Brooklands Manse

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Site of former two storey house of c.1850 (in the western side of Newtownards), demolished in recent times (?c.1980), probably to make way for a modern dual carriageway. All that remains of this former house is the stable block and sections of the yard walls. The sandstone built stable block has now been extensively altered and converted to a dwelling house. The former grounds belonging to the house are now taken up with modern houses, all built from the 1970s onwards.

Description from 1st Survey card " 2 sty house facing E with basement exposed as lower 3rd storey to enclosed yard on W. Roof hipped and slated. Dressed stone chimneys. Main house walls in Scrabo stone ashlar V jointed. Eaves cornice & frieze. Bevel quoins F/Fl band course and level base. E front has 5 F/Fl and 4 Gr/Fl D/H windows, horiz astragals. Square single/sty central porch. Twin pilaster quoins, frieze lintol, cornice, blocking course and recent felt roof and gutter. Porch front has 3/ light fixed sash window, s/c arch heads and panelled apron. Doorway on RH face, door panelled and glazed with wood architrave at lintol. Similar unused doorway on L/H face. Stone slab paved area on each side of porch. Gabled end walls in Scrabo stone rubble with dressings as before. Entrance to coach yard has elliptic arch gateway with raised vermiculated surround and sheeted gates. 2 sty coach house at W end of yard. Roof slated, gable ends. Walls in rough dressed Scrabo stone. Eaves course. E face has 2 F/Fl D/H windows. Georgian panes, dressed raised surround v jointed and a F/Fl sheeted door, same surround. Approached by open stair case from LH side. Gr/Fl has central coachway elliptic arch head and lesser elliptic arch door on each side. All have sheeted doors and raised v jointed surround. Broken doorway at extreme L/H side and small window on R/H side. Plain raised surround."

Historical information

Brooklands is said to have been built for an official of the Belfast & County Down Railway Company. As the railway opened in 1850, it is probable that the house dated from around this time also, possibly in c.1848/9. The building is shown on the OS Map of 1858-60, with its front facade directly facing the railway embankment. Brooklands was later acquired (c.1870s) by Strean Presbyterian Church and served as a manse. The house was demolished in recent times (c.1972-c.1985), undoubtedly to make way for the new dual carriageway part of which was built upon the site of the old railway line. The railway line itself had been abandoned in 1953.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps 1st rev. 1858-60 Co. Down 5.
2 PRONI 2nd (‘Griffith’s’) valuation, parish of Newtownards, Ballycullen, 1863.
3 PRONI D.654 Londonderry Papers, leases concerning the townland of Ballycullen, 1750-?.

Secondary sources
1 E.R.R. Green 'The Industrial Archaeology of Co. Down' (HMSO 1963), pp.62-63, 77, map 4.
2 Trevor McCavery 'Newtown, a history of Newtownards' (Dundonald 1994), pp.143-145, 148.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Site of former large two storey house of c.1850, demolished c.1980, with its surviving former stables now converted to a modern dwelling.