St Colman’s College

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A range of school buildings consisting of main entrance flanked on the right by a wing of three storeys ending in a belvedere tower and beyond a modern extension also three storeys but because of the fall in the ground this is a full storey lower. To the left is a two storey wing terminated by the chapel. Behind (to the north) is a quadrangle two sides of which are part of the older building, the others are modern buildings.

All the older buildings have pitched natural slated roofs, overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails, cast iron rainwater goods, and load bearing brick walls with stone dressings. All are executed a simple Ruskinian type Lombardic Italianate Revival Style.

The main (original) school building is three storey. To this was added what is now the main entrance and a section to the west (left). This is all unified under a single hipped natural slated roof. There are four chimney stacks, that to the right is the oldest and is "T" plan set on the front wall with two flues to each of the three legs. It has a chamfered stone cap flush with the shaft of red facing brick decorated by two strings of blue brick. Just above its merging with the roof plane are stone coped buttresses - the left and right have chamfered copings; the forward buttress has a gabled coping; the flues are expressed through the full height of the building by an advanced brick shaft. The other three stacks are transverse to the roof at the ridge having canted caps and plain brick shafts.

The entrance bay is advanced and gabled having a dressed stone coping; the ridge is decorated by a finial cross and at eaves level with bracketed kneelers. Brickwork is English garden wall bond. At ground floor is a relatively modern projecting square flat roofed porch. The approach is by five steps in concrete pre-cast paviors contained between brick flanking walls with concrete coping on which are mounted a pair of modern pillar (steel) lamps.

Walls of porch are stretcher bond in rusticated red facing brick similar to the chapel, with block parapet and projecting cornice, stone quoins that match the older work and run full height of bay. Front wall and each cheek have a canted granite base course and flush granite cill course. The entrance has a segmental brick arch; the doors are a pair of timber vertically sheeted stained and varnished leaves. Windows in each cheek of porch are single semicircular headed glazed in quarry paned coloured leaded glass.

The corners of the advanced bay of the main building (abutted by porch) are dressed by stepped rusticated quarry faced granite quoins. At first floor is a single 2/2 (vertically divided) painted timber sliding sash window with semi circular head and segmental rusticated granite voussoirs, granite label mould with square rusticated quarry faced stops; the entire cill string course is projecting and moulded and runs full length of main facade. At second floor is a sliding sash window as below but with canted jambs and segmental head having above it a soldier brick arch with brick label mould over. There is a dressed stone flush cill course running full length of main facade, but the cill itself is projecting. Set into the gable above is a circular stone inscribed '1920'.

The older section of the building to the east (right) of the entrance has a centred dressed granite plinth with rubble granite to ground level. Four brick courses above is the flush granite ground floor cill. Ground floor window heads are a shallow pointed arch in dressed granite with extrados of blue brick; the intrados is coved with moulded stop leading into the canted jamb below. There is a continuous stone string at springing of the heads of windows on all floors. First floor windows have smooth faced dressed semicircular headed arches with blue brick extrados and rest on the continuous stone cill. The second floor windows rest on the continuos flush cill course, and have two blue brick strings, one to meeting rail and one above.

All windows are 2/2 (horizontally divided) painted timber sliding sashes and are arranged in three pairs at first and second floor levels; at ground floor the central group is increased to three lights. The right hand corner of the wing is canted with a single window as described above for each floor. The corner of the cant is in modern facing brick like the porch.

Buried on right gable, in the junction between the older building and the 1960s extension is the belvedere. It has been partly disfigured by the addition to the rear right hand corner of a 1960s boiler flue. The roof is copper and has four unequal faces thus creating a short ridge on which is mounted a copper cross; the eaves have a wide overhang containing an integral copper gutter discharging from open corner chutes. Below are windows paired on each face; the heads are shallow pointed arches dressed in granite with an extrados of blue header bricks; the intrados is cove and stopped as a transition into the stepped jambs. There is continuous dressed granite springing course and two blue brick strings within the height of the windows. The windows themselves are double hung painted timber the glazing divided once horizontally in each sash and with a fixed overlight.

