GLYNN PARK

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached, multi-bay, two and three-storey over concealed basement, painted, ruled-and-lined rendered former country house, built c.1800, facing south. A central three-bay three-storey block with a two-bay, two-storey crenellated projection is flanked to the east by a single-storey bow-fronted wing and to the west by a seven-bay two-storey L-plan wing. Two and three-storey returns to rear. A crenallated screen wall extends west from the seven-bay west wing with a late 20th century glazed conservatory projecting south.

Hipped natural slate roofs, synthetic ridge tiles and several tall rendered redbrick chimneystacks with octagonal clay pots. The hipped roof to the principal three-storey block is set behind a parapet wall, while the roof to the east wing has a bow to the front. Cast-iron and replacement metal rainwater goods.

Front (S) elevation
Main three-storey block has square-headed window openings with painted masonry sills and original 6/6 timber sash windows without horns. Flat coping to parapet walls with blocking course and plat-band. Rendered quoins to central block only. Pair of blind pointed-arched panels to the second floor with hood mouldings. Main entrance is located between the central projection and the E bowed wing with a lean-to natural slate canopy supported on two pairs of decorative wrought-iron brackets. A round-headed door opening contains the original doorcase comprising a square-headed door opening with a timber door with four raised-and-fielded panels with central fillet and original brass furniture. The door is flanked by a pair of slender flat-panelled pilasters and pair of sidelights, a stepped lintel cornice and an iron spoked fanlight. Brass pendant lantern to centre. Encaustic tiles to porch area. Pointed-arched niche on right side.

Central projection to three-storey block has curved external corners with clustered colonnettes to either side with clustered acanthus leaf capitals and annulets. Central bipartite window to the first floor with a central sash box and a pair of 6/6 timber sash windows with Gothic-style glazing bars to the upper panes. Two ground floor windows are 9/6 with Gothic glazing bars to upper panes.

‘Gothick’ pointed-arched window openings to the ground floor of the west wing with 6/6 timber sliding sash windows with Gothic-style glazing bars to the upper panes. Door opening at west end with timber multipane door and solid base panel and Gothic-style fanlight. First floor windows have square-headed window openings (approx. late 20th century) and painted masonry sills.

Single-storey bowed wing to the east has a full-height original tripartite bowed window opening with bowed 9/9 timber sliding sash windows flanked by slender flat-panelled pilasters on plinth blocks to a ground-level rendered sill.

Side (E) elevation of central block
Single lunette window opening to extreme right side at second floor level. Two-storey return abuts east elevation on right side; timber casement window to first floor level and two window openings at ground floor level (window type not seen), both with metal bars fitted between reveals. Elliptical-headed carriage-arch to basement level.

Side (W) elevation of central block
W side is abutted by two-storey west wing. Exposed section has no openings. Exposed chimney rising above parapet. W elevation of west block is abutted by 20th century monopitch extension containing swimming pool.

Rear (N) elevation
Continuous plain painted render single storey-height wall running entire length of building, forming rear wall of rear returns. Sheeted timber door opening into rear yard from west end. Oculus window at apex of two-storey return. Lean-to concrete slab roof to single-storey section at E end. Windows to rear are mixture of 1/1 and 2/2 timber sliding sash windows, some with Perspex storm glazing. Octagonal glazed cupola/lantern to E roof slope of three-storey staircase return.

Rear yard has single storey oil tank store with monopitch tiled roof abutting rear yard wall. Flat concrete coping to yard wall. 20th timber panelled door at W end of yard and painted sheeted timber door with plain rectangular overlight to centre. Windows to yard are mostly a mixture of 1/1, 2/2 sliding sash windows. One 6/6 window to W end and one timber multipane window to centre.

LOCATION & SETTING

Glynn Park is located off the northern side of Prince Andrew Way, approx. 2.5km north of Carrickfergus Castle.
Glynn Park Close, a modern housing development (c.2004), has been constructed on the SW side of the former estate, and the former Gatelodge to Glynn Park (HB22/15/004B) has been separated from the estate by the construction of Prince Andrew Way c.1986.

Rubblestone piers and boundary wall on Prince Andrew Way give access to a driveway which curves towards the W, leading to a pair of painted, ruled and lined, rendered piers with chamfered stone capping stones and ball finials (location possibly altered & not original). 20th century iron gates. Drive leads past S side of stableyard (HB22/15/004C - formerly associated with Glynn Park, located to the immediate E and under separate ownership), to bitmac forecourt. Lawn to south of house reached via short flight of steps down from forecourt. Glynn Park is bounded to the W by mature wooded area, and to the N by countryside.

