Carrickmannan Primary School,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single storey, L-shaped, late Victorian school house with steeply pitched roof and general gothic appearance. The school is set to the SW side of the Carrickmannon Road, c.2 miles S of Ballygowan.

The entrance is located to the ‘centre’ of the NE façade (next to the intersection of a large gabled projection) and consists of relatively modern double timber doors with glazed panels. The door is surrounded by a sturdy possibly Portland / composite stone surround with a vague Egyptian/Art Deco feel which looks out of place.

To the immediate right of this doorway is a large gabled projection. To the SE façade of this projection is an extremely large window with relatively modern frame. The NE facing gable of the projection is buttressed, but is otherwise blank except for recent looking raised lettering (spelling out ‘Carrickmannon P.E. School’- possibly in painted timber). Above this lettering is a small, square recessed panel which apparently once held the inscription ‘Erected by Frederick Temple, Earl of Dufferin 1878’, but a combination of flaking stone and successive layers of paint have largely obscured this. The gable is topped with a buttressed bellcote with gabled head and pointed arch for bell (itself now removed). The bellcote is in basalt rubble with a moulded trefoil to each face of the gable.

The NW façade has a large square window to far left (with frame as before). To the right of this is a projecting chimney breast, rising through the eaves line and tapering to a tall square chimney stack in basalt rubble with corbelling. To the immediate right of the chimney breast is a smaller window with frame as before. To the right of this is a large modern glazed double door.
Flush with the right edge of the NW façade is the short NW face of a relatively modern single storey, flat roofed, toilet/office extension.

This spans the whole of the SW façade and has a series of (mainly) small modern windows and several doorways to both its SW, NW and SE faces. To the SE face (to the ‘back’ of the extension) another chimney breast rises, culminating in a stack as before.

To the SE is another large gable with extremely large window as SE façade of projection. There is a small recessed panel to the
tympanum with the Dufferin monogram.

The entire façade is finished in painted rough cast with a chamfered base. The roof is steeply pitched with Bangor blue slates several courses of which are shaped. Overhang to roof with exposed rafter ends. Cast iron rainwater goods.

Historical information

According to the (now obscured) inscription to the front gable, this school was built in 1878 by Frederick Temple-Blackwood, Earl of Dufferin, probably to designs by William Lynn. It appears to have replaced an earlier school, established in connection with The Kildare Place Society in 1825 and shown on this site on the 1833 and 1858-60 OS maps.

The building has been altered somewhat over the years with rough cast applied to the façade, an extension added to the rear and the original windows (probably with thick sandstone mullions) removed. The entrance doorway appears to have been altered/replaced also.

The large two storey house to the south of the school appears to have been originally used as the master’s residence

References- Primary sources
1 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II’, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), pp. 91, 92. [Description of the original 1825 school.]
2 PRONI OS map 1st rev. 1858-60, Down 16.
3 EHS HB24/16/51 Original survey notes and slide.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

L-shaped single storey gothic school house of 1878, probably by William Lynn. In recent years this building has been altered somewhat with a flat roofed extension added to the rear, rough cast applied to the whole façade and the original (sandstone) mullioned windows removed and modern frames inserted. The entrance doorway has an odd almost Art Deco appearance and looks like a replacement, and, internally, much original detailing has also disappeared.