Erin Lodge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Erin Lodge is located 1 Km SW of the centre of Donaghadee. It is a large, single storey, relatively plain Regency villa of 1824, set on a high basement and now roughly ‘U’’ shaped in plan. It is situated within approximately one acre which is all that remains of a once much larger demesne, most of the land having been sold in the 1970's for a modern private housing development which now surrounds what is left of the original grounds.

The front S facade has the door to right of centre. The wide four panel timber door is at the top of a flight of six stone steps and is surmounted be an elliptical radial fanlight with glazed and panelled margins. To the right of the door is a tall sliding sash window (cill level with floor level). This window has horizontal and vertical astragals. To the left of the door, as before but with raised sills. To the far left is the side of a later return which has a window as before to its right and a centred door to the 'basement' garage.

The W of the return is gabled and has a 'basement' sliding sash window below a loft door. (at raised ground level) The north face of this return has a large coach arch now blocked but with a small pass door and an irregular shaped window. To the immediate left of the return is a screen yard wall behind which are three small windows which rest on a shared window sill. Below and to the right is a modern (1930's style) recessed door. A second but much smaller gabled return projects from the left hand side of the W facade. The S face has one small sliding sash window to ground and one to the 'basement'. The S face also has an elaborate but inoperable water pump. The W facade of the return has two symmetrically placed sliding sash windows, as before. To the left side of this is a large and somewhat dilapidated glass house.

The N facade is in two halves, the right being the side of the return and the left the side of the main house. The N side of the return has modern recessed (as before) ground floor door (reached by a short flight of steps) with a sliding sash window (as before) to its right. The right side has three ground floor sliding sash windows, the right of which is a small, the centre is large with its cill resting on the string course and the right one medium sized. The basement has two small sliding sash windows. To the left hand side of the E facade is a canted bay with large windows to ground floor and small ones to the basement. To the right of this are two similar windows, one to ground and one to basement. To the right again is a shallow projecting bay with a split pediment over. There is one window to ground and one to basement as before. All windows are sliding sash.

Generally the ground floor rests on a projecting stone string course. To the front the ground level rises to meet the floor level, to the N the ground is steeply banked down to the basement floor level and to the W the ground level is almost level with basement floor level.

The eaves overhang approximately 0.4m. Bangor blue slates to all roofs which are generally hipped. Roof pitch is very shallow and the centre of the roof is flat. Large carved Scrabo stone chimney pots.

This charming villa was originally picturesquely set within its own quite extensive wooded park, however, a previous owner disposed of much of this land and a modern estate now surrounds what is left of Erin Lodge’s grounds.

Historical information

Erin Lodge was built in 1824, possibly (according to the present owner) for one of the senior officials (or engineers) then working on the new Donaghadee Harbour. The house is shown, minus the western extension, on the OS Map of 1834 and the valuation records of c.1836 state that it was then in possession of a Samuel Rea and commanded the hefty rateable value of £20-9-0. By the time of the second valuation (1863) the rateable value had risen to £39-10-0 and the occupier was a Robert P. Maxwell, with much of the surrounding land in the hands of a John McMinn.

The western return/extension was added some time after 1860.

*A handicap encountered during investigations of the history of many buildings within Donaghadee is the fact that the bulk of the De la Cherois estate papers are still within private hands and not available for consultation. A catalogue of the papers is currently [May 1998] being undertaken by Anthony Malcomson of PRONI, but it is unclear whether permission will be given for the transcription of documents.

References- Primary sources

1. PRONI OS Maps 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 3.
2. PRONI VAL 1B/32 p.11 1st valuation, Donaghadee parish, Donaghadee., c.1836.
3. PRONI OS Maps 1st rev. 1858-60, Co. Down 3.
4. PRONI 2nd (‘Griffith’s’) valuation Donaghadee parish, Donaghadee, 1863.

Secondary sourcesa

1. Hugh Dixon et al Historic buildings, groups of buildings, buildings of architectural importance in Donaghadee and Portpatrick (UAHS 1977), p.32.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Erin Lodge is a well maintained, single storey, relatively plain Regency villa of 1824 set on a high basement. Much of the original detailing to the airy interior is still well preserved and the layout is still largely intact. This charming house was originally picturesquely set within its own quite extensive wooded park, however a previous owner disposed of much of this land and a modern estate now surrounds what is left of Erin Lodge’s grounds.