RUC station

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Large, three and two storey gabled house now used as a police station, built in stages between c.1820s and 1850s and much altered and extended at the rear in the mid to late 1900s. The building is set on the W side of South Promenade, S of Newcastle town centre. The large three storey section of the building to the S appears to be older than the two storey wing to the N, which itself appears to have been built in two stages. It is surrounded by modern security measures.

The front façade faces roughly E. To the S, the façade is three storey, with a longer two storey section to the N. The front façade of the three storey section is symmetrical. To the centre of the ground floor is an Edwardian projecting timber porch. To the front of the porch are three semicircular headed windows, with an open doorway with semicircular fanlight to N. There is trellis work between the openings. The porch supports the central portion of a decorative cast iron balcony which spans much of the width of this section. To the left of the porch is a 2 over 2 sash window with a similar window (1 over 1) to the right. To the first and second floors are evenly spaced smaller modern windows. The second floor windows are slightly larger than those to the first.

The front façade of the two storey section has five evenly spaced sash windows to the ground floor and five to the first floor. Many of these windows have Georgian panes, others are plain. That to the centre on the first floor has a modern frame and a small balcony in front, of same design as previous balcony. To the immediate left of the central windows to each floor, the coursing of the stone work suggests that this portion of the building was built in two stages.

The S gable of the main three storey section merges with the S face of a large three storey flat roofed rear extension and this whole S elevation is blank and finished in painted rough cast render.

The N façade merges with the N face of a two storey rear hipped roof section. To the ground floor centre of this elevation is a timber panelled door with plain fanlight and bracketed hood above. To the right of this are two small modern windows and to the first floor is a larger modern window. This elevation is rendered as S. Granite built carriage gateway without gates to E side of façade.

The rear elevation has been much extended over the years. To the centre is a large two storey hipped roof return, with a smaller return to the left (N) of this with a double hipped roof. To the right is a three storey flat roofed extension. This may be quite old but has been modernised with the roof flattened. All of these sections have modern windows of various shapes and sizes all fitted with security devices and modern doors. There are also some single storey flat roofed projections. The whole of the rear elevation is in painted rough cast, as to S.

All pitched sections of the roof appear to be covered in natural slate with three large rendered chimney stacks and a few cast-iron skylights to the large central return. Metal and PVC rw goods.

Two and single storey outbuildings to rear, modernised and finished much as rear of main building but with some Georgian paned sash windows to the two storey gabled section to the S.

The area around the buildings is tarmaced and the to the front there is a high rendered wall with security fence, with lower wall and fence to the S and tall corrugated iron fencing to N.

Historical information

A building is shown on the site of the three storey section on the OS map of 1834, whose dimensions (according to the contemporary valuation) match those of the present section (minus the rear additions). At this stage the property belonged to a Mr James Gibbons, had the high valuation of £28-14-11 and was regarded by the valuers as being a relatively new building. By 1838, when the valuation was updated iit had been acquired by a William Humphries. By 1859, the building had been extended to the north and rear, with the main (front) section of the house assuming its present shape. By this time also, the property had been given the name ‘Rowallen House’.

The Humphries family remained in possession of the house until the early 1900s, building a tower to the rear wall of the garden (to the west, fronting on to King Street) in the later 1800s. By 1910 Rowallen was in the hands of the Ball family. It was probably around this time that the present staircase was added, and possibly also the porch and balconies. In c.1925 the large three storey section appears to have been taken over for use as the local police station, with the two storey section remaining a dwelling house for some years after this. In more recent years [?c.1960s] the whole building was given over to police use.

Interestingly, Newcastle’s original police station, or ‘constabulary barrack’, iis the building to the immediate north of this (no. 35 South Promenade), which appears to have been purpose built in c.1850. It has been somewhat modernised in recent years.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.1503 Annesley Papers.
2 PRONI VAL/1B/362 p.19 First valuation, Kilcoo, c.1834-38.
3 PRONI OS/1/3/49 OS map, first ed., Co. Down 49.
4 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.3: Parishes of County Down I’, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB1990), p.43.
5 PRONI VAL/1D/3/10 Valuation town plan of Newcastle, 1838.
6 PRONI OS/6/3/49/2 OS map, first rev., Co. Down 49.
7 PRONI Second (‘Griffith’s) valuation, Kilcoo, 1863.
8 PRONI VAL/12E/111/1 Valuation town plan of Newcastle, 1864-1906.
9 PRONI and Linen Hall Library ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ Vols.1-21, 1852-1900, (Belfast, Henderson [1852-65], Belfast News-Letter [1865- ]).
10 George Henry Bassett ‘County Down Guide and Directory’ (Dublin 1886), pp.161-165.
11 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).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Large, three and two storey gabled house with granite front façade, built in stages between c.1820-30 and c.1850s and much extended at the rear during the 20th century, when the building became a police station. The large three storey section to the south end is undoubtedly the oldest, dating from c.1820-30. Though it now has an Edwardian timber porch and ornate cast iron balcony, its front façade’s late Georgian symmetry is still apparent. The two storey wing to the north of this, which has had a similar but much smaller balcony added, was added in two stages between c.1840-50 and successfully blends in with the original façade. To the rear, there is a collection of large returns and extensions, the central and south of which may be largely mid 19th century, but which have been much modernised in recent years. The building has, by necessity, been fitted with security features but many of the original windows to the front have been retained.