Old Bawn

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A detached double-height (lowered) former fortified house, built c.1600 and located at the north side of Whitehouse Park. The remains consist of a rectangular structure of random rubble stone construction, divided into three bays and having substantial circular flankers at either side of principal elevation.

Roof is gone. Walling is random rubble stone. Windows have been enlarged or blocked.

Principal elevation comprises central segmental headed window opening (later insertion) flanked by door openings each with window openings above; all fixtures and fittings have been removed (all openings with the exception of left door have been blocked.) Flankers have various small openings and loops.

Side and rear facades are bounded by neighbouring properties and enclosed by random rubble walling to Whitehouse Park.

Roof Roofless
Walling Random rubble
Windows All windows have been removed, now blocked
RWG None

Historical information

Whitehouse is believed to date to c.1600. A timber window lintel, taken from the house, was dendrochronologically dated to AD1589-1624 (NISMR). The first edition OS of 1834 shows a collection of buildings on the site arranged on quadrangular plan around central courtyard. The building is unnamed but is similar to its current layout. The third edition OS map of 1902 records the building as ‘Bawn’. Griffiths Valuation of 1859 records the site as ‘Herd’s house, Office and Lands, [Waste] of road, yard and quay, and a coal yard', with John Thomson as occupier and the lessor is the Marquis of Donegall, however the buildings are not valued, and the total land value is £20. The buildings nearby mentioned previously as part of the same collection or ‘courtyard’ are listed as two Houses with gardens owned by Robert Joynt and Alexander Mee respectively. The former has buildings valued at £13 and the former at £3, the lessor for both these properties is John Thomson.

The OS Memoirs of 1839 state “The existing remains of this house not only bear the appearance of great antiquity, but also of great strength. Its original height was either four or five storeys, but has been unroofed and lowered to its present height about 70 years since…. No arch work appears in any part of the building. Strong oak lintels were used in all cases over the doors, windows and fireplaces.”

According to Brett (p. 18): “King William III spent the night in this house the night of 14th June, 1690”, but he provides no source. From the 1930s the building was in use as a gospel hall, and it was acquired in 1996 by Ulster garden Villages on behalf of the Abbey Historical Society. In 2000 it was transferred to the White House Preservation Trust, who are carrying out major refurbishment works at the current time.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/57/1 - First Edition OS Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/57/2 -Second Edition OS Map (1857)
3. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/57 -Townland Valuation Map (1836)
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/1/1145 A+B -Townland Valuation Fieldbook (1836)
5. PRONI VAL/2/A/1/57-Griffiths Valuation Map (1859)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/13 A+B -Griffiths Valuation Fieldbook (1859)
7. Boyle, OS Memoirs of County Antrim, Vol 1 (1839), p.68-9

Secondary Sources

1. Brett, C.E.B, Buildings of County Antrim, UAHS, Belfast, 1996
2. Northern Ireland Environment Agency. “Northern Ireland Sites and Monuments Record.” [Internet source] Available from: Accessed 20/05/09.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Whitehouse Bawn is a rare example of a seventeenth century fortified house, remaining as a roofless double-height block amidst a late twentieth century housing development close to the eastern shore of Belfast Lough. The structure is defined by substantial circular flankers, emphasising the defensible origins of the dwelling and representative of the difficult circumstances of seventeenth century settlement of the eastern shore of Belfast Lough. It is an important structure of significance within the context of Northern Ireland.