Farm yard

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

The farm yard at Florida Manor is situated to the S and W of the manor house itself and consists of an original ‘U’-shaped stable block with a large collection of much more recent, ill fitting structures.

The original stable block is rubble built and two storeys in height with a hipped roof. To the W facing inner facade there are five large segmental arch head openings with timber sheeted double doors. Above each opening is a small sash window with Georgian panes.
The outer facade of this section faces into a smaller yard to the immediate W side of the house and has a series of timber sheeted (with one partly louvered) doors, narrow window openings (some with sash frames, other louvered), a large ‘tripartite’ sash window, with a large semicircular headed archway to the left side.

To the S facing inner facade are a series of pedestrian/horse doorways to the ground floor and a mixture of sash windows, timber sheeted store doors, along with a single roundel window, to the first floor. Roughly in the centre of this facade is a small [?cast iron plaque] with the date ‘July 18 1676’, however the plaque itself has a mid 19th century look.

The E facing inner facade contains a central, slightly projecting gabled bay with pedestrian door to the ground floor, store door to the first floor and roundel in tympanum. Above the gable of this bay is an odd section which looks like a chimney stack, but which may once have been the base of a bellcote. On either side of this bay is a large outer segmental arch opening and a small ‘sash’-like window. To the first floor are two roundels to each side . Sited to the S side of this part of the block is a tall modern silo.

To the S side of the block is a later single storey section of breeze block-like construction with corrugated asbestos roof, with a series of timber sheeted pedestrian doors to its N inner facade.

‘In and out’ dressings to all doorway openings, pedestrian or otherwise, on the inner faces of the original section. The facade is painted. The roof is hipped and covered in a mixture of Bangor blue and asbestos slates. Brick chimney stack to the N ‘wing’. Remains of cast iron rw goods. The farm yard itself is now covered in grass and weeds.

The outer faces of the block to the N and W are largely obscured due to the addition of large modern farm buildings, mainly constructed of corrugated iron. The new section now attached to the W outer face of the stable yard deserves a particular mention simply because it is absolutely massive and resembles an aircraft hangar (for the use of cattle). There are further free standing modern structures to the NW.

A short distance to the S of the farmyard is the former steward’s house (now recorded under ref. No. HB24/17/094). Further to the S of the whole complex there was once a glass house of pre 1834 origin, however the writers were informed by the owner that nothing of this remains.

Historical information

The Manor of Florida was created in 1638 on lands previously acquired by Sir James Montgomery (2nd son of Viscount Montgomery) from Con O’Neill., the name ‘Florida’ apparently having been derived from Sir James’ love of flowers. During the Commonwealth (1649-60) the lands were placed in the custody of a Colonel Barrow, but returned to Montgomery hands after much wrangling, in 1664.

In 1691-2 the manor came into possession of the Crawford family and passed to Robert Gordon through marriage to Ann, the niece and sole heiress to the estate of David Crawford, in c.1770. It was undoubtedly one of the Gordons who built the present house, probably c.1780-c.1800 (some sources give a date of 1796 based on an inscribed timber used in the stables), possibly constructed around an earlier Montgomery dwelling which (if a later datestone in the adjacent farmyard is to be believed) may have dated from in or around 1676.

The house is shown on the OS map of 1834 (along with the large farmyard to the rear, the steward’s house and the gate lodges to the east and north), where it is marked ‘Florida Manor’. By the time of the revised OS map (1859-60), the ‘return’ to the west had been built, linking the house with the stable block. The rear conservatory/porch and the early Victorian chimney pots may have been added at the same time also.

In the later 1800s, with the passing of successive Land Acts, much of the Gordon lands began to be sold off and by the 1880s the manor house itself appears to have been leased by a Thomas Brand. By 1917 (at least) the demesne and its buildings had been acquired by a William Devenney, a local farmer who appears to have lived in the steward’s house. Thus Florida, unoccupied, fell into disrepair, but after the Second World War it was bought by Milo Pickaar, who renovated much (though perhaps to all) of the building.

The farm yard. As suggested above, the present farm yard at Florida Manor may date mainly from the same period as the house itself- c.1780s-1800. The datestone on the south facing inner wall which is inscribed ‘July 18 1676’, is odd (if only for the fact that it gives an exact date) and probably refers to earlier buildings on this site, however, there is said to be an inscribed lintel within on the stable buildings with a date of 1796 which may be a more relevant indication as to the age of the complex.
The yard is shown on the OS map of 1834 where it is marked ‘stables’. By 1859-60, the linking section from the house [?servants’ quarters] had been added, but most of the farm buildings now surrounding this block are (as their appearance suggests) post 1945.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.4204 Gordon Family Papers- ‘Copy of a translation of a Patent Grant to Sir James Montgomery, 13th year of the reign of King Charles [I] (1638)’. [This extensive collection of documents relating to the Gordon family, Florida Manor and the surrounding townlands were recently deposited at PRONI by a descendent, Mr. Archie Hugh-Gordon of Saintfield. At the time of writing (August 1998) the collection had not yet been catalogued, however, the writers were given special access to some of the documents by PRONI.]
2 The Montgomery Manuscripts ed. Rev. George Hill (Belfast 1869), pp.2, 210-211.
3 PRONI D.4204 Gordon Family Papers- Indenture signed William Montgomery, James Montgomery to James Hamilton (deed of Florida Manor) 1691.
4 PRONI D.4204 Gordon Family Papers- Deed of partition of Florida Manor, Hamilton to Crawford, 1691.
5 PRONI D.4204 Gordon family Papers- Exemplification of a Recovery of Robert Gordon and Alice, his wife, of lands in Co. Down, 1762.
6 PRONI D.1584 Family papers of the Smith, Gordon and Pottinger families, c.1800-1930.
7 PRONI D.929/HA12/F1/1(e) Lease relating to Florida Manor.
8 PRONI D.650/112, 115, 128 Trust deed[?s] relating to Florida Manor, 1819.
9 PRONI D.654//R/3/1-99 Londonderry Papers- Documents relating to Florida Manor [?]1684-1892.
10 PRONI OS Maps 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 16.
11 PRONI VAL 1B/320 p.17 1st Valuation, Kilmood parish, Kilmood td., c.1835. [The ‘house and offices’ had a rateable value of £65-8-0 in c.1835.]
12 PRONI OS Maps 1st rev. 1859-60, Co. Down 16.
13 PRONI 2nd Valuation, Kilmood parish, Kilmood td., c.1861. [By this stage the rateable value of the property had risen to £110]
15 George Henry Bassett 'County Down guide and directory' (Dublin 1886).
16 'Belfast Telegraph' 7th October 1953 “Life that is different- Returns to a Down house”. [Article concerning the restoration of Florida Manor by Mr. Pickaar].

Secondary sources
1 'Archaeological survey of Co. Down' (HMSO 1966), pp.313, 319.
2 PRONI 'Burkes Irish family records', p.485.
3 Mark Bence-Jones 'A guide to Irish country houses' (London 1988), p.297.
4 J.A.K. Dean 'The gate lodges of Ulster' (UAHS 1994), p.76. [Dean believes the gate lodges to have been built c.1840, however lodges are shown on the 1834 OS map.]

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
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Z. Rarity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Large and very impressive, rubble built, ‘U’-shaped stable block of c.1780-1800 with hipped roof and a variety of openings, including some roundel windows which may be later additions.