McQueen nurses’ home

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

McQueen nurses’ home is a much altered and extended two storey rubble built structure with a gabled roof, which was originally built in 1841 as the infirmary section of Newtownards Union Workhouse. At present only parts of the building remain in use as offices for Ards District Hospital. The building is situated to the SW of the former workhouse building.

The main entrance is at the centre of the SW facade and consists of a modern glazed door with large sidelights and fanlight. A short distance either side of the door is a full height bay extension in brick with modern windows and a lean to-like roof. A few metres beyond each bay the coursing of the stonework changes and there are remnants of sandstone quoin stones to the upper half of the facade, all suggesting that the building beyond both of these points was originally single storey. The ground floor of the entire facade irregularly spaced window openings with painted sandstone ‘lintels’ and PVC frames. The upper floor windows are also irregularly spaced and are much shorter than those to the ground floor, but they have similar PVC frames and ‘lintels’.

The NW gable contains a shorter gabled projection with two doors to the ground floor and a small sash window to the gable apex. The SE gable has a large full height brick built toilet extension to the left. To the right of this is a modern doorway, with a PVC window directly above to the first floor.

The ‘rear’ (NE) facade has been greatly altered. Originally there was a single large full height gabled projection/return just to the right of centre on the facade, but now there are two similarly sized projections further to the left (S) of this. These new projections are finished in rough cast render (as opposed to the rubble facade of the original) and have a series of varying sized PVC and sash windows to both floors on their NW and SE facades. The projection to the immediate S of the original also has a substantial single storey flat roofed store extension attached to the gable end. The original projection has large sash windows to both ground and first floor, with a (mainly) corrugated asbestos ‘porch’ roof over the first floor windows. There is a doorway to the gable end.

The NE facade of the main body of the building has modern metal windows to the ground floor and smaller sash windows to the first floor. The window arrangement is irregular and two of the upper level openings are now doorways, reached via metal (fire escape-like) steps.

The main building a and the original projection have painted sandstone quoins. The roofs are gabled with Bangor blue slates, with a slight overhang to the main gable ends and to the gables of the non-original projections. The roof of the original projection has three brick chimney stacks, with two brick stacks to the roof of the main building. Mixture of cast iron and PVC goods.

Of all the original workhouse buildings within Ards District Hospital, McQueen nurses’ home appears to have gone through the most changes. There are a number of large modern extensions none of which successfully blend in with the original facade, openings have been altered and most of the windows sport modern frames, as well as this the interior has been progressively altered and modernised. The main portion of the building appears to have begun life as only part two storey, however, the heightening of the single storey sections may have been carried out some time ago, perhaps c.1900.

Historical information

The Poor Law came into operation in Ireland in 1838. It was intended to cater for the needs of those unable to support themselves by providing what was termed ‘in-door’ relief. The whole country divided up into 130 Poor Law Unions (based on various market towns), and within each union a workhouse was built in order to provide relief. The basic plan of the workhouses built during the 1840s were based on designs by Oxford architect George Wilkinson and consisted of a ‘front building’ which mainly contained offices and rooms for administration, a block to the rear of this which contained the workhouse proper and an infirmary linked to the workhouse. Together the workhouse and the infirmary formed an ‘H’ shaped plan. Separate buildings such as fever wards were also included in many workhouse complexes. The designs of some of the early buildings incorporated some elements from late mediaeval/Tudor styling, perhaps taking inspiration from the alms houses of centuries past. After the reform of local government in 1898 provision was made for the conversion of union infirmaries to district hospitals intended to treat rich and poor alike. In Northern Ireland the workhouse legislation continued until 1948, when it was superseded, by the new health and welfare provisions, however, long before this many workhouses had been converted to district hospitals.

The Newtownards Union workhouse was built in 1841 and admitted its first inmates at the beginning of the following year. It was designed to house 600 paupers. This particular section was the infirmary. In common with some other workhouse infirmaries it appears to have begun life with a two storey central section (which contained a male and a female ward) and single storey outer wings, with cells for lunatic inmates and rooms for the keeper. It is uncertain when the outer sections where heightened, it may have been during the famine, to cope with the greatly increased influx of the local destitute, or perhaps around 1900, when many infirmaries began to take on the functions of district hospitals open to all.

With the steady changeover of Newtownards Union workhouse to a district hospital in the early twentieth century (a move officially acknowledged in 1932), this building witnessed both the addition of extensions as well as internal alteration. The building served as a nurses’ home until recently, now most of the rooms are now unused, whilst others have been converted to offices.

McQueen House is named after Annie McQueen a former matron who worked at the hospital between 1938 and 1949.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.654/E2/78 Londonderry Papers- Conveyance of site for Union workhouse (Marquis of Londonderry to the Poor Law Commissioners.)
2 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps 1st Revision 1858-60 Co. Down 6.

Secondary sources
1 Michael H. Gould 'The workhouses of Ulster' (UAHS 1983)
2 Trevor McCavery 'Newtown, a history of Newtownards' (Dundonald 1994), pp.118-20, 123-25, 128, 129, 131, 149, 163, 196.
3 Cahal Dallat 'Caring by design- The architectural heritage of the health & social services in Northern Ireland' (DHSS 1985), pp.22-29.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Two storey rubble built, former workhouse infirmary of 1841, more recently a nurses’ home, and presently only partly used as offices. This building appears to have begun life as only partly two storey, but was heightened either during the famine years [c.1845-51], or during the early twentieth century. The building now sports many large unsuitable extensions of the mid 1900s and the interior has been progressively altered and modernised.