Glenlagan

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey with attic five-bay Georgian house dated 1787 extended in 1911. Rectangular plan form with flat roof replacement return and gabled rear abutments. Located on the south side of Skeagh Road approximately 1 mile north west of Kinallen.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; masonry skews; cast-iron ogee mounded rainwater goods; roughcast rendered chimney stacks with corbelled caps; clay pots. Painted roughcast walling. 6/6 timber sliding sash windows with horns and masonry cills; slightly projecting smooth rendered reveals. Timber sheeted front door with spoked fan-light; brass ironmongery; set into round-headed arched opening with moulded pilaster and archivolt surrounds; granite step.

The principal elevation faces west and is asymmetrically arranged comprising the symmetrical Georgian house to the right with centrally located door flanked by two windows at ground floor level. Five first floor windows directly over. Date plaque over the door inscribed with “S.D. A.D. 1787”. Twentieth century addition to the left projecting beyond the line of the principal elevation; gable-ended with timber barge-boards and exposed purlin ends; central canted-bay with leaded roofing; date plaque inscribed with “R.B.D. A.D. 1911”.

The north elevation is asymmetrically arranged comprising two-ground and first floor windows and a single attic window. The ground floor left is abutted by a single-storey gabled porch comprising a single door to the left cheek; diminished-in-scale window to the exposed rubble masonry gable

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged. Two ground and first floor windows to the right. Two-storey gabled abutment to the left (parallel ridge) with single ground and first floor window with diminished-in-scale window to the right. Wrought-iron rooflights throughout. Centrally positioned single-storey flat roofed extension c.1970.

The south gable is asymmetrically arranged. Single ground floor window to the right. Two diminished-in-scale attic windows.

Setting

Rural
setting with a tributary of the Lagan bounding the south and west of the site. The house is accessed from the road via a long driveway which addresses the rear of the building on approach. Lawn to the front with several rubble masonry outbuildings and former dwellings located to the west.

The former mill building (OB01) which pre-dates the house, is embedded in heavy vegetation positioned on a steep embankment to the river; rubble masonry walling with brick surrounds; pitched corrugated-iron roof; large segmental-arched opening on the gable-end accessed by masonry ramp; in poor condition.

Split-level outbuilding (OB02) rubble masonry with slate roof and masonry skew northeast of mill block; square headed openings; fixed lights with glazing bars and timber sheeted doors; masonry lintels.

Single-storey outbuilding (OB03) with chimney; rubble masonry and slate roof; elliptical-arched opening to the gable end; fixed lights with glazing bars and timber lintels to side elevations.

Enclosed concrete yard to the northwest of the dwelling. Southwest outbuilding (OB04) is rubble masonry; the left portion appears to be a later addition has slate roofing; replacement roof to the right portion; chimney over southeast gable; elliptical-arched opening with brick surrounds and timber sheeted door addressing the yard; square-headed windows elsewhere; some alteration to the openings on both long elevations.

The north west outbuilding (OB05) is split level; galletted rubble masonry; square headed openings with masonry lintels; slate roof in poor condition; lattice window and timber sheeted doors to the south east elevation; arrow-loop openings and attic window to the southwest gable; the north west elevation is abutted by a double-height corrugated-iron barn. The northeast gable is abutted by a lean-to roof rubble masonry infill.

The northeast outbuilding (OB06) is split level; galletted rubble masonry; slate roof with diminishing courses; square-headed openings throughout with timber and masonry lintels; many of the openings have been altered. The south east gable serves access to the upper deck via modern opening.

Former rubble masonry privy (OB07); replacement roof; located within a small garden to the south beyond which is a wooded area to the south and east.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: roughcast
Windows: Timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

According to a datestone located at the site, Glenlagan, a Georgian two-storey house situated in the townland of Kinallen, was constructed in 1787. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1833) depicted the house as an L-shaped building which possessed a corn mill, along the nearby river, and a large number of small outbuildings that were located to the north-west and west of the dwelling. The majority of the small western outbuildings have been taken down; however the three outbuildings to the north-west of the building, arranged in a small courtyard and consisting of two single-storey outbuildings and a two-storey barn, had been constructed by the 1833 map and are in an excellent state of preservation.

The Townland Valuations recorded that the site was occupied by a Mr. Samuel Doake Esq. And was valued at £21 18s., a high value due to the large number of outbuildings and the presence of the corn mill. In the 1830s the house, its outbuildings and the corn mill were valued together, however in c. 1861 the house and its outbuildings were individually valued at £14 whilst the corn mill was valued at £6. Samuel Doake continued to reside at Glenlagan until his death in 1901 but it is unknown whether he worked the corn mill or let the mill out to other tenants during his ownership; Doake’s Will states that he was employed as a doctor (PRONI Wills).

In 1901 Doake’s son Richard Doake took possession of the site. The census of that year recorded that Richard (26, Presbyterian) was a scholar and resided at Glenlagan with his sisters Emma (23) and Henrietta (21) who were employed as a housekeeper and nurse respectively. The census building return described the house as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of eight rooms and possessed a stable, a cow house, a piggery and a barn which were located in Glenlagan’s many outbuildings. By 1911 Doake still owned the site, however he no longer resided there with his sisters but let the house and the corn mill to a Mr. James Dixon (35, Unitarian).

The two-storey extension to Glenlagan House’s north-west gable was added in 1911 according to a second datestone at the site, however the value of the site was not changed as a result of this addition as many of the outbuildings had fallen into a state of dilapidation. Richard Doake continued to be recorded as occupant of Glenlagan until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929. It is not known whether Doake actually resided at Glenlagan or let the property out to tenants who worked the mill.

The Doake family continued to reside at Glenlagan until at least the First Survey in 1969 when a Mr. P. J. Doake was recorded as occupant and owner. Glenlagan was listed in 1977 and continues to be occupied although it passed from the Doake family at some stage in the late-20th century. Demolition of many of the smaller outbuildings occurred n the mid-20th century. The corrugated-iron outbuilding to the north of Glenlagan was erected in the mid-20th century sometime prior to the current edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1975.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/28/1 – First edition Ordnance Survey map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/28/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/28/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/28/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903-1920
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/28 – Townland Valuation map c. 1830
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/342 – Townland Valuations c. 1830
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/38B – Griffith’s Valuation 1861
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/23A – Annual Revisions 1864-1875
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/23B – Annual Revisions 1876-1885
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/23C – Annual Revisions 1886-1898
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/23D – Annual Revisions 1898-1911
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/23E – Annual Revisions 1912-1929
13. PRONI Wills Catalogue (13 Mar 1901)
14. Ulster Street Directories (1843-1918)
15. Census of Ireland (1901 / 1911)
16. First Survey Record – HB17/11/008 (1969)
17. Ordnance Survey map – 203-9 (1975)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two-storey with attic, five-bay Georgian house dated 1787 extended in 1911. Externally the early portion of the building has retained its character and style, while the early twentieth century addition demonstrates its historic development. It has undergone some refurbishment although largely retains its historic layout, with much detailing surviving. The outbuildings and mill block, which largely pre-date the dwelling, are of historic interest and contribute to the overall interest of the site, as the house is the former mill masters dwelling. The original setting, including historic landscape features, survives. Glenlagan is a good example of the type of farmhouse typical of the locale.