'Annesley Mansions' ('Newcastle Centre')

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Annesley Mansions is a long, two storey (over basement) hipped roof building of c.1832-33 with distinctive late Georgian air. Originally constructed as two separate buildings, a hotel (designed by Thomas Duff) and a house/estate office, both were amalgamated in c.1865-70 to form the long, largely rectangular structure we see today. A large modern leisure centre block was built to the rear in 1987 and is linked to the original section via a glazed corridor. The property is set on the E side of Central Promenade, with its back to the shore. It is now used as a civic centre, with leisure facilities, and a tourist information centre.

The long front (W) façade may be said to consist of three sections. That to the right (S) is the façade of the original hotel block. That to the far left is smaller and belongs to the former house/estate office, and in between these is the small in-fill section, added when the two blocks were amalgamated c.1860s.

The front façade of the original hotel block is symmetrical and broken into three bays. The large central bay is slightly recessed. To the centre of the ground floor of this bay is a large projecting, flat roofed entrance porch. The front of the porch is open and flanked by Ionic columns and double outer pilasters. The N and S sides of the porch are plain apart from respondent pilasters. The porch is topped with an entablature, cornice and blocking course, upon which there is a decorative cast iron ‘balcony’ rail. Plastic lettering has been attached to the entablature and blocking course on the front side.

Either side of the porch are four tall fixed light windows with Georgian panes. The two outer windows to each side are contained within the outer bays of this section of the façade. To the first floor are nine similar, but shorter, windows. The centre (5th) window broader than the rest.

To the immediate N of the original hotel façade is the front façade of the in-fill section. This has three tall sash windows to the ground floor with Georgian panes (6 over 6), with three similar, but shorter, windows to the first floor (6 over 3).

The façade of the former house/estate office is asymmetrical. To the right on the ground floor is a large, elliptical arched entrance approached via a short walkway spanning over the basement ‘well’ (see below). The entrance has a modern glazed door, sidelights with panelled aprons and a large elliptical fanlight. To the left of the entrance are three ground floor windows each with sash frames as ground floor previous, but with margin panes. To the first floor are four similar, but shorter windows.

The whole of the front façade is finished in lined render with chamfered quoins to the outer bays of the former ‘hotel’ section. The former ‘house’ section has painted ‘quoins’. There is a string course between the ground and first floor, with another between basement and ground level. The basement level itself has a series of windows. Those to the former ‘hotel’ section are now blocked (though their recesses remain), whilst the remainder to the N have sash frames (2 over 4) with security grilles over.

The short N façade has three recesses to each floor, which were originally windows but are now blocked. The façade finish is as front. The short S façade is slightly narrower than that to the N (the in-fill and ‘house/estate office’ sections being slightly deeper). There are two window openings to each floor. Those to the basement are blocked, whilst those to the ground floor are as front façade right.

The rear façade of the original ‘hotel’ section has bays as front, but in the centre of the recessed middle bay is a projecting square bay. The E face of this bay is now engulfed by a modern, mainly glazed corridor which links to a large modern leisure centre section (added 1987). To the left (S) of this bay there are four first floor windows as front right. To the ground floor are three windows as front right; a further opening (which was once a window) has been made into a door. To the right of the projecting bay are four windows to the first floor as before, with three windows to the ground floor (also as before), and a third opening made into a doorway. The basement windows appear to be mainly blocked. Modern ‘catwalks’/stairways span over the basement well to the two rear doorways. The doors themselves are plain modern examples.

The rear façade of the in-fill section (to the N of the ‘hotel’ section) has a two storey canted bay to the left with a hipped roof. To each face of each floor of this bay there is a window, except for the centre face to the ground floor where the window has been made into a doorway. The windows themselves have sash frames which correspond to those at front left. To the right of this bay there is a window to each floor, as the adjacent bay.

The rear façade of the former ‘house/estate office’ section has four windows to the first floor and three windows and a doorway (which used to be a window) to the ground floor. The windows are as front of this section and the doorway is modern. The basement level of this section and the in-fill section has four windows , with sash frames as basement windows to front, and a doorway with modern door. The windows to the basement level of the canted bay have been blocked. There are walkways/stairs as before from doorways to both of these sections. The finish to the whole of the rear facade is as front.

The roof is hipped and covered in natural slate. There are five granite chimney stacks with octagonal pots (there used to be ten stacks). Cast iron rw goods. The basement well has railings to front, N and S, partly set on a low wall. The section to the left half of the front and to the N are original, the rest are modern. Modern metal staircase to basement well at front. Wheelchair ramps to front doorway to former ‘house/estate office’.

Across the road and slightly to the N of Annesley mansions, is a long one and a half storey building which was once the stable block for the hotel. This has a gabled roof and rendered façade, with a taller gabled bay in the centre with a large arched carriage doorway. The building has been much altered in recent times with the insertion of many large openings to the front and the removal of all of the gabled half dormers.

