Wellington Lodge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached three-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1790, with single-bay two-storey stair return connecting multi-bay two-storey rear wing, possibly of an earlier date, extensively renovated c.1988. Rectangular on plan facing south with an L-plan single-storey outbuilding attached to the west gable of the rear wing. Set within extensive landscaped grounds on the north side of Hillsborough Road accessed via long curved gravel avenue to the southwest and walled yard to northwest.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack to either gable end with octagonal clay pots. Decorative moulded cast-iron guttering with lions head motifs supported on iron brackets to front elevation and to west elevation of single-storey outbuilding to northwest, plastic rainwater goods to remainder. Painted rendered walling with rusticated render quoins and moulded plinth course to sill level. Square-headed window openings, painted masonry sills and timber sash windows.

Symmetrical three-bay two-storey front elevation with Wyatt-style tripartite timber sash windows to the outer bays and 6/6 timber sash window to the central bay. The tripartite windows to the first floor are of much smaller dimensions than those to the ground floor, dating from the early to mid twentieth-century with horns, having had all glazing bars re-instated c.1988. Central three-centred arched door opening with replacement doorcase comprising: timber panelled door flanked by sidelights with panels below, lintel cornice above and spoked timber fanlight. Door opens onto semi-circular concrete step to front gravel area.

West gable has a single 6/6 timber sash window to the ground floor and a further smaller 6/6 timber sash window to the first floor.

The rear elevation of the principal house is abutted by a central gable-ended single-bay two-storey stair return and also abutted by a flat-roofed accretion to either side, all connecting the main house to the earlier rear wing. The rear wing also has a natural slate roof, hipped to the east and three rendered chimneystacks with replacement clay pots. The north elevation has battered pebble-dash rendered walling and randomly placed square-headed window openings with uPVC windows and painted stone and concrete sills. UPVC glazed door opens onto the rear bitmac paved yard. To the east end is a further flat-roofed accretion with uPVC glazed door connected to a flat-roofed garage structure enclosing the rear yard to the east.

The east elevation to the main house has a single window opening to the first floor with a replacement 6/6 timber sash window. The east elevation to the rear wing is blank.

Setting:
Located on the north side of Hillsborough Road, the site is extensively landscaped with many mature trees, a stone privy to the northwest yard and six cast-iron lamp standards (originating from the St. Paul’s area of London). The long gravel drive opens onto the road to the southwest of the house via a pair of replacement iron gates and railings with replacement octagonal rendered piers, all c.1990.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Decorative cast-iron / plastic
Walling Painted render
Windows Timber sash/uPVC to rear

Historical information

The first edition Ordnance Survey map in 1834 names ‘Wellington Lodge’ and shows it in a large plot of land surrounded by a number of small outbuildings. By the second edition these small outbuildings have been replaced by one large, and two smaller buildings. By 1902-03 the third edition maps show that Wellington Lodge has been renamed ‘All Saints Vicarage’ in recognition of its new role as the residence of the Clergy of All Saint’s Church Eglantine which was consecrated in 1875.

Griffith values the building at £24. 10s. under the occupancy of the Rev. Edward Kent. The valuer wrote in 1861 that ‘Mr. Kent purchased this place about two years ago, and paid £400 for the outgoing tenant’s interest. He has also expent about £300 on the improvement of the house.’ Due to its new use as a Vicarage, the occupants of Wellington Lodge changed with great frequency over the years, whilst work was repeatedly undertaken to improve the building. In 1879 the Annual Revisions record Wellington Lodge as ‘All Saint’s Glebe’ and the valuer states that the new occupant, the Revd. Stephen Campbell ‘complains of the value of the house. A large portion of the rere [sic] is at present being rebuilt and roofed.’ In 1880 the value of the house increased to £27. 5s. Brett suggests that the Revd. Frederick William Hogan spent nearly £500 on the house in 1880 resulting in this change in value; however, Hogan did not succeed Revd. Campbell until 1882 and it therefore seems logical to presume that this work was undertaken by the former occupant. What is clear is that the value of the building did not change from 1880 onwards, despite future additions to the building.

Local tradition would have us believe that Wellington Lodge was originally a ‘mid-17th century coaching inn’ which took on its current appearance around 1790, although Brett states that the current building does not show any evidence of 17th century features (Brett, p. 135).

The Revd. Frederick William Hogan was the vicar of All Saints Church until 1915. The 1901 Census return for Wellington lodge shows Frederick Hogan, his family and servants resident in the house which is described as a first class residence consisting of 12 rooms, the landholder being the Marquis of Downshire. The outbuildings at that time, visible on the 3rd edition of the Ordnance Survey maps, consisted of a stable, a cow house, a piggery, a fowl house, a barn and a potato house. Brett and the Annual Revisions record that in 1913 the house was bought by the Church under the Land Purchase Act of 1903, however, much earlier, the 1911 census records Hogan as the new Landholder. The 1911 return states that the number of rooms within the house used by the family increased to 15 in the intervening years and that the only change to the outbuildings return was the addition of a Laundry.

In 1967 Wellington Lodge was sold by the Church after a more suitable rectory was built at All Saints Church. The house passed into private hands and continues to be occupied (Brett, p. 135).

The house was acquired by the current owners in poor condition in the late 1980s.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/14 – Field Map c.1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1834
3. PRONI OS/6/3/14/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858
4. PRONI OS/6/3/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-1903
5. PRONI OS/6/3/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-1920
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/45A-C – Griffith’s Valuation 1856-64
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/16 A – Annual Revisions 1863-1879
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/16 B – Annual Revisions 1880-1888
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/16 C – Annual Revisions 1889-1905
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/16 D – Annual Revisions 1906-1914
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/16 E – Annual Revisions 1915-1929

Secondary Sources

1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of North County Down’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2002.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Symmetrical three-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1790, located on the north side of Hillsborough Road. The rear wing to this house is reputed to date from the seventeenth-century when an earlier road lay to the north of the site. While the rear wing exhibits little trace of early origins, the principal house to the front has retained much of its original appearance and character. Occupied by the Church of Ireland until the 1960s, the house suffered much damage after this date with water damage leading to the need for an extensive refurbishment by the current owners c.1988. The floor layout has largely been retained but there has been a loss of historic fabric. Set within an attractive landscaped site with mature trees and rubble stone walling the building makes a positive contribution the the heritage of the area.