HERON LODGE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A detached symmetrical two-storey three-bay house; built 1882 as a teacher’s residence for the neighbouring Ballyvicknacally School (HB17/14/003A) and located to the north side of Ballynahinch Road west of Dromore. Rectangular on plan with two-storey return and extension to rear, abutted by a single-storey extension.

Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and bargeboards to gables. Yellow brick chimneystacks to gables having terracotta pots. Aluminium rainwater goods on projecting timber eaves with cast-iron downpipes. Walling is painted smooth render on a contrasting plinth with plasterwork Heron emblem above entrance door. Replacement timber-framed casement windows mimicking sashes throughout; uPVC to rear extension, all with projecting masonry sills.

The principal elevation faces south with two windows to ground and first floor and a replacement panelled-and-glazed timber door to centre surmounted by gabled timber canopy on brackets with drop finial and strut.

The west elevation has a window to first and ground floor left.

The rear elevation has return to left with a large window to centre; abutted at right by the two-storey extension and to ground floor by the full-width lean-to modern extension.
The east elevation has a window to first floor right.

Setting:

Situated directly west of the former Ballyvicknacally School (HB17/14/003A). Set back from the road with lawned and shrubbed garden to front and west. Block paving to driveway with parking area to west of house. Small paved yard with grass verge to rear. Modern timber gates and boundary fence to entrance.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Smooth render
Windows: Replacement timber casements
RWG: Aluminium

Historical information

Heron Lodge, a two-storey dwelling, was constructed c. 1882 and was originally intended as a residence for the schoolmaster of the adjoining Ballyvicknacally National School (HB17/14/003A). The dwelling first appears on the third edition of the Ordnance Survey maps in 1904 which depicts it as a square-shaped building situated to the north-west side of the school. The 1901 Ulster Town Directory records that by the 1880s a Mr. William Cowan Heron was the patron of Ballyvicknacally schoolhouse and in c. 1882 he erected the two-storey cottage at his own expense.

Heron (c. 1820-1917) was a local landowner who provided a number of public buildings and utilities around Dromore; in 1891 he provided the four-faced town clock which now adorns the cupola of Dromore’s Town Hall (HB17/15/010), however he is best remembered for funding the Cowan Heron Hospital in the townland of Drumbroneth (HB17/12/028A) ‘for the benefit of the people of the town and neighbourhood’ (Ulster Town Directory 1901). The building of the schoolmasters dwelling was followed by the reconstruction of the school in 1885, also funded by Heron who continued to be the schools patron until his death in 1917.

Heron Lodge was initially valued at £5 and let by William Cowan Heron to a Mr. Hugh Fayle who took up the position of Schoolmaster in 1879 (Doloughan). The 1901 Census notes that Fayle (42, Church of Ireland) resided at Heron Lodge with his wife Agnes (42) and his son and daughter (Fayle’s son (3) was named William Cowan Heron Fayle in respect to his employer, whilst his daughter Edith Jane (14) assisted her father as a school monitor); the census building return described the house as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of seven rooms. By 1911 Edith Fayle was employed as a National Teacher and worked alongside her father, presumably charged with teaching the female pupils; there was little change to the site since 1901 in the 1911 census, although the outbuilding return noted that Fayle possessed a stable, fowl house and shed as his sole out offices.

According to Doloughan Hugh Fayle continued to teach at Ballyvicknacally until 1924; however in 1919 Edith Fayle replaced her father as occupant of the house in the Annual Revisions. Edith Fayle remained at Ballyvicknacally until 1925, after teaching for a period of over 20 years; the Fayle’s were replaced by a Mr. Leonard L. Connor who took over as schoolmaster. There was no alteration to the layout of the site on the fourth edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1919-20, or any change to the valuation of Heron Lodge by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930.

Doloughan states that Leonard L. Connor left the school in 1931 and was replaced by a Mr. Richard Beattie of Dromore who briefly taught at the school before himself leaving in 1937. In January 1938 Heron Lodge was occupied by a Mr. Joseph H. Comb who served as schoolmaster for over 20 years; he was replaced by Mrs. Ethel Moore, the wife of the Rev. Hugh Moore of Banbridge Road Presbyterian in Dromore (HB17/15/028) and the final teacher to reside at the site before the school closed c. 1969 (With the introduction of Intermediate Schools and the 11 plus test in the 1950s, Ballyvicknacally accommodated fewer pupils; the school continued with only Moore remaining as the sole teacher for over a decade but was forced to close prior to 1969) (Doloughan).

The First Survey image records that the current timber canopy was fitted above the doorcase after 1975 resulting in the loss of an original plaque; the plaque presumably recorded that the dwelling was constructed by William Cowan Heron and dated from c. 1880, however the survival of the carved animal emblem of a Heron above the door, as well as the name Heron Lodge are memorials to the Ballyvicknacally Schools famous patron.

Heron Lodge was listed in 1977; a two-storey return and extension was added to the rear of the site prior to the current edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1974 and since 1975 an inappropriate modern flat-roof garage, recorded on the First Survey image, has been removed.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/21/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1859
2. PRONI OS/6/3/21/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903
3. PRONI OS/6/3/21/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1919-1920
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/10B – Annual Revisions 1879 - 1891
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/10C – Annual Revisions 1892 - 1898
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/10E – Annual Revisions 1899 - 1908
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/10F – Annual Revisions 1909 – 1930
8. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down III Vol. 12 (1837)
9. Ulster Town Directory (1901)
10. Census of Ireland (1901 / 1911)
11. First Survey Record – HB17/14/003 (1969)
12. Ordnance Survey Map – 203-1SW (1974)

Secondary Sources

1. Doloughan, A., ‘When Ballyvicknacally School closed its doors’ Dromore: Dromore and District Local Historical Group, 1994.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A detached symmetrical two-storey three-bay house; built 1882 as a teacher’s residence for the neighbouring Ballyvicknacally School (HB17/14/003A). The house has been extensively refurbished and extended to the rear, work that appears to have occurred before listing, which has resulted in the loss of historic fabric and compromised its original character. Later changes, such as the windows and canopy, have also compromised its historic character. Although the former school house retains its local connections with William Cowan Heron, it is of a late date and not among the best examples of the type. Its character has been degraded by the alterations and it is no longer of special interest.