The Gate Lodge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached asymmetrical gabled two-bay two-storey Gothic revival sandstone former gate lodge, built c.1870 to the designs of John Lanyon, as the principal gate lodge to Belfast Castle (HB26/51/001A). Rectangular on plan facing east onto Antrim Road with a single-storey extension to the north and projecting semi-circular bay window to the southeast.

Steeply pitched natural slate roofs of varying heights with terracotta crested ridge tiles and lead valleys set behind crow-stepped gables. Ashlar sandstone profiled chimneystack, cruciform in plan, rising at an angle from the south corner of the principal east gable. Conical natural slate roof to the circular bay window surmounted by lead flashing and decorative wrought-iron finial. Original nail-head cast-iron guttering supported on moulded sandstone ashlar eaves course with cast-iron box downpipes. Random coursed rock-faced sandstone ashlar walling with moulded trim to plinth course, flush sandstone ashlar string course, and beak moulding between ground and first floor levels. Smooth sandstone ashlar crow-stepped gables with ball finials. Square-headed window openings surrounded by ashlar sandstone with stop-chamfered bowtell mouldings, splayed flush sills and timber sash windows with historic glass.

Principal east elevation comprises a two-storey gable to the right and a semi-circular bay window with a conical roof to the left. Decoratively carved dressed sandstone plaque centred on the gable with heraldic shield and monogram. Paired windows to first floor level with single-pane timber sash windows with ogee horns. 2/2 timber sash windows to the ground floor (curved to the bay window) with steel security grilles. The elevation extends to the south by a sandstone screen wall described below.

South elevation comprises a gable to the right and a recessed corner entrance portico to the left. The gable also incorporates a square carved sandstone plaque with heraldic shield and a single window opening at ground floor level, dressed in the same ashlar stone as described above.

The west elevation comprises a two-storey gable to the left and a diminutive gable to the right over the corner entrance portico. The gable over the entrance has an uncarved square plaque. Open to south and west, the portico is supported on the corner by a squat sandstone circular column rising from a square plinth block and moulded base to a stiff leaf capital. The openings to the portico have shouldered smooth sandstone ashlar arches with bowtell moulded heads and recessed corbels. A single window opening to the west within the portico and a further shouldered door opening to the south with an original diagonally sheeted timber door having iron door furniture opening onto black and terracotta clay tiled area. The north elevation extends by a further bay as a flat-roofed sandstone extension with a single door and window opening having concrete lintels over both timber door and timber casement window.

North elevation is blank and abutted by the single-storey flat-roofed extension with crenellations above parapet to meet the E gable.

Roof : Natural slate
RWG: Cast-iron
Walling: Sandstone ashlar
Windows : Original timber sash

Setting
Street fronted facing east onto Antrim Road with the east elevation extending southwards as a decorative sandstone screen wall, or rampart, with crow-stepped gable over a voussoired round-arched pedestrian entrance and a hood moulding with foliate label stops and replacement steel gate. Above this gate a diminutive crow-stepped gable is surmounted by a ball-finial. Original stone paved section to the east elevation. Early twentieth-century steel gate to the south provides vehicular access to a bitmac paved parking area occupying much of the west of the site.

Historical information

No. 550-554 Antrim Road, a sandstone two-storey and one-and-a-half-storey former gate lodge to Belfast Castle (HB01/51/001A), was constructed in 1870.

Belfast Castle was constructed in 1868-70 as a dwelling for the Marquis of Donegall. The sandstone mansion was designed by John Lanyon, the son of Sir. Charles Lanyon and a partner in the firm Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon. John Lanyon was also responsible for the design of the mansion’s gate lodge on the Antrim Road. Both the mansion and its gate lodge were designed in the emerging Scots Baronial style which had become popular in the United Kingdom following the reconstruction of Balmoral Castle in the style in 1852-56. Dean states Lanyon’s design for the lodge was ‘a magnificent tour de force and an apt introduction to [the] similarly styled mansion on the Cave hill foothills beyond.’ An illustration of the gate lodge shows that the lodge originally possessed a decorative iron and wooden gate screen to its south side (now demolished) which possessed octagonal gate piers on top of each was placed a Donegall wolf bearing an armorial shield (Dean, p. 4).

