Lower Ballinderry Primary School

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey roughcast rendered former school with semi-basement at lower level, dated 1827, located on a low level site at the junction of Lower Ballinderry Road and Crumlin Road, Lower Ballinderry, now in use as a house. The former school is rectangular on plan and accessed at upper floor level through an attached two-storey extension c.1990 with lean-to roof at east.

Roof is hipped natural slate; single red brick chimneystack on north wall. Gutters are replacement metal, cast-iron downpipes remain intact. Walling is roughcast rendered. Windows are 6/6 timber framed sliding sashes contained within square headed openings with painted projecting masonry sills.

Principal symmetrical elevation faces south and comprises five windows at ground and first floor surmounted by central gablet.

West elevation is blank.

North elevation comprises at ground floor, replacement timber sheeted half door at right, replacement 8/8 timber sliding sash window with horns at left; two windows at first floor.

East elevation is abutted by a two-storey extension with lean-to roof; extension is accessed at upper level at south through timber sheeted door; undercroft at north through timber sheeted door, single narrow timber casement window at north and east.

Setting:

The former school is set on a corner site; accessed from south of Lower Ballinderry Road. The upper floor opens onto a concrete parking area at east; a timber fence and gate at north provide access to a raised terrace from which steps lead down to the undercroft. The south and west elevations are enclosed by original wrought-iron railings mounted on low rendered wall. The south elevation is considerably overgrown by vegetation.

Roof: Hipped natural slate
Walling: Painted roughcast render
Windows: 8/8 timber-framed sliding sash and casement
RWG: Replacement metal gutters; cast-iron downpipes

Historical information

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1833-38) tell us that the Schoolhouse in Lower Ballinderry was built in 1827, costing £273 which was collected by means of subscription. The Marquis of Hertford granted the school grounds and ‘liberally subscribed’ towards the construction of the building. The memoirs describe the schoolhouse as ‘a handsome slated house, one-storey high in the front and two-storey in the rear, and divided into two divisions, one for the males and the other for the females … lit by seven oblong windows … the lower storey consisting of two rooms, and a kitchen is fitted out for the male and female teachers lodging. Attached to the school is also a good garden for the use of the teachers … the house also accommodates a Sunday school in the summer.’ The school was also used as the meeting place for the Ballinderry Temperance Society which was established in 1838 by Mr John Thompson and met monthly in the school room (OSM Antrim VII, Vol. 21).

The Townland Valuation of the mid-1830s recorded the school as a 1a class ‘School House’ measuring 44ft by 20ft and 17ft high. The school house was valued at £5. 13s. In 1832 the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map depicted the building as a single oblong building noted as a ‘School House,’ and by the second edition in 1858 there was little change to the structure. Griffith’s Valuation (1859) valued the building at £5. and noted that it was let by the Church Education Society. There was no change to this valuation until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1928. In 1901 a listing was created in the Annual Revisions for a separate teacher’s residence. This was valued at £9. 10s. and was occupied from 1901 1928 by a Mr. James Leinster. The 1901 Census tells us that Leinster (45) was a National School Teacher who lived in the teacher’s house with his wife, their two children, and his father-in-law. He still resided there in 1911 when the house was recorded as the property of the ‘Board of Works.’

The school house was listed in 1979 and in 1980 the school house was converted from its original purpose into a bakery and shop, and in 1981 the building was restored with the aid of grant money. By 1987 the building lay derelict and was badly vandalised when it was bought by Geida Spence who converted it into a private dwelling (a two-storey extension was added to the east side of the house c.1990). In 1998 renovation work was carried out on the bedrooms and the bathroom. In 2005 the owners applied for a grant to carry out work on the former school, although this does not appear to have been granted (NIEA File).

This schoolhouse in Lower Ballinderry is a significant building in the local history of Ballinderry; originally operating under the National school system and used as a school building from 1827 until 1980.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/62 – Field Map c.1830
2. PRONI VAL/1/B/167 – Townland Valuation
3. PRONI OS/6/1/62/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832
4. PRONI OS/6/1/62/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858
5. PRONI OS/6/1/62/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-1901
6. PRONI OS/6/1/62/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-1921
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/55 – Griffith’s Valuation 1859
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 A – Annual Revisions 1867-1879
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 B – Annual Revisions 1880-1894
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 C – Annual Revisions 1894-1905
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 D – Annual Revisions 1906-1912
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 E – Annual Revisions 1913-1928
13. Ordnance Survey Memoirs – Co. Antrim VII, Vol. 21.

Secondary Sources

1. Higginson, V., ‘Lower Ballinderry primary school 1827-1976 – An historical journey Pamphlet, 2007.
2. NIEA File – HB19/01/036.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

A single-storey roughcast rendered former school with semi-basement, dated 1827, displaying good style and proportions and located on a low level site at the junction of Lower Ballinderry Road and Crumlin Road, Lower Ballinderry. The former school appears to have been converted into a single dwelling, with some internal alterations. The external architectural detailing is largely intact including original timber sliding sashes and wrought iron railings. This prominently sited late Georgian school, with historical connections to the Marquis of Hertford, continued to be used until the late twentieth century and is socially important to the local area.