Laurel Hill, 66 Drumbeg Road, Ballygowan, Dunmurry, Belfast, Co Down BT17 9LE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached three-bay two-storey redbrick former Rectory, dated 1894. L-shaped on plan facing west with single-storey extension to the rear and two-storey redbrick garage enclosing a rear yard. Located on an elevated site to the east of Lambeg Road accessed via a long shared avenue and overlooking St. Patrick's Church to the north (HB19/23/001).

Pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles and large rebuilt redbrick chimneystacks. Plastic box fascia supporting replacement metal guttering and plastic downpipes. Redbrick walling laid in English garden wall bond with projecting brick plinth course and continuous decorative terracotta string courses at sill levels, fleurons to first floor and guilloche to ground floor. Segmental-headed window openings with red sandstone sills and single-pane timber sash windows with ogee horns.
Asymmetrical three-bay front elevation with an advanced full-height gable to the north and central square-headed door opening with timber lean-to porch to the re-entrant angle. Shallow projecting bay windows to either side of the entrance have paired window openings with dentilated frieze and egg-and-dart cornice to a parapet wall. The door opening has stop-chamfered surround and an original flat-panelled timber door with bolection mouldings and brass door furniture opening onto tiled platform within the lean-to porch. Porch comprises natural slate lean-to roof and timber frame porch on low redbrick wall with leaded glazing, opening via two sandstone steps to the south. All windows to the front elevation are replacement double-glazed timber sash.

North side elevation has a further projecting bay window, as per above and randomly placed window openings including a large round-headed stairhall window with timber sash window and margin lights. Below the stairhall window is a further timber sash window also having coloured margin lights. Decorative rectangular terracotta panel below eaves.

The rear elevation comprises a three-storey gable to the north, a central bay and a projecting two-storey wing to the south. The gable has a recently inserted square-headed door opening with timber glazed door while the central bay has square-headed window openings with timber sash windows having coloured margin lights.

The south side elevation has an advanced single-bay two-storey gable to the west with projecting bay window, as per front elevation and three-bay two-storey elevation to the remainder with a recently inserted segmental-headed door opening having double-leaf timber glazed doors.

Setting:
Located on an elevated site to the east of Lambeg Road accessed via a long shared avenue and overlooking St. Patrick's Church to the north (HB19/23/001). Long winding gravel drive opens onto Lambeg Road via pair of decorative cast-iron gates and matching quadrant railings on modern redbrick walls and piers, shared with the replacement Rectory, No.64 Lambeg Road. The driveway has 5 original cast iron lamp posts.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Replacement metal / plastic
Walling Redbrick
Windows Timber sash

Historical information

Laurel Hill was the former Rectory of St. Patrick’s Parish Church in the village of Drumbeg and was constructed in 1894 as a replacement dwelling for the incumbent minister (who prior to this date resided at Oak Hill in the townland of Hillhall some distance to the south – HB 19/09/022). The ‘Rectory’ first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map (1901-02) where it was depicted as a square shaped building possessing a east-facing rear return and an oblong outbuilding to the east side of the house; the map also records that the Rectory possessed a gate lodge although this had been taken down sometime after 1971 (Ordnance Survey map 165-4).

A datestone at the site records that the building was constructed in 1894. In his history of Drumbeg Parish Church Matthew Neill records that the new Rectory was constructed at a cost of £1,800 of which £700 was raised by the sale of the old Rectory in Hillhall. The remaining £1,100 was gifted to the church by a Mrs. Stevenson and Miss Charley of the Parish. The Rectory was completed in 1894 and on 21st January 1895 was occupied by the Rev. Alexander Ryder (incumbent 1888 – 1918). The census records indicate that Ryder was unmarried and occupied the Rectory alone with the aid of a small number of domestic servants. There is some disparity between the Census Building Returns of 1901 and 1911; the 1901 census describes the house as a 1st class dwelling which possessed 18 rooms whilst the census a decade later only records 10 inhabited rooms (the house appears unaltered between the third and fourth editions of the Ordnance Survey maps making it likely that this disparity is an error caused by the census enumerators). The 1911 Census records that the house possessed a number of out offices including a stable and coach house, which were housed in the outbuilding to the east of the house, as well as a cow house, a barn, a store and a coal house.

The Rev. Ryder occupied the Rectory until his resignation in 1918, a year before his death; with his passing the Rectory presumably came into the possession of the Rev. C. Manning who was incumbent of the Parish between 1918 and 1920. Subsequent ministers included the Rev. Samuel Hemphill (1920-27), the Rev. S. R. McGarvey (1927-53) and the Rev. Horace L. Uprichard (1953-1982). It was under the Rev. Uprichard that the Rectory was sold; Neill states that the Rectory was much too large for Uprichard and his young family to heat and maintain leading to five years of negotiations with the Diocesan Council before a decision was made to sell the Rectory and construct a new modern dwelling on the same plot of land a number of meters south of the former building (Neill). The former Rectory came into private ownership and was renamed ‘Laurel Hill;’ field inspection has found that the house continues to be occupied and maintains its original character despite a number of minor alterations having been made to the dwelling in recent years.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/9/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Maps 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/9/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Maps 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/9/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Maps 1901-02
4. PRONI OS/6/3/9/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Maps 1920-21
5. Ordnance Survey map 165-4 (1971)

Secondary Sources

1. Kelly, D., ‘Lisburn’s rich church heritage: Churches and places of worship in the Lisburn city area’ Lisburn: Impression Print and Design, 2009.
2. Neill, M., ‘Recollections of the Parish of Drumbeg: Diocese of Down’ Drumbeg: Drumbeg Parish Church, 1996.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Detached three-bay two-storey redbrick former rectory, dated 1894. This well proportioned former rectory to St. Patrick's Church of Ireland church retains much of its original detailing and its overall external appearance. It has group value with St Patricks Church HB19.23.001A and social interest to the local community through its former function as a rectory. Whilst of definite interest it is not of sufficeint architectural or historic interest to consider for listing.

General comments

This record was completed without access to original source material held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.