Ardavon

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A detached symmetrical two-storey three-bay house, built c.1870, located in extensive grounds to the west side of the Glen Road, Craigavad. Rectangular-on-plan with canted bays; double return to rear, further extended to south by a three-stage tower.

Hipped natural slate roof with rolled lead ridges and hips; tall rendered chimneystacks with corniced and bracketed caps. Ogee cast-iron rainwater goods with some uPVC replacement guttering to return. Walling is cement rendered with rusticated quoins and beaded plinth; eaves cornice over an architrave and frieze comprising alternate plain scrolled brackets and raised panels. Further cornice, plain frieze and architrave to canted bays, extending to form string courses between floors. String course to impost level of first floor windows. Windows are 1/1 horned timber sashes throughout, round-headed to first floor principal elevations. Those to ground floor have rusticated voussoired heads with diamond pointed keyblock; those to first floor have architrave surrounds; all round-headed windows are paired with archivolt surrounds connected by a small raised panel between. The door is double-leaf stained timber, each leaf having two raised panels and bronze door furniture; semi-circular fanlight over; surround comprises an archivolt over foliated impost panels supported on sandstone columns with ornate carved capitals, all set in a rope-moulded surround with bronze bell-push. Accessed by two concrete steps flanked with square piers with fielded caps. Canted bays have decorative cast-iron parapets.

Principal elevation faces north and is symmetrical, having all openings contained in a breakfront central section. The central entrance is flanked by single-storey canted bays each having paired windows over (single window to first floor centre).

The east elevation has a full-height canted bay to right side, with traditional arrangement of three windows to each floor. Left side has a single-storey canted bay to ground floor, with paired window over.

The rear elevation is almost completely abutted by the double return, and is otherwise blank. The return is abutted at east by a timber conservatory with rendered plinth walls, and to south-west by the tower. Fenestration is irregular to east side, including a single and bi-partite leaded-lattice obscurely glazed window at first floor. The south gable has a four-panelled door, a plain projecting chimneystack, and a deeply recessed replacement timber rear entrance door. The west elevation has three equally spaced windows to first floor; ground floor has metal-framed casement enlargements and a large patio door insertion.

The tower has cement rendered walling and a pierced parapet over a bracketed frieze (as house); first stage has a timber sheeted door to east and a window to south; second stage has a decorative string course rising over an obscurely glazed 2/2 (horizontally divided) timber sash window to east and west; third stage is blank with circular motifs and string course.

The west elevation has a full-height canted bay to left; right side is recessed and there is a sanitary extension to re-entrant angle having a flat roof and leaded lattice windows to each floor; to its right is a metal-framed casement at ground floor and a single square-headed sash above.

Setting:
The house is set back from the road in extensive grounds comprising lawns, woodland and shrubberies, all now overgrown. There are densely planted mature tree boundaries to all sides, and a tall rubble stone boundary wall to west side. A tarmac drive leads to a forecourt, and a secondary lane to south leads to outbuildings located some distance from the house to west. Outbuildings are single-storey with roughcast walls and timber sash windows, and of no architectural interest. The site is entered from Glen Road at east, via an alcoved entrance terminated by square rendered piers at either side; gates are gone and the site is protected by a security fence chained in place. There is a secondary avenue at south, leading to the group of outbuildings, accessed by a pair of wrought iron gates.

Roof: Hipped natural slate
Walling: Cement render
Windows: 1/1 timber sashes
RWG: Ogee cast iron

Historical information

Following the building of the railway from Holywood to Bangor between 1862 and 1865, Cultra, formerly an area of isolated mansions and farmhouses, began to be more systematically developed to provide substantial villas in spacious grounds for the professional and mercantile classes. The current house is first shown on the third edition OS map of 1900-02, captioned ‘Ardavon’ and conveniently situated between Cultra Station and the since-closed station at Craigavad.

The house enters valuation records in 1878 as a vacant newly-built property, a house and yard, built by Samuel Trimble and valued at £45. The valuation is raised to £50 the following year, possibly as the house reached completion. Samuel Trimble, the Deputy Treasurer of County Antrim occupied the house in 1880 but died in 1887 (Will of Samuel Trimble). A succession of tenants followed from 1892 onwards, for the most part wealthy merchants or businessmen. (Annual Revisions)

From c1892 to c1897, the occupier was H McNeile McCormick. McCormick was Clerk of the Crown and Peace for County Antrim and is well known to Holywood residents as the donor of the ‘Johnny the Jig’ playground in the High Street. It appears that the McCormick family eventually moved to Cultra House (HB23/18/24) where they are recorded as living from 1903. (NIEA file; Belfast and Ulster Street Directory, 1907, Auld, p.17, Annual Revisions)

John O Rodgers, resident in 1900, was manager of the ‘Irish Billposting Company’, billposting and general advertising contractors, with offices in William Street South, Belfast. (Belfast and Ulster Directory, 1901,1907)

Granville Craig, noted to be living in the house in 1909, was a younger brother of James Craig, Viscount Craigavon, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. On the outbreak of the Second Boer War (1899-1902), Granville volunteered for service in South Africa and his collection of photographs from the campaign are held by Kings College London (http://kingscollections.org). Granville enjoyed a private income and lived in the house with his English wife and a staff of three servants, a house and parlourmaid, a cook and a ‘motor-car driver’. The couple had had one child which did not survive. ‘Ardavon’ is noted in the 1911 census to be of the first class due to its size and construction and had thirteen rooms in use. (1911 census) Granville appears to have been a keen motorist, participating in the first Cultra Hill Climb competition in 1905 and again in 1908 in his Daimler. (County Down Spectator, Belfast Newsletter) When war broke out in 1914, Granville was initially unable to serve due to illness. When he joined the Royal Flying Corps, balloon section, as an Equipment Officer in 1916 he became the fifth middle-aged Craig brother to join the war effort. (Ervine, p.298)

William Edward Williames Esq JP who is recorded as living in the house in 1914 was a coal merchant and shipping agent with premises in Donegall Quay. (Belfast and Ulster Street Directory, 1901) In 1976 George Edmund Cameron, Chartered Accountant of ‘Ardavon’ was named as one of Northern Ireland’s top businessmen in Fortnight magazine. (Fortnight)

Visual inspection suggests that a two-storey return wing at the rear of the house is a later addition dating from c1900. The rear return underwent some minor modernisation during the 1970s including the installation of patio doors.

The house currently lies vacant but has been in use as a domestic dwelling until recent times.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/1/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-02
2. PRONI OS/6/3/1/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-31
3. PRONI OS/6/3/1/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1938-41
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/17/10A-G – Annual Revisions (1867-1930)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/17/11A-C – Annual Revisions (1888-1930)
6. PRONI Will of Samuel Trimble, died 26th August 1887
7. Belfast and Ulster Directory, 1901
8. Belfast and Ulster Street Directory, 1907
9. Fortnight, 18 June 1976
10. County Down Spectator, May 12th, 1905
11. Belfast Newsletter, May 14th, 1908
12. NIEA file – 23/LQ/059

Secondary Sources

1. Auld, C. “Holywood Co Down, Then and Now” Holywood: Con Auld, 2002
2. Ervine, St John “Craigavon Ulsterman” George, Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1949
3. http://kingscollections.org

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A detached symmetrical two-storey three-bay house, built c.1870 The house has a symmetrical frontage, and is well-proportioned, characterised by loose classical detailing articulated by cornice, frieze and architrave to each floor. It appears to have been largely unchanged, despite some alterations. However, it is of a late date and not one of the best examples of the type.