DOWNPATRICK GATE LODGE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small, rustically picturesque single storey gate lodge of c.1860s with oversailing hipped roof and hood mouldings to front. The building is set at the eastern (‘Downpatrick’) entrance to Seaforde Demesne, to the W side of Newcastle Road, roughly half a mile N of Seaforde, c.5 miles W of Downpatrick. The design may be based on the work of English architect Peter Frederick Robinson (1776-1858), who had been employed by the Forde family in the 1820s and 30s.

The front façade faces S and is symmetrical. To the centre is a timber sheeted door, with hood moulding above. To the left of this is a relatively large six light casement window, with lattice panes to the three small upper lights and two conventional panes to the three lower lights. Above the window is a simple label moulding. There is a similar window to the right of the door.

Because of rampant tree and shrub growth, the W façade and rear of the lodge are obscured from view. To the E façade there is a sash window with Georgian panes (6/6).

The front E facades are both finished in lined render, some of which has fallen off. The hipped roof is slated and has a large overhang with exposed rafter ends. Central rendered chimney stack. No visible rw goods.

This property is now vacant and appears to have been for some time.

Historical information

This gate lodge is believed to have been built c.1860s. It replaced a larger lodge built some time between c.1834 and c.1858 which stood on the opposite side of Newcastle Road. The authorship of the building is uncertain, but elements such as the windows and mouldings are similar to details present on the Almshouses in Seaforde village, which are probably the work of Peter Frederick Robinson (1776-1858). It has been suggested that this lodge represents a posthumous execution of a Robinson design.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.366 Forde papers
2 PRONI OS/6/3/37/3 OS map, Down sh 37, c.1901

Secondary sources
1 J.A.K. Dean ‘The gate lodges of Ulster- a gazetteer’ (Belfast UAHS 1994), p.95

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
V. Authorship

Evaluation

Small, rustically picturesque single storey gate lodge of c.1860s, with oversailing hipped roof and hood mouldings to front, set at the eastern (‘Downpatrick’) entrance to Seaforde Demesne. It has group value with the rest of the Seaforde estate buildings. The building may be a posthumous execution of a design by English architect Peter Frederick Robinson (1776-1858), who had been employed by the Forde family in the 1820s and 30s.

General comments

This gate lodge was previously listed under HB18/17/023