Historical information

Newcastle stands within the townland of Ballaghbeg. For many years this was the property of the Magennis family, who built a tower house on the shoreline in the early 15th century, around which a small settlement (‘Newcastle’) later grew up, mainly composed of fishermen and their families. In 1747 Anthony Magennis sold the tower house (which had been rebuilt on a more domestic scale by Felix Magennis in 1586) and the land of Ballaghbeg to William Annesley of Castlewellan. William’s family had been steadily increasing their fortune and influence since moving to Ulster from Munster in the 1600s and he himself was created Baron Annesley in 1758, with his grandson, Charles Francis, later created Earl Annesley. In c.1830 the 3rd Earl, William Richard, decided to develop Newcastle as a seaside retreat for his family and for visitors. He built himself his new residence of Donard Lodge on the slopes of the Mournes and embarked upon building facilities for visitors to the village itself. The centre piece of the new facilities was the Annesley Arms Hotel, built in c.1832-33 on the site of the old tower house (by that stage ‘a commodious dwelling house’ rented by The Board of Customs). The hotel, which the OS memoirs described as ‘unusually magnificent considering the size of the place’ was designed by Thomas Duff of Newry and was fitted with hot and cold baths with a large kitchen in the basement. Shortly after this, Earl Annesley built a bath house just to the south of the hotel and an estate office with manager’s house (‘Annesley Villa’) just to the north. The remains of the buildings associated with the old tower house were all swept away in the process.

Both the hotel and Annesley Villa are shown on the 1859 OS map, by which stage the hotel was under the management of the Trousdale (or Trowsdale) family. Sometime between c.1863 and c.1880 (probably in the later 1860s), Annesley Villa ceased to serve as a house and estate office, was taken over by the hotel and physically linked to the original hotel building. In this expanded form The Annesley Arms remained Newcastle’s foremost hostelry, but by the late 1890s it was having to compete with new more sumptuous hotels such as the Bellevue, The Donard Buildings, and above all The Slieve Donard, which, when it opened in 1898 eclipsed all other local establishments in terms of size, facilities and elegance.

The Annesley Arms closed c.1904 and shortly afterwards was taken over by the newly constituted Newcastle Urban District Council for use as council offices. It continued as such until the Newcastle U.D.C. came to an end with reform of local government in the early 1970s. The northern half of the building served as a library until the 1980s. Bomb damaged sustained in 1985 led to a complete renovation and the addition of a modern extension to the rear. Today the property houses the ‘Newcastle Centre’ a complex which includes facilities for leisure, meetings and small conferences. A tourist information centre is also sited in the building.

References- Primary sources
1 Walter Harris ‘The ancient and present state of the county of Down (Dublin 1744), pp.80-87. [Description of Newcastle when still in the hands of the Magennis family.]
2 Francis Grose ‘The Antiquities of Ireland’ Vol.II (Dublin 1797). [This book includes an engraving entitled ‘Newcastle near Tollymore, Co. Down’, showing the old Magennis tower house.]
3 PRONI D.1503 Annesley Papers.
4 PRONI VAL/1B/362 p.13 First valuation, Kilcoo, c.1834-38.
5 PRONI OS/1/3/49 OS map, first ed., Co Down 49.
6 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.3: Parishes of County Down I’, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB1990), p.43.
7 PRONI VAL/1D/3/10 Valuation town plan of Newcastle, 1838.
8 PRONI OS/6/3/49/2 OS map, first rev., Co. Down 49.
9 PRONI Second (‘Griffith’s) valuation, Kilcoo, 1863.
10 PRONI VAL/12E/111/1 Valuation town plan of Newcastle, 1864-1906.
11 PRONI and Linen Hall Library ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ Vols.1-21, 1852-1900, (Belfast, Henderson [1852-65], Belfast News-Letter [1865- ])
12 George Henry Bassett ‘County Down Guide and Directory’ (Dublin 1886), pp.161-165.
13 PRONI OS/8/136/1-4 OS plans of Newcastle, 1901.

Secondary sources
1 P.J. Rankin, 'Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in the Mourne Area of South Down', (Belfast UAHS 1975), p.72.
2 Grenfell Morton ‘Victorian and Edwardian Newcastle’ (Belfast 1988). [This book includes late 19th and early 20th century photographs the Annesley Arms Hotel, mainly from the Laurence Collection held at PRONI.]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Long two storey (over basement) hipped roof building of c.1832-33 with distinctive late Georgian air. Originally constructed as two separate buildings, a hotel (designed by Thomas Duff) and a house/estate office, both were amalgamated in c.1865-70 to form the long, largely rectangular structure we see today. A large modern leisure centre block was built to the rear in 1987 and is linked to the original section via a glazed corridor