MATERIALS
Roof Natural slate
Walls Painted ruled-and-lined render
Rainwater goods Cast-iron / replacement metal
Windows Mainly historic timber sliding sash, all with single- glazing

Historical information

*** NOTE: The valuer’s office notebooks at PRONI are to be reviewed after COVID-19 lockdown)

Variously known in the early 1800s as ‘Glyn Park’, ’Glen Park’ and ‘Glenpark’, the early history of Glynn Park is difficult to trace. It is mentioned by name in a newspaper notice of January 1807, but nothing is shown on the site on Williamson’s County Antrim map of the following year, suggesting that whatever was present at this stage was relatively modest and quite likely considerably smaller than the building we see today.[Refs 3-4, 7] This idea is supported by the quirky organic nature of the design, which suggests a house that has evolved over the years, an assertion supported by the fact that its setting - right next to what (until relatively recently) had been a minor public road - is rather odd one for a relatively grand residence. The present owner believes the house may incorporate part of a ‘medieval’ structure, whilst a recent estate agent’s brochure refers to it as ‘dating back to the 1600s.’[55] Given the antiquity of many sites in and around Carrickfergus, it is possible that there was a structure or structures here prior to the early 19th century; however, the documentary evidence for the presence of something considerably older in this particular vicinity is lacking, and whilst elements of the physical evidence are intriguing and may point to something earlier than 1807, these have not yet been examined in detail. There is also said to be a ‘tunnel’ to the south of the building which may indicate previous activity on the site, but this too has yet to be assessed.[60]

The newspaper notice of 1807 indicates that the building’s owner at that point was James Craig, and he is attributed with its construction (dated at ‘about 40 years since’) in the OS Memoirs of 1839. [24] Craig (1759-1833) was a local man who served as MP for Carrickfergus from 1807-12, as well as a burgess and deputy Lord Mayor for the town, and who was described at the time of his death as a man of ‘unsullied political integrity, and unflinching patriotism’, who ‘never hesitated to give his most zealous support to the cause of civil and religious freedom.’[17, 57] In 1792 he purchased ‘Scout Bush’, on the southwestern side of Carrickfergus, and subsequently built a house there on or close to the site of a late 16th / early 17th century artillery fort, part of the ruins of which, incidentally, may in part have been incorporated into the new building itself.[59] Although he appears to have been occupying Glynn Park in 1807, Scout Bush seems to have been his home for most (if not all) of the next two decades, with the former noted as occupied by Stephen Trocke in Ambrose Lett’s 1814 ‘Directory of Noted Places’, whilst in 1819 a Captain Rice was living there, with Trocke listed as the occupant once again in Alexander Atkinson’s 1823 ‘Ireland Exhibited to England…’.[10-11, 13-14] In 1822 James Craig he advertised Scout Bush for let, (finally leasing it to James Willis by 1825), and in 1826 is recorded as being of ‘Glenpark’, remaining there until his death in June 1833.[13, 15, 17]

Samuel McSkimin, writing in 1829, refers to the house as ‘a highly improved villa’.[8] The building is shown roughly similar to today on the first edition OS map of 1832, but the lower two-storey west wing is depicted as narrower, the bow-fronted single-storey projection to the east end is not present; it also appears that some of the return components to to the rear had not yet been built. There was no stable yard to the immediate east of the house and this time, merely the coach house, with the main arcing drive from the south leading directly to the space now occupied by the yard. [16, 21 NOTE: The historical info supplied by the 2011 contractors’ survey did not quote the dimensions supplied in 1836 valuation nor the second valuation of c.1859. These documents will be consulted when PRONI reopens.] The 1839 OS Memoirs describe the house as a ‘small but neat looking edifice…3-storeys high, slated, with wings in front’, occupying ‘a pretty and retired situation.’ The Memoirs further state that the building had been ‘improved 14 years ago’, indicating that Craig probably extended and remodelled the building shortly after he moved back there in 1825.[24] This date equates with its overall appearance, and the odd elements of gothick detailing in particular. It is difficult to say what the property amounted to prior to this date, but fenestration on the front of the main three-storey block has an irregular arrangement (the upper floor openings do not align with those on the ground level for instance) suggesting that this section could well have been radically altered, possibly raised in height.

Glynn Park was acquired in 1834 by John Legg, a prominent local merchant who was at that point High-Sheriff for the ‘County of Carrickfergus’, and who in 1835 let it to Cortlandt Macgregor Skinner. Skinner (1766-1842) was a native of New Jersey, whose father of the same name was a prominent commander of loyalist forces during the American War of Independence, and who himself served in that conflict as a young man. He resided there until at least late 1838, but by the middle of the following year John Legg himself was occupying the property, retaining it up until his death in August 1861.[17, 19, 21, 26, 29]. The 1857 OS map shows that during his tenure, Legg extended the building, adding the single-storey bow-fronted projection to the east and creating the stable yard together with an additional block on the south of this; some of the rear portions may also date from this period. The map shows the main drive had been redirected slightly, terminating directly in front of the house, indicating that the terrace was formed during this time also, and explaining why the basement openings to this side are now all below ground.[27-28 NOTE Second valuation to be consulted when PRONI reopens.]

