FORT MARIAN

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached symmetrical three-bay two-storey rubblestone and redbrick house, built c.1850, with two-storey gable-ended return built c.1990. Rectangular on plan facing east set at the end of a long lane to the west of Glenavy Road (A26) and to the north of Station Road.

Pitched natural slate roof with lead ridge and four profiled rendered chimneystacks having octagonal clay pots. Cast-iron rainwater goods on iron brackets. Random rubblestone walling with squared stone quoins redbrick linings to all openings. Square-headed window openings with replacement 6/6 timber sash windows and sandstone sills.

Symmetrical three-bay two-storey east front elevation with central elliptical-headed door opening having redbrick surround and replacement tripartite timber doorcase. Four-panelled timber door and pair of fixed-pane arched sidelights flanked by flat-panelled pilasters with scrolled console brackets to lintel cornice and an original spoked timber fanlight above.

South gable has a single window opening to the ground floor and two window openings to the first floor with exposed rubblestone and redbrick walling surmounted by a rendered profiled chimneystack.

Rear elevation abutted by off-centre gable-ended two-storey return, built c.1990. Rubblestone walling with redbrick linings to randomly-placed window openings and some timber lintels remaining from previous fenestration. Replacement bipartite timber sash window to the ground floor with timber lintel and concrete sill.

North gable has two window openings to the first floor level with exposed rubblestone and redbrick walling surmounted by rendered profiled chimneystack.

Setting:
Positioned in a valley to the west of Glenavy Road accessed via a long lane off Legatarrif Road, formerly accessed off Station Road. The bitmac avenue approaches the house from the east running along a small front garden with a concrete paved footpath and cast-iron pedestrian gate on pair of yellowbrick piers. Lofted rubblestone outbuilding set parallel to the rear of the house having a pitched natural slate roof, external stone steps and a single-storey projection to the south end forming a small rear yard. Largely sheeted timber doors with a further redbrick projection to the north end and cement rendered walling to the north and west elevations. Further modern corrugated iron agricultural structures to the west.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Rubblestone / redbrick
Windows Replacement 6/6 timber sash

Historical information

A dwelling on the site of the current two-storey ‘Fort Marian’ first appears on the Ordnance Survey map for Ballyscolly townland area in 1832 where it is situated north of Lower Ballinderry and depicted as an oblong building possessing a large office range abutting its north gable; the map also depicts two smaller outbuildings to the north-west, and one to the north side of the house. The Townland Valuation of the 1830s records that this farmstead was occupied by a Mr. Thomas Thompson. The house was described as a 2b+ class dwelling measuring 48 by 20ft and was single-storey at 12ft in height. The house at that time was valued at £4 18s. 6d. and possessed out offices including a store, turf house, a stable, a kiln and a number of offices. The entire farmstead was valued at £8.

In 1859 Griffith’s Valuation records that the property had passed into the possession of a Mr William Wright who let the property from the Marquis of Hertford. Field inspection would suggest that the current two-storey house was constructed in the mid-19th century; this is likely as by 1859 the value of the site had slightly increased to £9 and the second edition Ordnance Survey maps (1857) showed a significantly altered site in which the office range abutting the north gable had been taken down and the two north-western outbuildings had also been demolished. By the second edition of the map the large farmbuilding currently standing at the rear of the house had been constructed.

By 1863 a new occupant, a Mr. John Green, had taken over residency at the house, the value of which was increased to £16. However, in 1880 and again in 1884 the value of the house was decreased to a low of £10 15s. as Mr Green ‘complained [that the] value of the mansion was too high.’ In March 1889 the Lisburn Herald reported that John Green of Ballyscolly had been elected to the Lisburn Board of Guardians (Lisburn Herald). John Green died on 20th October 1892 and left effects of £1,181 to William Robert Green (presumably his son), who became the new occupant of the house (PRONI Will – 03/02/1893). William R. Green bought the house outright from the Marquis of Hertford by 1906 and continued to reside at the farm until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929.

By the third edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1900-01) additional out offices had been constructed to the west of the house which was then recorded as ‘Hareview’ for the first time. The 1911 Census tells us that William Robert Green (53), a farmer and Anglican, lived at Hareview with his wife Annie, and employed two servants to assist with farm work. The 1911 Census Building Return described Hareview as a 2nd class dwelling which consisted of six inhabited rooms and possessed six out offices including a stable, a cow house, a piggery, a barn, a potato house and a shed. In 1924 the Lisburn Standard tells us that Annie W. Green had been widowed and resided at Hareview alone (Lisburn Standard). The 1966 Ordnance Survey map shows little change to the site since the fourth edition (1920-21); the map also shows that the house had been renamed ‘Fort Marian.’ Fort Marian was listed category B1 in 1983; in recent years a number of the westernmost outbuildings have been taken down and in c. 1990 a two-storey return was added to the rear of the house

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/63 – Field Map c.1830
2. PRONI VAL/1/B/167 – Townland Valuation c. 1830
3. PRONI OS/6/1/63/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1832
4. PRONI OS/6/1/63/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1857
5. PRONI OS/6/1/63/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1900-1901
6. PRONI OS/6/1/63/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1920-1921
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/58 – Griffith’s Valuation 1859
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/1 A – Annual Revisions 1863-1879
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/1 B – Annual Revisions 1880-1888
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/1 C – Annual Revisions 1888-1901
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/1 D – Annual Revisions 1902-1912
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/1 E – Annual Revisions 1913-1929
13. Census of Ireland 1901 / 1911
14. Lisburn Herald, 9 Mar 1889.
15. Lisburn Standard, 6 Jun, 1924.
16. PRONI Will Catalogue (1893)
17. Ordnance Survey map 164-14 (1966)

Secondary Sources

1. NIEA file – HB19/01/052.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Detached symmetrical three-bay two-storey rubblestone and redbrick house, built c.1850, with two-storey gable-ended return built c.1990. An intact example of a prosperous nineteenth century farm holding which retains a wealth of original fabric and good quality detailing, both externally and internally. It is significantly enhanced by an unspoiled rural setting, together with the outbuildings to the west and the gate screen that mark the entrance to the east.