Lych gate

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Square-plan walled graveyard originally dating from c.1660, to the north of St. Malachy’s Parish Church (HB19/05/001B), at a lower level, with lych gate to the south, dated 1925.

Rubblestone walls to all four sides, possibly erected during construction of current church in 18th century, with concrete coping in parts only and broken to the south by lych gate entrance.

Hipped terracotta tiled roof to lych gate with ball finials and ridge comb supported on four square timber posts supporting pair of timber gates. Pegged timber construction includes three arch braces to the horizontal members with double Tudor inscribed arches spanning the opening. Stating (to the south horizontal member): ‘Erected by his friends and neighbours to the memory of’ (to the south arch): ‘Dr. Henry J. Boyd, J.P., 1857 40 years medical officer Hillsborough Dispensary 1925’ (to the north horizontal member): ‘Also to the memory of his wife’ (to the north arch): ‘Annie Boyd. “In Death They Were Not Divided.” ‘ Boarded soffit and plain timbers.

Graveyard positioned in a depression in the terrain, laid out in lawn with bitmac footpaths with yew trees. Various upstanding stone marble and iron grave markers dating from the mid eighteenth-century to the present day including wall-mounted tombs, loose grave markers and a single pedimented granite ashlar mausoleum having Tudor-arched entrance with iron panelled door and vaulted interior.

Setting:
Located to the north of St. Malachy’s Parish Church, facing its north nave, accessed via the lych gate and the double avenue to the church, opening onto Main Street, Hillsborough.

Roof Terracotta tiles on timber structure

Historical information

The graveyard of St. Malachi’s Church is likely contemporary with the church building on the site built in 1662 by Arthur Hill. The earliest death recorded in the graveyard is from 1686 and there are a number of gravestone inscriptions that predate the completion of the second church in 1773 (Gravestone Inscriptions, pp 53-94). In 1772 the graveyard was enclosed and the bodies that were buried outside the new walls were moved inside the yard so that the ground around the church could be levelled (Graveyard Inscriptions, p. 53).

An 1803 plan of Hillsborough shows an illustration of gravestones within a ‘Burying Ground’ in the current plot beside the church. The graveyard is not named on the Ordnance Survey maps until the second edition in 1858. The Townland Valuations of 1834 value the graveyard at £1 0s 11d, and note that the 1 Acre 2 Rood and 14 Perches plot was exempt from payment. By the period of Griffith’s Valuation the Church and Graveyard are recorded together, the entire church land, consisting of 3 Acres 3 Roods and 30 Perches, was valued at £10. There is no change in value noted within the Annual Revisions between 1864 and 1930, although Barry states that in 1872 the Marquis of Downshire carried out improvements on the graveyard and by 1962 the area of the churchyard had slightly increased to 1 Acre 2 Roods and 25 Perches (Barry, p. 121).

Throughout its history the Churchyard has been prone to extensive flooding due to its proximity to the lake in the nearby Large Park. Barry records a typical occurrence that on the 5th December 1929 ‘very serious damage [was] done to churchyard during the night by an inrush of water from the Park Lake. [A] wall on [the] east side [was] levelled for length of eight yards. Headstones smashed and wreaths carried away (Barry, p. 72).

The graveyard is the final resting place of many of Hillsborough’s major figures. Among the interred are included prominent clergymen Richard Mant, Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore (d.1847), Robert Mant, Archdeacon of Down and Rector of Hillsborough (d. 1834), Frederick William Hogan, vicar of All Saint’s Church Eglantine. Also buried here are members of the Hill family, the famous composer Hamilton Harty and four members of the Boyd family, all respected Doctors who operated Hillsborough Dispensary (d. 1884-1974).

A Lych gate at the entrance to the Graveyard commemorates local doctor Henry J Boyd who operated a local dispensary. It was erected by public subscription after his death.

In 1962 Barry stated that the Graveyard at St Malachi’s contained approximately 2,000 graves within 815 plots (Barry, p. 121).

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., ‘Buildings of North County Down’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2002.
3. ‘Clergy of Down and Dromore’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1996.
4. ‘Gravestone Inscriptions: Vol. 18 Co. Down’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1979.
5. Hobart, B. R., ‘The village of Hillsborough Co. Down: A short architectural and historical description’ (Unpublished illustrated book c. 1950s).
6. Kelly, D., ‘Lisburn’s rich church heritage: Churches and places of worship in the Lisburn city area’ Lisburn: Impression Print and Design, 2009.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Timber lych gate erected to the memory of a local doctor Henry J Boyd who served for 40 years as the Medical officer at Hillsborough Dispensary and died in 1915. This memorial has group value with the adjacent St Malachy's parish church (HB19.05.0001A), Sexton's House (HB19.05.001B), and Gateway to Pleasure Garden (HB19.05.001C). The Lych gate give access into the square-plan walled graveyard dating from c.1662.

General comments

Previously the whole of the graveyard was included in the listing along with the Lych Gate. As a result of the evaluation following the second Survey it was decided to restrict the listing to the Lych Gate. Part of the graveyard walling is included in the Extent of Listing of St Malachi's church and the remainder is included within the curtilage of the same church.

Please note this record has been renumbered, previously HB19/05/004