29 Church Hill

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Semi-detached single-bay two-storey with attic-storey rough-cast rendered house, built c.1680, square on plan facing north with flat-roofed extension to west, located on the south side of Church Hill, attached to No.27 (HB19/17/007A)

Pitched natural slate roof with gauged slates, with catslide roof at same pitch to the rear. Black clay ridge tiles and pair of shared redbrick chimneystack to east. Cast-iron rainwater goods on iron drive through brackets. Rough-cast rendered walling throughout with rubble stone evident at ground level. Square-headed window openings, painted masonry sills and twentieth-century timber sash windows.

Single-bay two-storey front elevation with single-pane timber sash windows.

West gable abutted by single-storey extension, with timber casement windows to attic level, single-pane timber sash window to first floor and 6/6 timber sash window to ground floor. Slated canopy to door opening on single-storey extension.

Single-storey south rear elevation abutting semi-circular stair-tower of adjacent house with diminutive square-headed window opening with casement window and square-headed door opening adjacent to tower with timber plank door. Further door opening to south of extension with flat-panelled timber door and timber casement window.

Boundary wall to road and raking wall at West gable; brick and rubble with rough-cast render.

Roof Natural slate
Walling Rough-cast render
RWG Cast-iron
Windows Timber sash

Historical information

OS Memoirs state that the house ‘was built by some of the Wolfenden family above 100 years ago and remained in their possession up to a late period’. There are features of the house which suggest an earlier date, such as the staircase with paired newel posts and some architraves, and it is possible that the house was built by the Wolfendens c.1680 on their arrival in Lambeg. A downstairs beam has been dated to 1640 and it is possible that parts of the house are as early as this, although the beam may have been reused. A map of 1726 shows the plot as belonging to Richard Wolfenden but unfortunately the document is not clear enough to determine whether or not the house is shown. By the late 1830’s the house is known as ‘Lagan Lodge’. However, the Gentleman’s Magazine of 1829 notes that John Wolfenden of Lagan-hill passed away on September 28th 1829. It is possible that ‘Lagan-hill’ is an earlier name for the present house. .

Marshall writes in his history of Lambeg, “The Wolfenden family is said to have been of Dutch extraction and settled in Lambeg after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. They assisted in establishing the manufacture of linen in this neighbourhood at the close of the 17th or the beginning of the 18th centuries, and owned extensive bleach greens. Early in the 18th century they established a blanket factory on the River Road and carried on business there for a number of years. They also built the Lambeg Tuck Mill for thickening woollen blankets and this mill was owned by Thomas Wolfenden in 1787. The goods made were so superior in style and finish that considerable quantities of them were disposed of in the English market, and in Dublin the fame of the blankets was such that they found ready sale at prices far above the ordinary value of such goods. At one time about one hundred persons were employed, but the death of the proprietor, and the removal of the junior members of the family to Dublin, caused the works to be closed about the year 1825...It has been said that the church was re-built in 1737 by the Wolfenden family, but this statement lacks confirmation.” (Marshall, p.39-40)

The house is listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) as the residence of Robert Wilson, a house and offices valued at £10.15s. Dimensions are given for the house, return and two outbuildings. OS Memoirs comments on the house thus, “Lagan Lodge, the seat of Robert Willson Esquire, is situated on the old or lower road leading from Lisburn to Belfast and contiguous to the village of Lambeg. It is an oblong building, 2-storeys high and slated, with good office houses attached. The garden is tolerably large and enclosed by a good quickset fence. The demesne, containing about 14 English acres, is laid off in well enclosed fields, bounded on the east by the Lagan river and on the west by the above road. The house is spacious and situated on an eminence commanding a fine prospect of a wide extent of the surrounding neighbourhood”. (OS Memoirs, Vol 8, p.137)

By the time of Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64), the house forms part of the property of Jonathan Richardson MP, who lived at nearby Lambeg House and was a cousin of his neighbour Jonathan Richardson of Glenmore (HB19/17/08). They were both involved in the linen bleaching business and it seems possible that the present house, which was now divided into four separate lots, provided housing for managers and/or workers at the bleaching works. The houses are initially described as ‘tenements’ and then a ‘cottier’s house’, dimensions being given and a small plan drawing shown in the margin. The main house, valued at £10 is occupied by Thomas Stewart and others and further houses at £2, £1.5s and £1 are occupied by James McClean, Nathaniel White and Mary Anne Bruce respectively. Brett recounts an oral tradition that the house, “originally formed part of a row of cottages attached to the mill, known as ‘Primrose Cottage’; that the extra storey, attics, and staircase tower were added for the benefit of an in-coming mill manager.” (Brett, p.149)

There are various changes in occupier of the four dwellings in the ensuing years. A fieldbook is missing, but by 1923 the house has been divided into seven separate dwellings, mostly valued between £1 and £2, the main part of the house being divided into three separate dwellings valued at £4, £3 and £1. All the houses are leased from the Lambeg Bleaching, Dyeing and Finishing Company Ltd. The easternmost part of the building, at this stage housing two dwellings, has now gone. The part of the house that is now 29 Church Hill was at this stage two dwellings occupied by W J Crawford and Joseph McCabe and what is now Lagan Lodge was divided into three dwellings occupied by Robert Costley, Arthur Lyness and Mary Robinson.

The house is mentioned in 1933 in Marshall’s ‘History of Lambeg’ and appears by this time to have been restored to a single dwelling. He describes it as ‘occupied up to recently by Mrs Robinson and her daughter’. It may be that the story recounted by Brett, that the house was vertically divided when one of the two sisters who owned it married a gentleman uncongenial to the other, also belongs to this period. (Marshall, p.116, Brett, p.149)

According to Brett, it was bought by a Mrs Black in 1965 and by the owners of No 29 in 1979. They carried out extensive restoration and the house is presently divided into two dwellings.

Primary Sources

1. PRONI D427/3B Map of Lambeg, 1726
2. PRONI OS/6/1/64/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832-3
3. PRONI OS/6/1/64/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
4. PRONI OS/6/1/64/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901
5. PRONI OS/6/1/64/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-1
6. PRONI OS/6/1/64/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1920-31
7. PRONI OS/6/1/64/6 – Sixth Edition OS Map 1920-39
8. PRONI VAL/1/B/172 – Townland Valuation (1828-40)
9. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/59 – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/7A-D – Annual Revisions (1867-1929)
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/9/A-T – Annual Revisions (1863-1924)
12. PRONI VAL/12/E/38/1– Annual Revisions Town Plan (1907-c1935)
13. Gentleman’s Magazine 1829, p.379

Secondary Sources

1. Brett, C.E.B. “Buildings of County Antrim” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society and Ulster Historical Foundation, 1996
2. Marshall, Rev H C “The Parish of Lambeg” Lisburn, 1933

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity
V. Authorship

Evaluation

Single-bay semi-detached late seventeenth-century house on the south side of Church Hill, Lambeg. Attached to no. 27 Church Hill (HB19/17/007A) the buildings were formerly a four-bay house which may once have been part of a larger terrace.The house retains its style and proportions and simple detailing, with original roofing, walling materials and twentieth-century windows and internally some original timber joinery survives, including a timber winder stair. Reputed to be one time the residence of the Linen Merchants, the Wolfenden Family and with later historical connections to the Richardsons of Glenmore, it is a rare example of an intact 17th century house and contributes significantly to the architectural and historic heritage of the Lisburn Area.

General comments

Lambeg Area of Village Character