Moorlands

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical two-storey-with-attic three-bay detached rubble stone house, built c.1860 and situated on a large mature site to the north side of Castlewellan Road, southeast of Banbridge town centre. U-shaped plan with projecting porch to front, two-storey extension (later) and modern conservatory to rear.

Hipped natural slate roof with leaded hips and rendered chimneystacks having terracotta pots. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on paired brackets. Walling is random rubble stone with raised granite quoins and red-brick dressings. Windows are 6/6 timber sliding sash with granite sills in red-brick surrounds with rendered reveals.

East-facing, the principal elevation is five openings wide to each floor and is symmetrically arranged about a single-storey projecting porch detailed as house. Porch has window to left and right cheek, ovolo moulded eaves and blocking course and double-leaf three-panel timber door with brass door furniture accessed via a granite step.

The south elevation has a hipped wall-head dormer to centre at attic and is four openings wide to first and ground floor. To ground floor left is a metal multi-paned canted bay with overlight and door to central opening, accessed via a set of steps.

The west (rear) elevation is abutted to north by the later two-storey extension (lower), and to west by a modern timber conservatory. Window to first floor left and right. The two-storey extension has a variety of fenestration including two 1/1 leaded-and-stained glass timber sash windows to first floor. The north elevation has two windows to first and ground floor and a half-panelled timber door with sidelights and overlight.

The north elevation has three 1/1 leaded-and-stained glass windows to first floor right and a window to first floor left. To ground floor right is a 1/1 window and a half-panelled timber door with square-headed overlight.

Setting

Set on a large mature site which has in part been developed in part with private housing to north and south. A tarmacadam driveway leads to a gravelled front concourse with yard to north accessed via a timber-sheeted door. Lawned garden to south and west. West garden enclosed by a modern brick boundary wall. Stone balustrade and Victorian greenhouse with decorative terracotta ridge tiles to west garden. Yard to north has two fine rubble-stone barns with red-brick dressings, both with a variety of timber-sheeted doors and timber-casement windows with relieving arches.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Rubble stone
Windows: Timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

Rankin states that Moorlands was constructed c.1840 by George Crawford Lindsay, a local Linen manufacture whose father John Lindsay resided at Tullyhenan House in Mullafernaghan (HB17/13/006). Moorlands is first depicted on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1860 which shows the current dwelling and also two outbuildings, one to the north and one to the west-side of the house. The contemporary Griffiths Valuation (c.1862) recorded that George Lindsay owned the house, which was valued at £53, and also let out a large number of smaller properties in the townland of Ballydown.

In 1864 the Annual Revisions noted a slight decrease in the value of the house to £49, however it was not recorded why this devaluation occurred. George C. Lindsay continued to reside at Moorlands until his death in 1885 at which time the house, and Lindsay’s fortune of £15,000, passed to members of his family (PRONI Wills). The Annual Revisions noted that Crawford’s sons John Crawford Lindsay, Walter Lindsay, and also his nephew’s George Crawford Lindsay and John Lindsay, had taken over possession of Moorlands by 1887. It is not clear which of the Lindsay family resided at Moorlands after George Crawford Lindsay’s death as all four of the above members were listed as joint occupants; however by 1899 the Lindsay family let the house to a Mr. John Simms, a hemstitching manufacturer who had formerly resided at Parkmount House (HB17/12/003). The change in occupancy coincided with a reduction of Moorland’s value to £30 at which it remained until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929.

The 1901 Census records that John Simms (82, Church of Ireland) resided at Moorlands with his large family including his wife and widowed daughter Antonia Simms. The Census Building Return described Moorlands as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of 15 rooms; the outbuilding return for 1901 was missing, however the 1903 Ordnance Survey map of Moorlands shows that the site had been developed since 1860. An extension was added to the west-side of the house, giving it a distinct U-shape, whilst the current Victorian greenhouse was erected to the west of this extension; the two-storey outbuilding to the north-west of the house was also constructed prior to 1903.

John Simms resided at Moorlands until his death in 1911 at which time the house passed into the possession of his daughter Antonia (PRONI Wills). The 1911 Census notes that Antonia (58) lived at Moorlands with her son David and his wife; David Simms operated his grandfather’s hemstitching factory at that time. The Census Outbuilding Return records that Moorlands possessed a number of out offices which included a stable, two coach houses, a cowhouse, dairy and a barn which were located in the two-storey outbuildings to the house’s north. Antonia Simms lived at Moorlands until her own death in 1925 at which time the house passed to her son David; however David Simms did not reside at Moorlands and in the 1930s the house was recorded as the property of Joseph Morton who also owned Enville House on the Castlewellan Road (HB17/07/031).

In 1822 the Crawford and Lindsay families of Banbridge took over the Ballydown Weaving Company and Bleachworks which had formerly been owned by William Hudson. The families established Crawford & Lindsay which operated until c.1918 and was one of the most successful textile companies along the River Bann in the 19th century, employing over 400 people in 1884 including 250 hand loom weavers. The company owned a power loom factory in Newtownards and had offices in London; Moorlands was constructed c.1840 during the successful early years of Crawford & Lindsay (Rankin, pp 41-42).

Moorland House was listed in 1977 and continues to be occupied as a dwelling. Between 1930 and 1974 (current edition of the Ordnance Survey map) additional alterations were made to Moorlands resulting in the current square layout of the house. All of the outbuildings depicted on the third edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1903 still survive; since 1974 a modern single-storey conservatory has been added to the west side of the house.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903-1918
4. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/64/A – Griffith’s Valuation c. 1862
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/A – Annual Revisions 1864-1874
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/B – Annual Revisions 1874-1884
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/D – Annual Revisions 1885-1894
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/F – Annual Revisions 1895-1906
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/G – Annual Revisions 1906-1914
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/H – Annual Revisions 1915-1929
11. PRONI Wills Catalogue (7 Nov 1885; 9 Jan 1911)
12. Census of Ireland (1901 / 1911)
13. Ordnance Survey map 221-5 (1974)
14. First Survey Record – HB17/07/038 (1977)

Secondary Sources

1. Rankin, K., ‘The Linen Houses of the Bann Valley: The story of their families’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2007).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Moorlands is a two-storey-with-attic five-bay detached rubble stone house, built c.1860. Composed on a symmetrical plan, many original features and materials of good quality have survived. There is some evidence of later remodelling and a modern conservatory has been constructed to rear. Its immediate setting survives with a courtyard of outbuildings, including two good examples of two-storey rubble-stone barns. A Victorian greenhouse and the original entrance gates also add to the interest of the site. The quality of the setting has been compromised by new development, but generally views and aspect are unaffected. Moorlands is a good and intact example of a linen house hereabouts.