in process” by Robert William Von Steiglitz at a cost of £2600. The sketch map accompanying this entry shows an L-shaped block to its east of the same date, with a small addition thereon dated 1876. There is also a small block to the south of the first block, also dated 1876. This new house was apparently erected as the dower house of the Kilmorey family (of nearby Mourne Park). It retained its original name of Drumindoney House.

In 1900, Allen Carey, tutor to the Kilmorey children, took over the lease of the house. He opened Mourne Grange Preparatory School in the same year, apparently the first such school in Ireland. As the school’s enrolment grew, additions were made to the original house: a two-storey dining room/ dormitory extension aligned at right angles to the south gable of the main block (1904), classroom block to south-east of main block (one storey high in 1902 and heightened to 2.5 storeys in 1907), and chapel (1911).

The school eventually closed in 1971 and in September of that year became Mourne Grange Village Community.

Sources:
1. A.M. Wilson, ‘Mourne Grange School, 1901-39’, in 12 Miles of Mourne, vol.5, (1992) pp. 21-33.
2. A.M. Wilson, ‘Mourne Grange School, 1937-59’, in 12 Miles of Mourne, vol.6, (1993) pp. 44-57.
3. A.M. Wilson, ‘Mourne Grange School, 1959-71’, in 12 Miles of Mourne, vol.?, (1996) pp.60-69.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Although this building is of some historic interest, it is much altered and does not fulfil the criteria for statutory protection.