After 1861 although the property remained in the ownership of the Legg family well into the 20th century, it was leased to various tenants. The valuation books tell us that James Meehan [or Mehan] and Henry Blackburne were tenants from c.1862-70; Robert McMurray from c.1870-85; John Shaw Exham, c.1885-94; John B. Pirrie (then Manager of the nearby Barn Mills), c.1894-1902; Lord Burleigh Cecil, c.1902-04; Richard W.F. Cecil, c.1904-09 and William Frederick Coates (the prominent Belfast stockbroker and Lord Mayor of Belfast, 1920-23, 29-31, 1st Baronet Coates from 1921, c.1909-30.)[31-35, 37]. During this whole period the house does not appear to have undergone any major alterations, although increases in the rateable value (rising from £31 to £35 in 1862, £49 in 1907, reducing to £43 in 1918) suggest changes were made at these dates. The 1902 OS map shows a large conservatory to the front of the west wing had been added by this time, as well as a narrow freestanding structure to the rear of the same wing, whilst an additional range add been added to the east side of the yard. By 1921 a small block (abutting the house) to the west side of the yard had been built, and the conservatory had been removed, the loss of the latter possibly explaining the reduction in the rateable value by £6 in 1918. At some point between 1921 and 1945 the west wing was extended, with the end section west of the chimneystack either raised a storey or totally rebuilt in two-storey form. [37, 39, 44 NOTE: The valuer’s office notebooks at PRONI should supply more details as to the dating and extent of the additions.]

In October 1922, during the period of troubles immediately following Partition, (and during one of W.F. Coates’s tenures as Belfast’s Lord Mayor), a bomb ‘loaded with coarse black powder, and with a fuse attached, and some flat-nosed bullets’ was placed ‘near the hall door’ of Glynn Park, but fortunately, failed to explode.[41] Following this the Coates family are believed to spent less time there.

The property was put up for sale in 1926 and by 1930 by Major William Baird (1874-1956), the then owner of the ‘Belfast Telegraph’, and his family was living there.[42-43] A Miss M. Blakely is noted as resident in 1932 and W.F. Coates’s’ widow, Lady Margaret Coates, was back again by 1935 [45-46]. The Bairds seem to have settled there permanently shortly after this, retaining it until the 1970s.[49]

Glynn Park was advertised for sale in February 1976 and again in November 1977.[50, 51] In c.1986 a major new thoroughfare (‘Prince Andrew Way’) was created, slicing through the southern edge of the grounds of the property, cutting off the end of the main drive and its gate lodge and necessitating the creation of the present main entrance off the new road itself. At some point after 1998 the large equestrian centre to the immediate east of the yard was constructed; the range to the western side of the yard (abutting the house) appears to have been extended several years before this. The house was put up for sale in 2002, and again in 2013 and acquired by the present owner shortly afterwards. The stable yard and its attendant buildings were sold off as a separate concern in 2018.[52-54, 55, 60]

