Old Vicarage

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Tall two storey house of c.1820-27 with basement and somewhat unusually sited entrance porch to gable. This house used to serve as the rectory for St. Mary’s Church, Kilmood (c.1 mile NW). It is set to the S of the Ballybunden Road, c.2 miles NW of the village of Killinchy.

The entrance is sited of the E gable and consists of a large gabled porch with central timber panelled door with segment arch fanlight with spiders’ web tracery. The door is reached via a flight of stone steps and has flanking narrow sash windows with Georgian panes. Under the porch to the S side is a basement window (with sash frame and Georgian panes).

The S facade has two tall ground floor windows with Georgian paned sash frames, both set in segmental arch recesses. There is a blind window between these. To the first floor are three small sash windows (with Georgian panes). At basement level there are two sash windows (much as before) with a blind window in the centre. Moulded course above basement windows.

To the right on the W gable is a gabled ‘store’ extension. To the left of this (on the gable proper) is the partly glazed rear door, set at a high level and reached via a ‘pyramidal’ set of steps.

The rear facade has three windows (as before) to the ground floor and three more to the first floor. That to the right on the ground floor is smaller than the two other ground floor windows.. At basement level their are two sash windows (as before) and a central timber sheeted door. There are steps leading to the basement level to the right of the facade. To the far left of this facade is a small gabled projection with is also attached to the N face of the entrance porch. Attached to the centre of the rear facade is a tall metal frame which probably once supported a high level water tank.

The entire facade is finished in rough cast and unpainted, The main roof is gabled and covered in Bangor blue slates. Two tall gable chimney stacks (rendered), with some [?original] pots. Dilapidated metal rw goods.

With its entrance on the gable, this is an unusual and noteworthy late Georgian house, however, the ‘store’ to the rear and the small gabled projection to the front are probably later additions.

Historical information

This house is shown as the Kilmood ‘Glebe’ on the OS map of 1834. It was probably built by David Gordon, the then owner of Florida Manor, in c.1820-22, at the same time as the new church at Kilmood. Several documents contained within the Gordon Family Papers recently deposited at PRONI, dating from 1819-20 discuss proposals for a glebe house and a note of 1827 lists certain costs associated with its building, thus the property can be dated to between c1820 and 1827. Rev. Thomas Tennison is noted as occupying the house at the time of the first valuation (c.1835), with Rev. Frederick Flood the incumbent in 1861.
The building probably continued to serve as rectory for Kilmood until c.1923, when the parish, along with Tullynakill, was united with Killinchy.
The interior appears to have been renovated c.1930s-40s.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.4204 Gordon Family Papers State of Title proposed as a Glebe for Kilmood, 1819.
2 PRONI D.4204 Gordon Family Papers Sketch cost of Glebe House, Kilmood, 1820.
3 PRONI D.4204 Gordon Family Papers Note on expenditure on Glebe House and offices.
4 PRONI OS maps 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 16.
5 PRONI VAL 1B/320, p.19 1st valuation, Kilmood parish, Kilmood td, c.1835.
6 PRONI 2nd valuation, Kilmood parish, Kilmood td., 1861.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Tall, two storey former glebe house of c.1820-27 with basement and unusually sited entrance to the gable. Although physically separated it forms a group with the church and other building s at Kilmood.