To the west (left) of the entrance bay the wall is detailed as entrance bay, with base course as east bays. Each floor has a pair of windows with a single window to its left. Ground floor windows are 2/2 vertically divided sliding sashes, with additional two paned segmental transom over, head is of rusticated granite voussoirs. First floor windows are 2/2 (vertically divided) painted timber sliding sash windows with semi circular heads and segmental rusticated granite voussoirs, granite label moulds with square rusticated quarry faced stops. Second floor windows are 2/2 (vertically divided) sliding sashes with soldier course heads.

Beyond (to left) is the two storey wing connecting to the chapel. Pitched natural slate roof has a metal pepperpot ventilator. Wall detailing is as the wing to west of entrance bay. The ground floor windows are identical and those to first floor are taller 2/2 sliding sashes with additional semicircular pane over. To each floor is a set of four equally spaced windows followed to left by a closely linked group of four. However at ground floor the last opening is a doorway containing a pair of varnished three panelled doors.

To the north (rear) the modern wing forming part of the quad abuts an older flat roofed ablution return containing an assortment of segmental and semicircular headed windows. The rear of the left hand wing has two sorts of brick employed (four bays in one, the remainder in another). There is a single storey lean to roof in natural slate creating the corridor to the classrooms and chapel with a skylight in each bay. Windows are 2/2 painted timber sliding sashes, heads are radiating brick, cills are concrete. At the far end nearest the chapel is a modern varnished timber door with Georgian glazed upper half with two solid panels below.

To rear of the east (right) hand wing detailing is similar except that there are three storeys, seven windows in each. At second floor heads are segmental at first and ground they are semicircular. There is a stone stringcourse at cill of second floor opening and those at first floor. On this side of the ablution block the older work forms a deep return of two storeys of four bays at ground and three at first floor, windows have segmental heads and are all double hung painted timber. There is a canted granite plinth with rubble granite below.

Historical information

There is a series of labelled old photographs in the ground floor corridor. They record that the Old Violet Hill House was first rented by the Diocese of Dromore in 1829 and then purchased outright in 1834. It apparently accommodated boarders who were pupils at a Catholic school in the town. With the closure of the school in the town, all teaching was transferred to here.

The building is described in the 1838 valuation as the 68ft x 21ft x 28ft residence of Rev Dr Blake, R.C. Bishop; it also contained a chapel at that time as well as the school. A photograph shows a mid Georgian two-storey (+ basement)/ five bay house, with hipped roof and rendered walls.

In the 1870s, a new brick extension was added. The Valuation revision book entry for 1878 notes the following buildings: (1) three-storey house (college), 10yds x 27yds in plan; (2) basement; (3) three-storey tower, 5yds x 6yds in plan; (4) one-storey passage, 3yds x 23yds in plan. The entry also notes that the contract for finishing the buildings was £2800, that some of the earlier buildings had been demolished, and that more were to be taken down. The valuation increases from £40 to £86 in this year. The Irish Builder of 1879 notes that work over the preceding two years was now complete and the school opened. Its architect was the late Timothy Hervey (Belfast), and the work was carried out by Messrs McShane and Lavery. The above extension is the section to the right of the main entrance of the present block. At that time, the original house was still in use and ran back at right angles behind the tower.

In 1922 a massive extension was made to the left of the mid Victorian block. This is reflected in an increase in valuation from £86 to £150. In 1938 a new chapel was consecrated at the west end of this new extension (HB16/25/021). Further buildings were added at the rear in the 1960s and the last vestiges of the original Violet Hill were removed (including the original chapel).

Sources:

1. Pers. Comm. Rev. Dr. Francis Brooks, Bishop of Dromore.
2. Information boards on display material in school.
3. OS 6" map (1834) Co Armagh Sheet 26 (PRONI - OS 6/3/26/1);
4. PRONI - VAL 1B/246A, p.113 (1838 valuation);
5. PRONI - VAL 2B/2/39A, p.91 (1863 valuation);
6. PRONI - VAL 12B/15/1C (valuation revision);
7. PRONI - VAL 12B/15/1K, p.157.
8. Irish Builder, vol.21, p.274 (1 Sept 1879).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A collegiate grouping impressive for its scale and its setting but without special historical and architectural qualities.