Dunover House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Large, relatively plain two storey gentleman’s residence of possible mid eighteenth origin (or earlier), much extended at the rear in the 1830s and partly modernised in the twentieth century with enlarging of some windows to front and the replacement of the pitched roof to the rear with a flat one. The property is situated to the south of Dunover Road, roughly one and a half miles NW of Ballywalter.

The front and N facades of the house are finished in rough cast render, the rest in plain render. The original section of the house has a pitched roof with Bangor blue slates and four rendered chimney stacks and stone parapets. The rear section is entirely flat roofed. There are two broad side facing chimney stacks positioned between the original building and the rear portion (probably originally between the two pitched roofs). Cast iron rw goods. Sections of the front facade and the three sided bay are covered in greenery.

The front (E) elevation originally had a formal layout which has been altered in recent times. There is a central modern glazed door with a small portico consisting of two simple granite columns supporting a lintel frieze and cornice. To the far right of this doorway are two sash windows with plain rendered, modern label moulding above. To the far left of the doorway the symmetry of the house has been compromised, as, where there were undoubtedly once two windows as the right hand side, there is now one broad opening with a modern steel frame with simple label moulding as before.

To the first floor there once were seven formally arranged sash windows, similar to the ground floor right. However, the two at the far left, like the pair formerly directly below, have been replaced by a single broad opening with steel frame as before. The rest of the first floor windows are similar to the ground floor right, and all first floor windows have label moulding as before.

The S gable has two modern steel framed windows (possibly in the original openings) to the first floor, with one to the right on the ground floor.

The N gable has a broad fixed light window in the centre of the ground floor, with a similar sized window to the first floor, but with steel frame as front left.

The rear of this house was been greatly extended along its entire length some considerable time ago, probably in the 1830s. This two storey extension has completely doubled the width of the house and, once gave the building a double gabled appearance. This extended portion of the property, however, has had its pitched roof removed (c.1930-40), and is now flat roofed.

The N gable of the extension projects marginally beyond the gable of the original dwelling and has two steel framed windows to the first floor (with that to the right broader) and a broad window, also with steel frame, to the ground floor. The left side of this gable merges with a modern (c.1940s) single storey boiler/utility extension, which is attached to the rear of the house. The S gable consists of a large, three sided, two storey bay with a tall sash window, with Georgian panes to each side on the first floor. There are similar windows to the outer sides of the bay to the ground floor, but the window to the central face is now blocked.

The rear of the house has four evenly spaced tall sash windows, with Georgian panes, to the ground floor, with five similar (but slightly shorter), windows to the first floor. To the far left on the ground floor is a modern timber sheeted rear door, with plain sidelight, with the modern single storey extension to the left of this. Directly above this extension is a cast iron framework which supports a dilapidated looking water tank.

The property is picturesquely situated in well wooded surroundings off the Dunover Road and still has the appearance of a building of some local importance.

There is a medieval motte a short distance (DOW 012:004) to the NW of the house and an apple and pear orchard to the immediate SE.

Historical information

Dunover House is a large gentleman’s residence of probable mid eighteenth century origin. The original eastern section (front) of the house is shown on the OS map of 1834, with an extensive garden and plantation to the west and south, and what appears to be a row of outbuilding to the north. In 1837, the OS Memoirs listed the house under ‘Gentlemen’s Seats’ and noted that it was then the property of Mr. [John Reed] Allen of Mount Panther near Dundrum, but was at that point unoccupied. The Memoir describes the house as ‘old’ and ‘dilapidated’ but states that it had been ‘considerably added to within the last few years’. This may be a reference to the large extension to the rear, which appears not inconsistent with a date of c.1835.

According to the present owner, the Allens remained in possession of the property until the 1880s. During the twentieth century the house came into the possession of the Boyd family and was altered around c.1930-40 when some window openings were enlarged and modern steel frames inserted and the single storey boiler house/utility room added to the rear. It was at this time also (for reasons of maintenance involving a large valley gutter), that the pitched roof was removed from the rear wing and replaced with a flat one.

The motte to the north of the house has yielded fragments of thirteenth and fourteenth century pottery.

In 1798, one Robert Gowdy of Dunover, a Presbyterian minister, was executed for his part in the rebellion of that year. It is uncertain whether he had a connection with this property or not.

References- Primary sources
1 A. Atkinson, 'Ireland exhibited to England in a political and moral survey of her population and in a statistical and scenographic tour of certain districts...' (2 Vols. London 1823), Vol.I, pp.231-2. [A description of the land in Dunover.]
2 PRONI D366 Weir Collection (Solicitors) A deed [D.366/487] within this collection of April 1832 mentions John Reed Allen ‘of Dunover’.
3 PRONI OS/6/3/12/1 OS maps, Down 12, 1834
4 PRONI VAL/1B/39 First valuation, Ballywalter, c.1834-38
5 PRONI VAL/2B/3/9 Second valuation, Ballywalter, c.1859
6 PRONI OS/6/3/12/2 OS maps, Down 12, 1860
7 PRONI VAL/12B/23/6a-f Annual valuation revision books, Ballywalter, 1866-1929

Secondary sources
1 A.J. Hughes and R.J. Hannan, 'Place-Names of Northern Ireland Vol. Two, County Down II- The Ards', (QUB, 1992), p.70
2 'Archaeological Survey of County Down' (Belfast, 1966), p.194
3 Bill Wilsdon, 'The sites of the 1798 Rising in Antrim and Down' (Belfast, 1997), p.130

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
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Large, relatively plain two storey gentleman’s residence of possible mid eighteenth origin (or earlier), much extended at the rear in the 1830s and partly ‘modernised’ in the twentieth century with enlarging of some windows to front and the replacement of the pitched roof to the rear with a flat one.