Gate Screen and Lodges

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Symmetrical gate screen and pair of single-storey pinnacled former school-houses, built c.1773, at the entrance to St. Malachy's Church (HB19/05/001A) on Main Street Hillsborough. Largely replaced c.1991.

Two pairs of tall decorative iron gates with iron pediments and decorative iron side panels, attached to tall square-plan sandstone ashlar piers with engaged columns to the corners surmounted in a capital moulding and ball finials. A small pair of hexangonal sandstone gate stops with domed tops are located at each gateway. Spanning the space in between both gateways is a spear-headed iron railing with regular decorative iron panels and set on a sandstone ashlar wall with stone coping, repeated to either end.

Gable-fronted single-storey former school-houses to either side of gate screen, that to the north is the Sexton's house, that to the south is The Parish Room. Pitched natural slate roofs, black clay ridge tiles set behind front gables having sandstone piers to either end and to the apex with stone pinnacles. Repeated to the rear gable of the Parish Room only. Cast-iron guttering to moulded masonry eaves. Rubblestone walling with rough hewn squared quoins. Lancet window openings to the front gables with square-headed window openings to the side elevations and stone sills. 2/2 timber sash windows to the side elevations with Gothic panes to the upper sash and hood mouldings.

Sexton's House:
Five windows deep, extended by a further three windows to include the Maginess Room. Maginess Room has a tall rendered chimneystack rising from its south wall with a stone pinnacle flu. Square-headed window openings to this section with tripartite iron lattice windows. Equilateral-headed door opening to the front gable with stone surround and vertically-sheeted timber door and over-panel, having sandstone panel above stating 'Sexton'. Door opens onto cobbles extending across the gate screen to the Parish Room. Lean-to extension to the north side elevation with stone walling and timber casement windows. Side area enclosed by spear-headed wrought-iron railing. Rubble stone walling to North boundary.

Parish Room:
Four windows deep with a square-headed door opening to the easternmost bay having a vertically-sheeted timber door and overlight. Door as per Sexton's House with sandstone panel above stating 'The Parish Room'. Site landscaped and enclosed by rubble walling to South.

Historical information

In 1773 when St. Malachi’s church was reconstructed, a gate screen and two lodges were added at the entrance to the church walk from Main Street. A plan of Hillsborough dated 1803 and the later Townland Valuation town plan shows the screen and two gate lodges in their present position at the end of the church walk. These single storey, three pinnacled, Georgian Gothick buildings are positioned on either side of the gate screen; however, they were not actually intended for use as Gate Lodges but were founded as schoolhouses (Dean, p. 92). Like the Church Building, we do not know the architect of the Church Screen and Lodges although numerous candidates have been proposed. The lodges are linked by contemporary 18th century railings and gates between four square piers (Brett: Buildings of Co. Down, p. 41)

Valuation records show that the southern lodge was used as a boy’s School, whilst the northern was used as a school for girls. In 1834 the schoolhouses were valued at £4.4s. each. By the period of Griffith’s Valuation the ‘Boy’s School House’ was valued at £5, not a notable change, however, the girl’s school, noted as ‘Girl’s School House, Infant’s School House and Playground,’ had its value raised considerably to £10, presumably due to the addition of the playground and infant’s school room. These were the main schoolhouses in Hillsborough until the Downshire School was established in 1887 on Ballynahinch Street. At this time the old boy’s school was renamed ‘The Parish Room’ after which it and the other school were used by the church (Barry, p. 74).

Half way up the walk between the Gate Screen and the Church stood the old Sexton’s House which was valued at £2.0.0. by Griffith. Barry states that around 1910 the Marquis of Downshire gave by lease ‘the portion of ground with the buildings thereon situated on the north side of the Church Avenue’ to the Representative Church Body free of rent forever. The condition for the grant of the land, which included the Gate Screen and the Gate Lodges, was that the old Sexton’s house should be demolished. The northern lodge building was reconstructed as a residence for the Sexton, where he has lived since.

In 1922 a War memorial, in the style of a large Celtic cross, was erected in front of the Church Screen. In 1974 Brett stated that the central pinnacle of the parish room had been lost but since then it has visibly been repaired, probably shortly after the time of writing as he noted that ‘a restoration scheme for the screen and pavilions is to be undertaken as soon as the finances of the church permit’ (Brett: Historic Buildings, p. 11). In a later work Brett states that some restoration work was carried out in 1991 and NIEA records at Hill Street confirm that the stonework was restored in this year (Brett, Buildings of Co. Down, p. 41). NIEA records also tell us that in 1978 a chimney pinnacle was repaired on one of the Gate Lodges. In recent years the Parish Room has been refurbished and was opened as a Youth Centre in October 2007.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI VAL/1/B/344 A-B – Townland Valuations 1834
2. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/14 – Field Map 1834
3. PRONI D671/M/8/25 – Hillsborough Map c.1800
4. PRONI D671/M/8/57/1 – Hillsborough Illustrated Map 1803
5. PRONI OS/6/3/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1834
6. PRONI OS/6/3/14/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858
7. PRONI OS/6/3/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-1903
8. PRONI OS/6/3/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-1920
9. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/45A-C – Griffith’s Valuation 1856-64
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14A – Annual Revisions 1864-1879
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14B – Annual Revisions 1880-1889
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14C – Annual Revisions 1890-1908
13. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14D – Annual Revisions 1909-1928
14. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14E – Annual Revisions 1928-1930

Secondary Sources

1. Barry, J., ‘Hillsborough: A parish in the Ulster plantation’ (3rd ed.), Belfast, Universities Press., 1982.
2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in the towns and villages of Mid Down: Hillsborough, Dromore, Dromara, Ballynahinch, the Spa, Drumaness and Saintfield’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1974.
3. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of North County Down’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2002.
4. Dean, J. A. K., ‘The gate lodges of Ulster: A gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994.
5. Kelly, D., ‘Lisburn’s rich church heritage: Churches and places of worship in the Lisburn city area’ Lisburn: Impression Print and Design, 2009.
6. Hobart, B. R., ‘The village of Hillsborough Co. Down: A short architectural and historical description’ (Unpublished illustrated book c. 1950s).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Symmetrical gate screen and pair of single-storey pinnacled former school-houses, built c.1773, at the entrance to St. Malachy's Church (HB19/05/001) on Main Street Hillsborough. The structures are contemporary to the style of St Malachy's, display fine proportions and provide an attractive frame for the avenues to the exceptional Church. Restored 199, the gate screen retains its ornate stone mouldings and cast metal work. It is an important architectural marker at the gateway of the St. Malachy's site and is an integral part of this important group of ecclesiastical buildings.

General comments

Please note this record has been renumbered, previously HB19/05/002