3 Sans Souci Lane

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

'Heathcote', one of a pair of three-storey houses designed in a flamboyant Victorian style by T H McCaul in 1899, located in a secluded site off Sans Souci Park in the university area of South Belfast approximately 2.5 km from the centre of Belfast. The main 3 storey block, complete with projecting bays and porch is ornately detailed in an eclectic mixture of classical and more typically late Victorian detailing with painted channelled render on the ground floor and yellow clay brick above. A simpler rendered two storey return is attached to the rear.

Materials:
Walls: Painted channelled rendered on the ground floor with yellow clay brick above.
Windows: Painted single glazed – mixture of glazing patterns – with many having leaded coloured glass in the tip light.
Roof: Natural Welsh slate with terracotta ridge tiles
RWGs Cast iron

Front Elevation (SE)
SE elevation has a projecting single storey entrance porch with double doors set under an ogee arch that breaks into a pediment above. A fluted string course connects the door and two windows which are 1/1 sliding sash - the top light leaded coloured glass in a geometric pattern. This detailing is repeated throughout the three storey part of the house. The porch roof is concealed with a partly balustraded parapet. To the right is an unusual arrangement of a projecting canted bay on the ground floor with painted curved timber struts at the corners appearing to support a square bay above. The first floor has a square headed ½ sliding sash window, complete with a fully balustraded parapet over a projecting cornice. As with all the corners, the brickwork projects to form rusticated quoins. All of the brickwork has surprisingly fine mortar beds. According to the present owner of the neighbouring property this is because there is an inner skin of less thick red clay brick and the mortar beds are of a different size to accommodate this variation. There are three impressive chimney stacks in varying sizes – all in yellow brick with projecting cornices and dentil courses.
To the right, this elevation is mirrored in the neighbouring house and both bays are surmounted by a projecting gable with an apex pierced in a floral pattern. Below this is a round headed window in each house.

Side Elevation (SW)
The SW elevation has a rectangular single storey projecting bay, detailed as before, with three square headed 1/1 windows to the first floor and two round headed windows in the attic. The projecting verge of the half hipped gable is supported on curved timber brackets in a similar style to those on the SE elevation. These continue around the corners to support projecting eaves. Further to the left is a two storey return with smooth painted render and two 1/1 sliding sash windows to each floor. Attached to the return’s gable is a single storey mono-pitched block.

Side Elevation (NE)
The NE elevation is abutted by 1 Sans Souci Lane – HB26 17 122A

Rear Elevation (NW)
The NW boundary of the house is rendered as the return and is blind apart for a timber door to the internal yard. This rendered wall extends to the SW enclosing the garden at this side. At the first floor there is a small window in the return and a larger leaded light to the staircase in the main block. The internal yard is separated from the neighbouring house with a 3m high rendered wall and part of the yard has been modernised.

Both houses are accessed by a narrow lane at right angles to Sans Souci Park. Heathcote has both a pedestrian access through the original ornate cast iron gate with name plate attached and a vehicular access. There is a substantial garden to the SW that extends to the SE – mainly grassed and with some shrubs and flower beds. It contains a single storey rendered dwelling which was constructed in the late twentieth century and was used originally as a play school. This replaced a coach-house in the same location that served the occupants of both Heathcote and its neighbour Ingledene. A narrow lane to the NW provides vehicular access to the rear of the house.

Historical information

Background – Sans Souci (consisting of the main San Souci Park, Sans Souci Lane and the area between fronting on to Malone Road) was laid out in late 1890s on the grounds formerly belonging to a pre-1832 house of that name, probably built in the 1770s when the Donegall estate began to sub-divide what were formerly known as the ‘Course’ lands between Malone and Stranmillis and lease these to farmers. The house itself, rebuilt in 1836-37 and subsequently occupied by the Purdon, Pim and Lindsay families, was vacated around 1895, and in 1899 the grounds were broken up sold off as ‘beautiful villa sites’. The old house, now set within a much restricted 1 acre plot, was initially offered up for lease also, but within a year or so had been demolished and the whole of its former grounds opened for development. The new principal street was laid out in c.1899 with most of the new plots arranged to back on to the looping V-shaped course of the boundary of the former garden itself. The first of the new dwellings (5 pairs of semis – present nos.6-8, 31-33 and 35-37, 1-2 Sans Souci Lane and 60-62 Malone Road) were completed in the same year or that following, with nos.10-12, 26, 28, 34-36, 38-40, 41 and 43-45 up by 1911, and the majority the remainder – including a large badminton hall to the east - following in the 1920s, filling up much of the land which in the decade of so prior to this had been utilised as allotments. Recent years have witnessed apartment development to the southern corner of Sans Souci Park, with the site of the sports hall (latterly the property of QUB) taken up with one large apartment block.

