Former National School, St John's Roman Catholic Church, Castle Hill, Gilford, Co Down

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached multi-bay single-storey stone and brick former school, dated 1879, with gabled entrance porch. Rectangular on plan facing north with lean-to extension to rear and set within the grounds of St. John's RC Church (HB17/01/011A) to the west of Castle Hill.

Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and uPVC guttering supported on timber fascia with uPVC downpipes. Generally coursed rough-hewn and snecked greystone walling with rough-hewn squared granite quoins. Window openings with gauged heads, slightly cambered, brick jambs, stone sills and horizontally-glazed bipartite 2/2 timber sash windows with timber mullion.

Front north elevation is seven openings wide and abutted by an off-centre gable-fronted entrance porch having decorative timber bargeboard and finial and a slate wall plaque to the gable inscribed; 'Castle Hill / National School / AD. / 1879'. Bipartite timber sash window to the gable and a square-headed door opening to the left cheek with redbrick surround and replacement sheeted hardwood door with overlight opening onto two concrete steps.

East gable is blank.

Rear elevation abutted to the east end by a flat-roofed cement rendered lean-to extension, added c.1990. Two original bipartite timber sash windows to the west end only.

West gable is blank with redbrick to the centre serving former chimneystack.

Setting
Located on the west side of Castle Hill within the grounds of St. John's RC Church (HB17/01/011A) to the east gable with bitmac parking area to the front. Site enclosed by rubblestone walls with stacked coping and a decorative cast-iron pedestrian gate to the east.

Roof Natural slate
RWG UPVC
Walling Coursed and snecked rough-hewn basalt
Windows Horizontally-glazed 2/2 bipartite timber sash

Historical information

Castle Hill National School opened on 2nd January 1879. The building was owned by the nearby church and built by local subscription at a cost of £300. The ‘School’ is first shown, captioned, on the third edition OS map of 1901-2.

The church of St John the Evangelist, Gilford was completed in 1850 and was one of the last catholic churches to be built in Dromore diocese following catholic emancipation in 1829. Its architect was Thomas Duff (c1792-1848), a native of Newry, who was the designer of a large number of churches of all denominations, but is particularly noted for several important catholic churches, such as the cathedral of Ss Patrick and Colman in Newry and the cathedral of St Patrick in Armagh. (Cairns; www.dia.ie) The curate of St John’s from 1868 to 1883, Father Henry Devlin, was the moving force behind the opening of the school, but had to face considerable local opposition as there were already three schools in Gilford, a Church of Ireland, a Presbyterian and a Mill School. (Cairns)

The school when opened was fitted with a large amount of solid wood, and the windows of the building are believed to be original. The school opened with 13 desk/ forms, and 8 separate forms, all measuring 9 feet in length. It was likely that in Gilford, as in other mill towns, the children attended school for a half-day and worked in the mill the rest of the day, or alternate days. (Cairns) The first teacher at the school was Miss Mary Maguire, who appears to have been only 18 years old at the time. She was the daughter of a local hotel proprietor and married the School Monitor, William Boyle, in 1884. Once their first child was born in 1885, William Boyle became the headmaster, but his wife appears to have continued teaching, hurrying ‘home between classes to breast-feed and attend to the latest baby’s needs’. Mr and Mrs Boyle retired in 1920 and were outstanding figures in the community, Mr Boyle serving as a JP and a member of the British Legion. (Cairns)

The school is not listed in valuation records until the 1930s, being included in the valuation of the church. In 1934 it is valued at £11 and is said to contain three classrooms with accommodation for 117 pupils. The valuer’s notes contain a plan which appears to show a second porch towards the western end of the building, where a doorway is situated today. During the war, in 1943, the school was temporarily taken over by the military, but for what purpose is not recorded.

A new school was opened in 1957 and the current building was subsequently used as a Parochial Hall. The building was renovated in 1983 at a cost of £6,000 and today appears to house a boxing club although it has formerly been used as a nursery and for social events.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/26/1 First Edition OS Map 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/26/2 Second Edition OS map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/26/3 Third Edition OS Map 1901-2
4. PRONI OS/6/3/26/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-21
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/2 First General Revaluation (1933-57)
6. PRONI VAL3/D/4/3/M/5 First General Revaluation (1933-57)

Secondary Sources

1. Cairns, A “The Church and Community of St John the Evangelist Gilford, Sesquicentennial 1850-2000” Lurgan: Inglewood Press, 2002
2. www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

Detached single-cell single-storey stone and brick former school, dated 1879, with gabled entrance porch. Rectangular on plan facing north with lean-to extension to rear and set within the grounds of St. John's RC Church (HB17/01/011A) to the west of Castle Hill. A well preserved example of a once-common type exhibiting a variety of traditional masonry techniques and retaining its original external appearance. The former school shares and enhances the setting of the church, highly visible and of much local interest.