The cost of constructing Belfast Castle and its associated buildings was originally estimated at £11,000 however the expense was severely underestimated resulting in the Marquis becoming embroiled in more debt and the construction of Belfast Castle becoming threatened. The project was saved by the Marquis’ son-in-law, Lord Ashley, who acted as guarantor and paid for the outstanding sums. Larmour states that the construction of the mansion was carried out in 1868-70 and was contracted out to the local building firm of W. B. McMaster. The gate lodge was constructed of locally-quarried Scrabo sandstone with Scottish Giffnock sandstone being utilised as a secondary material (Larmour, p. 36; DIA; NSD).

The Annual Revisions set the total rateable value of the gate lodge at £15 and noted that the building was occupied by William Crates in the late-19th century. Crates was a retired artillery officer in the British Army and was employed as the gate keeper to Belfast Castle. The 1901 census building return described the gate lodge as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of four rooms. Following the death of the 3rd Marquis of Donegall in 1883, Belfast Castle and its estate passed to his son-in-law, Antony Ashley-Cooper (Lord Ashley) the 8th Earl of Shaftesbury, who had married the Lady Harriet Chichester in 1857. The Shaftesbury family continued to hold Belfast Castle until 1934 when the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury granted the building and the 200 acre estate to Belfast Corporation on the condition that the corporation would purchase the site for £10,750 and that the mansion would not be utilised as a hospital or institution. Having been utilised as a private dwelling for only 65 years, Belfast Castle was granted to Belfast Corporation on 1st February 1935 (Scott).

Following Belfast Corporation’s purchase of Belfast Castle, the former gate lodge was acquired by Robert McIntyre who rented the building out to tenants as a private dwelling. The NIEA HB Records note that, due to the widening of the Antrim Road and the development of post-war housing in the area, the lodge’s gate screen was demolished in c. 1940. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland the value of the building remained at £15 but by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value of the former lodge had been increased to £17 and 10 shillings.

The former gate lodge to Belfast Castle was listed in 1978. The NIEA HB Records note that the building continued to be utilised as a private dwelling until 1992 when it was converted into offices for a local Orthodontist surgery. In that year local architect John S. Williamson converted the ground floor sitting room and parlour into a waiting room, the changing of the first floor bedrooms into a staff room and the construction of the flat-roof extension to the north side of the building (NIEA HB Records). During the Second Survey the former gate lodge continued to be utilised as a Dentist’s surgery.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/57/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/57/4 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901-02)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/57/5 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1931)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/57/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1936-38)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/5/8B-8F – Annual Revisions (1867-1897)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/F/1-7 – Annual Revisions (1897-1930)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/3 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/1 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1870-1943)
10. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
11. First Survey Record – HB26/51/003 (1970)
12. NIEA HB Records – HB26/51/003

Secondary Sources
1. Dean, J. A. K., ‘The gate lodges of Ulster: A gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994.
2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.
3. Scott, R., ‘A breath of fresh air: The story of Belfast’s parks’ Belfast: Blackstaff Press, 2000.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//buildings.cfm?bk=2616

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity
U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

Detached asymmetrical gabled two-bay two-storey Gothic Revival sandstone building, built c.1870 to the designs of John Lanyon, as the principal gate lodge to Belfast Castle (HB 26/ 51/ 001A). Despite being disconnected from Belfast Castle, the elaborate stone detailing and complex elevation treatments, clearly echo the architectural exuberance of the Castle it once served. Retaining much of its original detailing, the architectural character of the gate lodge, now converted into an orthodontist surgery, has been sensitively preserved. Together with the Chapel of the Resurrection (HB 26/ 51/ 001C), located within close proximity, the castle and gate lodge are an important group and a reminder of the Marquis of Donegall's legacy on the city of Belfast.

General comments

Record re-numbered, previously HB26/51/003.