No3 Sans Souci Lane – This house – ‘Heathcote’ and its matching attached neighbour (no.1 ‘Ingledene’) were built in 1899-1900 to designs by Thomas H. McCaul, a Belfast-based architect, active in the town in the 1890s and early 1900s, for John Stott, who was also the original occupant. According to the valuers the cost of construction was £904.

In the 1901 census Mr. Stott, (an English-born ‘secretary of limited company – linen business’) was living there with his wife, Jemima, and their two grown-up daughters, with the house itself noted as a first class dwelling with 13 rooms in use. The Stotts vacated the property in c.1909 and were succeeded by Thomas Magean, who is noted in 1911 census as occupying the house with his wife, Susan, a relative, Jeannie Fawcett and a domestic servant. J.B Aicken (of ‘Gunning & Campbell’s Ltd.’) is listed as the resident in 1918, remaining there until c.1923, when he was followed J.C. Taylor in 1924. Mr Taylor was followed c.1938 by Geoffrey Bowley, who (doubtless with the outbreak of war) is later listed as a Major. In 1943 the house was requisitioned by the government for use by the Radio Security Service (RSS), a body tasked with intercepting illegal radio transmissions by enemy agents operating within the UK and overseeing messages sent by double-agents. In RSS vacated the property in 1946 and a Mrs Major is recorded as resident from at least 1951 to c.1962 and R.P. Phoenix (‘director’) from c.1963 to c.1983. E.V. Hickey is listed as the occupant in 1985, but from at least 1990 the property is not included within the street directories making it difficult to trace ownership / occupancy after this date.

References – Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL12B/43A/27 annual valuation revision book, 1897-1905
2 ‘Northern Whig’ 10 November 1898, 30 January, 2 February, 3 March 1899
3 PRONI VAL7B/3/19 valuation of Belfast, 1900
4 Census of Ireland, 1901, 1911 [online - http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/]
5 OS town plans of Belfast 1901-02, 1920, 1931, 1937, 1957
6 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Street Directory’, (Belfast News-Letter, Belfast), various dates from 1901 to 1996
7 ‘Belfast News-Letter’ 5 July 1907 [James Morton obituary], 6 June 1916 [sale notice], 6 February, 7 July 1917

Secondary sources
1 Carleton, S.T., ‘The growth of South Belfast’, (unpublished QUB MA thesis), 1967
2 Rowan, A.J. and Brett, C.E.B., Historic Buildings...Queens University of Belfast, (UAHS, 1968)
3 Busby, George, ‘The spies at Gilnahirk’, (Cottage Publications, 2016)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
V. Authorship
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Heathcote, one of a pair of three-storey houses designed in a flamboyant Victorian style by T H McCaul in 1899. Located in a secluded site off Sans Souci Park in the university area of South Belfast, it is a fine example of Late Victorian domestic architecture, exhibiting good quality detailing both externally and internally. The external plasterwork, curved timber brackets, brick quoins and chimney stacks are of particular note and the innovative brick construction with fine mortar beds. Enhanced by its mature and secluded setting, it has group value with its neighbour, 3 Sans Souci Lane HB26.17.122A. Additionally the house is of further historical interest as it was requisitioned by the British government 1944 – 1946, during WW2 and used as the headquarters in Northern Ireland for The Radio Security Service. This organisation was set up by MI5 to coordinate the interception of illegal radio traffic, particularly from German spies and to forward them to Bletchley Park for decoding.