Oatland Cottage

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey three-bay house comprising a Georgian single-storey cottage erected c.1800 with an Edwardian first floor added c.1905 to designs by William Fennel. Rectangular plan form with two long 1 ½ -storey returns to the rear, flanking a central gabled abutment. Located centrally in Upper Ballinderry on the north side of Lower Ballinderry Road, adjacent to listed structure HB19/01/042.

Pitched natural slate roof with crested terracotta ridge tiles; exposed decorative rafter-ends; timber barge-boards with simple mouldings; ogee moulded cast-iron guttering with box section down-pipes and semi-octagonal hopper-heads. Replacement red-brick chimneys. Galletted coursed basalt walling to the ground floor with dry-dash with timber-frame style gables to first floor; moulded string course between floors (possibly former eaves detail); long-and-short quoins and plinth course. 6/6 timber sliding sash windows, no horns, with rough red-brick surrounds (painted to look more regular shaped) and large rectangular masonry cills, to the ground floor; bi-partite segmental arched steel framed casement windows with single-brick segmental arched head; masonry cills with associated timber louvered shutters to the first floor. Timber four-panelled front door flanked by side lights with decorative side-lights; preceded by four Ionic columns rising to cornice level surmounted by an elliptical arched bat-wing fan light. The front door is enclosed by an elaborate 20th century brick and timber framed glazed porch, with decorative coloured and etched glazing to the gable ends.

The principal elevation faces south and is symmetrically arranged. The front porch is centrally located at ground floor with two windows to either side. The first floor six windows, two at either side directly over the ground floor openings, with a pair closely position in the central bay which rises to a gable above.

The left gable is symmetrically arranged with a central ground floor window and a tri-partite window comprising a 2/1 flanked by 4/1 timber sliding sash; all of which replaced an earlier oriel bay c.1960.

The rear elevation is abutted with two long 1 ½ storey gable ended returns, flanking a central gabled abutment. The central single-bay return comprises a door set into a round-headed arched opening with a fan light over; flanked by two elongated rectangular windows to either side at ground floor with a pair of camber-headed 1/1 timber sliding sash windows with leaded and stained glass. The right hand return is three-bays deep and principally matches the front façade details. The west face comprises three ground floor windows and three first floor dormers embracing 1/1 camber-headed timber sliding sash windows. The north face has a single centrally position matching 1/1 timber sash window to first floor; the ground floor is further abutted by a single-storey lean-to outbuilding. The east face is rendered with two enlarged tri-partite timber casement windows to ground floor with a pair of dormers embracing 2/2 camber-headed timber sliding sash windows with horizontal glazing bars. The left hand return is three bays deep and principally matches the front façade details. The east face comprises three ground floor windows; the first floor was raised in 1998 and comprises three uPVC double-glazed windows. The rendered gable end is asymmetrically arranged with a large tri-partite ground floor window and a diminished first floor window right of centre. The rendered west face comprises a rear door located right of centre with a bi-partite timber casement window to the right and a matching tri-partite window to the left. Two 2/2 timber sliding sash windows with horizontal glazing bars to the first floor.

The right gable matches the left.

Setting:

The house is well secluded from public view, largely screened by tall mature trees bounding the site to the front. The site is accessed via wrought-iron gates and robust chamfered piers with plinth and cornice surmounted by a reeded cap; adjoining curved low rise matching parapet wall. Gardens to the south, east and west comprising lawns and mature trees. To the north is a court-yard enclosed with an asymmetyrical two-storey galletted-rubble outbuilding with red-brick surrounds; hipped natural slate roof with clay hip and ridge tiles; timber fixed/casement windows with astragals; steel framed roof lights; timber sheeted doors including elliptical-arched coach entrance; roof raised by two brick-courses c.2000. Single-storey mono-pitch stable block; clay-tile roof; matching stonework; both possibly dating from the same period as the original cottage, also re-roofed c.2000. Beyond the immediate surroundings is a wooded area with a small pond. To the north east is a basalt walled garden. Lamp standards on front lawn.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: Basalt/dry dashed
Windows: Timber sliding sash/steel framed casement
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

Oatland Cottage was built c. 1800 in the Townland of Ballyscolly in Upper Ballinderry. The house was recorded on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1832, when it was depicted as an oblong building which possessed two north facing returns, and a rectangular out office to the north of the house. Further, a large number of out offices and store buildings situated within the Oatland estate are evident on the Ordnance Survey maps, however these were not directly associated with the house (situated by the crossroads in Upper Ballinderry) and were later let out by the owners of Oatland Cottage.

In c. 1830 the Townland Valuation recorded that the cottage was occupied by a Mr. Thomas Walkington, a Gentleman whose family resided at Oatland Cottage until the 1950s. The valuation described the house as a 1b+ class dwelling which measured 63ft by 25ft and was 15ft in height; at that time the cottage alone was valued at £10 18s. 2d. and £20 6s. when it’s extensive out offices were taken into account.

