Former school house

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small, single storey, rubble-built gabled schoolhouse of c.1880s, with yellow brick dressings and a modern flat roofed extension to the rear. The building is set within the small hamlet of The Spa, to the NE side of the SW end of Ballymaglave Road.

The front elevation faces roughly SE and is asymmetrical. The entrance is located on the SE face of a small gabled porch attached to the NE gable. The SE face of the porch is flush with the SE façade of the main building. The entrance consists of a timber sheeted door with semicircular fanlight. Steps to doorway. The doorway has yellow brick in / out dressings. All other original openings have similar dressings and the building also has matching in / out quoins.

To the left of the doorway, (to main front façade, as it were), are three pairs of sash windows with horizontal and vertical glazing bars (4 panes over 4).

To the SW gable is a grouping of three tall narrow semicircular headed windows, with that to the centre taller. Each of these has a sash frame with horizontal glazing bars (1/5, 3/5, 1/5). The NE gable has a similar grouping, with the porch to the left. The (NE facing) gable of the porch has a narrow sash window with vertical glazing bars (2/2). A odd section of wall projects from this gable also. The NW face of the porch appears to have once had a red brick dressed opening of some kind, but this has been blocked (cement rendered).

The rear façade is entirely covered by a modern looking flat roofed extension. This is cement rendered and sports modern windows.

The roof of the original building is slated and has a slight overhang with exposed rafter tails, plain barges and simple brackets to the gables. Small red brick chimney stack near eaves to rear. Mainly cast iron rw goods. The original section of the building has a bevelled base. Simple iron railings to SE and NE.

Historical information

This building probably dates from c.1880s-90s and was originally a schoolhouse, probably built in connection with the near by Spa Presbyterian Church (itself dating from 1872). It was superseded by a new larger school (built to the immediate north-east) in c.1965. After this the building was used for a time as a shop, but now main serves as a meeting place for a local club.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/6/3/29/3 OS map, Down sh 29, c.1901

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Small single storey, rubble-built gabled schoolhouse of c.1880s-90s, with yellow brick dressings and a modern flat roofed extension to the rear.