Historic Buildings Record · Northern Ireland
Deerpark Cottage
Shane's Castle Park, Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland
The record
- Designation
- Record only (not listed)
- Grade
- Record Only
- Type
- Demolished
- Date of construction
- 1820 - 1839
- Address
- Deerpark Cottage, Randalstown Forest, Mount Shalgus Lane, Randalstown, Antrim, Co Antrim
- Townland
- Shane's Castle Park
- Council
- Antrim and Newtownabbey
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Coordinates
- 54.72113, -6.31195
- Date of survey
- 04 September 2000
- HB reference
- HB20/04/058
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1811 "Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
The Department's description
Exterior description and setting
This building has been demolished and the site grown over and absorbed into the forest. It was described in the first survey in 1971 as "An octagonal blackstone two storey house. Stonework of walls is in vertical wedge-shaped tiles in square plan; corners are supported on vermiculated circular columns. A single-storey semi-circular bay projects toward the lough. The entrance is contained in a splayed recess; double doors are diagonally sheeted; windows are timber boarded. Rusticated stone used on chimney stack. Interesting plan shapes. Building is now derelict."
Historical information
Built by Lord O'Neill as a lakeside cottage within the Shane's Castle estate; precise date of building not known but it appears on the OS map of 1829 & 32 as a small octagonal building, but not named; named 'Harris Cottage' on the OS map of 1858, and renamed 'Deerpark Cottage' on the maps of 1902 and 1921. Described in the 1830s as "on the edge of the lake, a very pretty rustic stone cottage in which his lordship has some private apartments". With successive lowering of the level of the lough from the mid-19th century on, the cottage was latterly left standing some distance in from the shoreline. Described as derelict by 1971 it was subsequently demolished, after the deerpark at Shane's Castle had come into the possession of the Forest Service.
References – Primary Sources
1. OS Map 1829 & 32, Co Antrim 49 (shows an octagonal building, not named).
2. OS Map 1858, Co Antrim 49 (building appears in final form, named as 'Harris Cottage').
3. OS Map 1902, Co Antrim 49 (named as 'Deerpark Cottage').
4. OS Map 1921, Co Antrim 49 (named as 'Deerpark Cottage').
5. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Vol 19: Parishes of County Antrim VI, 1830, 1833, 1835-8 (Belfast, 1993), p 50.
Secondary Sources
1. C.E.B. Brett, The Buildings of County Antrim (UAHS, Belfast, 1996), p 267.
Criteria for listing: architectural interest
Not listed
Criteria for listing: historic interest
Not listed
Evaluation
This building has been demolished and the site grown over.
Nearby in the register
- Deerpark BridgeBridgeunder 1 mi
- Ballealy CottageHouseunder 1 mi
- Arches at 'The Rockery'Garden Features1 mi
- Poultry CottagesHouse - Terrace1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.