By 1857 an extension had been added to the north side of the house linking Oatland Cottage to the previously mentioned north out office; this extension was used as a stable range for the house whilst the now attached northern outbuilding was used as a coach house or farm building both of which still survive. The construction of this extension increased the value of the property to £40 in Griffiths Valuation of 1859. Griffith recorded that Thomas Walkington owned and let a large number of houses in the area, the value of which ranged between 15 shillings and £5-8 for some larger properties.

Walkington was an important figure in the local area; already the lessor of many properties in Upper Ballinderry, Walkington was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Ballinderry and contributed to local projects, for example he provided Ballinderry Parish Church with a new organ in 1861, purchased solely at his expense. This charitable gesture was appreciated by the local community who sent a deputation of clergy and other important residents of the area to Oatland Cottage to express their thanks and respect (Belfast Newsletter, 29 Jan 1861; 1 Feb 1861).

Thomas Walkington’s will stated that he died on 5 June 1874, leaving Oatland Cottage and effects of around £3,000 to his relative Samuel Walkington (PRONI Wills Catalogue – 05/06/1874). Samuel Walkington bought the cottage outright in 1893 and lived there, with his wife Octavia, until c. 1903 when a Mr. Henry and Ms. Maria Walkington came into possession of the property and were noted in the Annual Revisions as joint occupants. In 1889 the house was reduced in value to £38 with the removal of its gate lodge to a separate valuation record (HB 19/01/076B). In 1903, under Octavia Walkington (now widowed), the second storey of the house and an additional store was added to Oatland Cottage, greatly increasing the value of the property to £64 by 1908 when it is first recorded in the Annual Revisions of that year; Henry and Maria Walkington came into possession of the house shortly after the construction of the second storey.

In 1910 the Ulster Towns Directory mistakenly recorded the occupant of Oatland Cottage as Thomas Walkington Esq. J.P; it is likely that this was in error (and referred to the first recorded occupant of c. 1830) as Henry Walkington occupied the house until at least 1912. The 1901 Census for Ballyscolly did not include Oatland Cottage; however the 1911 Census tells us that Henry Walkington (33) resided at the cottage with his wife Mary Jane (35) and their two daughters. The census building return recorded Maria Walkington as the landholder (despite the fact that she did not reside there in 1911) and described Oatland Cottage as a 1st class dwelling consisting of 13 rooms. Henry Walkington was a farmer by trade and possessed a large number of 22 out offices in 1911. Unfortunately the valuation book covering the period 1913-1929 could not be consulted due to the closure of the Public Records Office, however Brett tells us that the house was occupied by the Walkington family until the 1950s (Brett, p. 198).

Brett tells us that the first occupant, Thomas Walkington, owned a number of corn mills, his descendants who later occupied the house invested in railway and banking enterprises through which they became rich. Brett believed that the cottage was built at some time between 1810 and 1820 and was originally a single-storey dwelling which possessed a ‘curiously exotic porch … added at some date in the mid-19th century.’ He mistakenly recorded the c. 1830 value of the house at £14 7s. 5d. and the 1861 value at £32, although he admitted that the valuation books were ‘exceptionally hard to interpret, especially as the family owned more than one property.’

Brett tells us that the Edwardian second-storey of the house was added in 1903 when Mrs Octavia Walkington, decided to enlarge and modernise the original Georgian cottage. The additional floor employed a Norman style, the windows of which possessed casements and shutters in stark contrast to the Georgian ground floor. This unusual design resulted in a rumour that a French Architect had been employed in the design of the extension, however Octavia Walkington had employed the Belfast based architect William Fennell, who had designed the Mater Infirmorum Hospital in Belfast and had also restored Ballinderry Middle Church in 1902 (HB 19/01/040), to design the additions (Dictionary of Irish Architects). Brett tells us that the last of the Walkington family sold the house in 1950 (Brett, p. 198).

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 OS Map 1832
4. PRONI OS/6/1/63/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1857
5. PRONI OS/6/1/63/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-1901
6. PRONI OS/6/1/63/4 – Fourth Edition OS 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 Wills Catalogue (1874)
13. Census of Ireland 1901 / 1911
14. Ulster Town’s Directory (1910)
15. Belfast Newsletter (1861, 1861)

Secondary Sources

1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of County Antrim’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1996.
2. Kelly, D., ‘Lisburn’s rich church heritage: Churches and places of worship in the Lisburn city area’ Lisburn: Impression Print and Design, 2009.

Online Resources

1. Glenavy History: http://www.glenavyhistory.com/ (Genealogy website).
2. Dictionary of Irish Architects: http://www.dia.ie/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two-storey three-bay house comprising a Georgian single-storey villa erected c.1800 and possibly remodelled in the mid 19th century with an Edwardian first floor added c.1905 to designs by William Fennel. The exterior has been unaltered since the Edwardian addition, retaining the characteristics and style of both distinct periods, with the interiors finished to a very high quality, and also remaining largely unaltered. The juxtaposing styles produce an interesting visual contrast between the two periods of construction and represent an unusual approach to alteration to suit changing needs and fashions. The adjacent woodland and outbuildings to the rear add to the character and setting of the house and there is also group value with the gate lodge(19/01/076B), constructed during the mid 19th century.

General comments

Additional Listing Criteria: R - Age; S - Authenticity;