References: Primary Sources
1 PRONI D2489/4 Documents mainly relating to the Legg family of Glynn Park, 1608-1941
2 PRONI D971/42/A/4-41 Deeds, correspondence and papers about the debts of James Craig of Scoutbush, 1762-1828
3 ‘Taylor and Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland’, (Dublin, 1777)
4 ‘A Map of the County of Antrim…by J. Lendrick, 1780’
5 ‘Belfast Commercial Chronicle’, 31 January 1807
6 ‘Belfast Commercial Chronicle’, 4 November 1807, p.1
7 ‘A Map of the County of Antrim…by J. Lendrick, 1780’ - revised version by James Williamson, 1808
8 McSkimin, Samuel, ‘The History and Antiquities of the County of the Town of Carrickfergus…’, (Belfast, 1811, with revised eds 1823, 1829, 1833, 1839)
9 Leet, Ambrose, ‘A Directory to the Market Towns…in Ireland’, Dublin 1814
10 ‘Belfast Commercial Chronicle’, 25 January 1817
11 ‘Saunders’s News-Letter’, 30 December 1819
12 PRONI D652/829 Lease of land in Carrickfergus from the Marquis of Donegall to James Craig ‘of Scoutbush’, April 1822
13 ‘Belfast Commercial Chronicle’, 19 October 1822, p.3
14 Atkinson, A., ‘Ireland exhibited to England…’, (, 1823), p.442
15 ‘Dublin Morning Register’, 19 September 1826
16 PRONI OS/6/1/52/1 First Edition OS Map (1832)
17 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 7 June 1833 [James Craig’s death notice]
18 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 3 June 1834, p.3
19 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 1 April 1835, p.3
20 ‘Belfast Commercial Chronicle’, 6 June 1836
21 PRONI VAL/1/B/187 First valuation (1836) [‘Glynn Park’ is recorded in this valuation as consisting of a ‘house, [with a] projection in front, a north and south wing, return, passage, offices and a [barn]’, and valued at £25.12s.15d.]
22 ‘Belfast Commercial Chronicle’, 5 September 1838, p.3
23 ‘Belfast Commercial Chronicle’, 8 July 1839, p.3
24 OS Memoirs (1839-40)
25 ‘Northern Whig’ 17 March 1849, p.3
26 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 19 November 1851, p.3
27 PRONI OS/6/1/52/2 Revised Edition OS Map (1857)
28 PRONI VAL/2/B/22A Second valuation (1859)
29 ‘Belfast Morning News’, 30 August 1861, p.7
30 ‘Belfast News-Letter, 16 October 1861, p.2
31 PRONI VAL12B/7/5A Valuation revision book, 1861-64
32 PRONI VAL12B/7/5B Valuation revision book, 1865-73
33 PRONI VAL12B/7/5D Valuation revision book, 1874-84
34 PRONI VAL12B/7/5F Valuation revision book, 1884-94
35 PRONI VAL12B/7/6A Valuation revision book, 1894-1907
36 PRONI OS/6/1/52/3 Third Edition OS Map (1901-2)
37 PRONI VAL12A/ Valuer’s office notebook, 1907
38 PRONI VAL12B/7/8A Valuation revision book, 1908-20
39 PRONI VAL12A/ Valuer’s office notebook, 1918
40 OS map, 1921
41 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 16 October 1922, p.5
42 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 15 November 1926, p.12
43 ‘Belfast News-Letter’ 10 October 1930, p.11
44 Photo of Glynn Park, c.1930
45 ‘Derry Journal’, 29 January 1932
46 ‘Belfast News-Letter’, 3 August 1935, p.5
47 OS map, 1945
48 OS map, 1968
49 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 18 December 1973, p.13
50 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 10 February 1976, p.17
51 ‘Belfast Telegraph’ 8 November 1977, p.19
52 OS map, 1981
53 ‘The Times’ online https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bargain-of-the-week-hm7snrfn8vq
54 Belfast Telegraph Digital https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/carrickfergus-mansion-priced-at-just-60000-fails-to-sell-29237111.html (accessed 23 April 2020)
55 BTW Cairns Estate agent’s brochure c.2013

Secondary sources
56 McSkimin, Samuel, ‘The History and Antiquities of the County of the Town of Carrickfergus…’, new edition, (Belfast, 1909), pp.318-19, 420, 503, 505
57 Thorne, R.G. ed., ‘The House of Commons, 1790-1820, volume 1’, (London, 1986)
58 HED SMR file ANT052:035 File on Scout Bush artillery fort
59 ‘Clan Forsyth Society Newsletter', no.28 October 2007, pp.6-8
60 Information from owner [March 2020]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
S. Authenticity
R. Age
U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

A substantial former country house, recently separated from its outbuildings (HB22/15/004C) by sale and its former Gatelodge (HB22/15/004B) by sale and physically by Prince Andrew Way in the 1980s.

Despite this separationa and the loss of much of its wider setting due to 20th Century development, the house itself is both authentic and imposing, retaining a wealth of original interior and exterior historic fabric and detailing. This includes original 19th century fenestration, and fine craftsmanship throughout.

The organic and assymetrical nature of the design suggests the house evolved over a number of years, with later inclusion of 'gothick' detailing, added circa 1825.

Of particular local interest is that by 1930, Major William Baird (1874-1956), the then owner of the ‘Belfast Telegraph’, was living at Glynn Park.

While the general setting of the original demesne and curtilage has been substantially fragmented by the construction of Prince Andrew Way c.1986 and adjacent housing developments, the plan-form and much historic detailing of the house remains intact. Though set back from the road and invisible to most, the house and its hostory add considerable interest to the already special architectural and historoic heritage of the Carrickfergus area. The group value that the house shares with its outbuildings (HB22/15/004C) and gate lodge (HB22/15/004B) adds to the special interest of Glynn Park.

General comments

This record has been re-numbered and was previously HB22/15/004