Gate Lodge & Gatescreen at Hunterhouse College

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Wrought-iron Art Nouveau style entrance gate piers and railings dating from c.1900 probably by architect V. Craig and a pair of attached single storey gate lodges dating from c.1870 and c.1900 at the entrance to Hunterhouse College on the Upper Lisburn Road.

Gateway:
Wrought iron Art Nouveau style railings on brick-built dwarf walls with rough cast render and stone coping forming a double-S curve on plan. Two square caged wrought-iron piers form the entrance to the college, two shorter ones mark the end of the gateway. Only one of the original four wrought iron finials survives to the north end pier. The gates were damaged in a traffic accident and are, according to the groundsman, now in storage.

South gate lodge:
Gabled single storey pitched roof gate lodge dating from c.1870 built at the same time as Colinmore mansion, now part of Hunterhouse college (HB26.15.003 A). Irregular plan facing south and abutted to the north by a second gate lodge, located to the northeast of the gateway.
Pitched natural slate roof with roll top black-clay ridge tiles. Overhanging eaves with decorated timber barge boards supported on horizontal moulded brackets. uPVC half-round guttering and circular downpipes. Painted rendered chimney stack with corbelled coping and red-clay chimney pots. Walls are smooth rendered with ashlar lining and have a simple chamfered plinth, all with painted finish. Windows are replacement top-hung timber casement windows on painted window sills.

The principal elevation faces south and has three bays; the two to west are gabled. Square-headed door opening to west end bay with plain architrave and timber panelled door opening. Three-part Venetian window to gabled central bay and square-headed window flanked by simple pilasters to east bay. Overhanging bracketed verges with simply decorated bargeboards.

The east elevation of the south lodge has two gabled bays and a recessed flat-roofed bay which abuts the North Gate Lodge. Two square-headed window openings to central gabled bay and two smaller windows to flat-roofed bay.

The north side elevation is abutted by the adjacent North gate lodge.

The west elevation of the south lodge consists of a projecting gabled bay to south end with a round-arched window flanked by pilasters and three bays; square-headed door opening to centre with modern flush timber door opening onto a stone step. Replacement windows to each side.

North gate lodge:
Single storey hipped roof gate lodge dating from c.1900 attributed to architect V. Craig. Regular plan facing north and abutted by the South Gate Lodge, located adjacent to the entrance to Hunterhouse College.
Hipped natural slate roof with angled black-clay hip tiles. Overhanging eaves with uPVC half-round guttering and circular downpipes. Painted chimney stack with red-clay chimney pots. Walls are smooth rendered with ashlar lining and have a simple chamfered plinth, all with painted finish. Windows are replacement top-hung timber casement windows on painted sills.

The principal elevation is symmetrical and faces north with projecting central bay having a segmental-headed door opening with a modern flush door and fanlight. A single segmental-headed window to the east and west bays.

The west elevation consists of five bays. The two bays to north each have a segmental-headed window. Square-headed windows to remaining bays.

The south elevation is abutted by the adjacent South gate lodge.
The east elevation of the North Gate Lodge consists of two bays with a three-sided canted bay to north end having segmental-headed windows. Single segmental-headed window opening to the south bay which is attached to the South Gate Lodge.

Setting:
The gate lodges are surrounded by a partly gravelled and tarmac area. Concrete paving and a concrete path to the front of the south elevation. The gateway and lodges are located to the east side of Upper Lisburn road.

Materials:
Roof natural slate
RWG uPVC
Walling painted render with ashlar lining
Windows mainly timber casements

Historical information

The gateway to Hunterhouse College consists of a gate lodge dating from c. 1870, and a second gate lodge and screen that were constructed in c. 1900. Colinmore, now a part of Hunterhouse College, was originally known as ‘Strathearn’ and was constructed by 1870 as a merchant’s mansion. The first gate lodge was erected at the same time as the house and was built for Philip Fletcher Richardson, an Insurance agent (Ulster Town Directories). The first lodge was a modest single-storey building that was jointly valued with Strathearn at £90 in the Annual Revisions.

The third edition Ordnance Survey map records that the second gate lodge had been constructed by at least 1901. The map depicted both lodges along their current layouts with the new lodge abutting the northern elevation of the earlier building so that both buildings were connected. The wrought iron gate screen with Art Nouveau styled gates and piers was also installed at this time. Dean described the new lodge in the following terms: ‘much gabled with that of the living room projection sporting a Venetian window, a collar tied feature over carried on moulded purlin brackets. A lower gable to the hall advances alongside. Pilastered frames to openings, exposed rafter toes.’ The architect of the remodelling of Strathearn is not known, although Dean suggests that the lodge and gate screen may have been the work of Vincent Craig (Dean, p. 29).

Craig (1869-1925) was a Belfast-based architect who was also the younger brother of James Craig, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Apprenticed to W. H. Lynn during his early education Craig spent a year travelling Europe before establishing an independent practise in 1891. He was a key proponent of the emerging Art Nouveau which was popular during the Edwardian period and stressed asceticism of design over functionalism. The Art Nouveau styling of the gate screen suggests Craig who was one of the very few early advocates of the style in Ulster (DIA).

In 1908 a Mr. Harold Adrian Barbour took possession of Strathearn and carried out a major remodelling of the mansion. In that year the new lodge was individually valued at £3 whilst the value of the c. 1870 lodge remained combined with the mansion. The c. 1870 lodge was subsequently used a dwelling for the Barbour’s chauffeur. In 1945 Strathearn was renamed Colinmore when the site was acquired by the Princess Gardens School and converted into a junior schoolhouse and boarding accommodation; the gate screen and lodges were maintained as an entrance to the school. The gate screen and lodges were listed in 1987 in the same year that the Princess Gardens School was renamed Hunterhouse College. The lodges are now utilised as private dwellings.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/64/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map (1901)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/64/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1921-21)
3. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/20 – Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1860)
4. PRONI VA;/12/B/8/15A-J – Annual Revisions (1862-1930)
5. Ulster Town Directories (1870-1943)
6. First Survey Record – HB26/15/004 (1985)
7. First Survey Image – HB26/15/004 (No Date)
8. NIEA HB Records – HB26/15/004

Secondary Sources
1. Dean, J. A. K., ‘The gate lodges of Ulster: A gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994.
2. Templeton, G; Weatherall, N., ‘South Belfast in old photographs’ Stround: The History Press Ltd, 2008.
3. ‘The end of an era: Barbour’s of Hilden’ Lisburn: Lisburn Historical Society, 2006.
4. Rankin, K., ‘Linen houses of the Lagan Valley’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//buildings.cfm?bk=2527
3. Hunterhouse College website - http://hunterhousecollege.org.uk/about-us/a-well-resourced-school/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A pair of attached single storey gate lodges dating from c.1870 and c.1900 and a wrought-iron Art Nouveau style entrance gatescreen and railings dating from c.1900 probably by architect important local architect V. Craig. The gateway and lodges form the entrance to Hunterhouse College fronting onto the east side of Upper Lisburn road. Some of the original fabric to the gateway and most of the wrought-iron finials are now lost. The lodges and gate screen have group value with the Colinmore building of Hunterhouse College (HB26.15.003 A). Despite alterations, the lodges still retain their architectural character, and with the gate screen make an impressive entrance to the extensive school grounds.

General comments

Record Renumbered - Previously HB26/15/004