244 Whitewell Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Exterior Description and Setting:
Detached ten-bay two-storey with attic French Gothic-revival red brick and buff sandstone building, built 1874 to the design by Thomas Hevey and constructed by local building firm H & J Martin. Rectangular plan having pair of two-storey octagonal towers flanking south elevation. A segmental arched opening spans between these towers to support a balcony over double doors with fanlight. Projecting two-storey bay to east and west elevations with gabled dormer to east (now used as the main entrance) and two-storey extension to north. Six-bay two-storey extension to west built c.2003. Located on a plateau overlooking Whitewell Road.

Hipped natural slate roof having stone ridge tiles and projecting stone eaves course over brick corbelled table. Modern metal roof-lights to attic-level. Rounded uPVC guttering and downpipes. Gabled south elevation with buff sandstone coping to raised parapet. Banded natural slate octagonal roof to towers with gablets to south, west, north and east. Exposed rafter tails. Hipped roof to projecting east and west bays. Gabled-dormer to east projecting bay having moulded buff sandstone raised parapet with acroteria. Mono-pitched roof to north extension having crow-stepped parapet with moulded sandstone coping.

East Elevation:
Ten bay, two-storey elevation having projecting two-storey entrance bay with gabled-dormer. Buff-sandstone eaves course with brick corbel table, buff-sandstone springing course and sill course to ground and first floor openings with blue brick banding below and a battered brick plinth. Piers between openings divide the elevation into bays, with the third bay from the S end projecting further to form an external chimney breast; this is corbelled out from the sandstone string course at ground floor between arched window openings and then tapers back in at eaves level. Raised roundel to pediment of gable-dormer with projecting moulded sandstone eaves course supported on piers with corbelled brick table. Segmental-arch openings to ground floor, having alternating buff and red sandstone headers with bull-nosed inset edge, roundel to keystone and springing stones and blue brick header over. Square-headed openings to first floor with projecting sandstone sills, with the exception of the window nearest to the N end which has a segmental arch. The pair of square-headed openings immediately to the north of the projecting bay are separated by a sandstone pilaster mullion. Square-headed opening to ground floor of projecting entrance gable with modern steel beam supporting pair of pointed-arch openings over timber sheeted double entrance door. Buff sandstone architrave with raised roundel over, all set within trefoil-headed arch with sandstone hood mould and square hood stops. Pair of trefoil-headed window openings to first floor, with stone cusping, set within square-headed opening.

South Elevation:
Three-bay two-storey elevation with flanking octagonal towers. Segmental-headed opening to depressed arch at ground floor with buff and red sandstone header, hood mould over and tiled mosaic spandrel topped by moulded stone coping with stooled ends. Decorative metal railings form guarding at balcony edge. Gothic-arched opening to first floor with depressed roundel detail to buff stones, hood mould, square hood stops and red and blue alternating brick headers over. Trefoil-arched louvred opening to attic-level with decorative mosaic banded spring course. Decorative eaves course to towers having machicolation with trefoil insets and buff sandstone and mosaic string course below. Round-arched opening to first floor having Gothic arched header and springing course with polychromatic brick header over and blue brick string courses below. Square-headed openings to ground-floor having buff sandstone lintel course with round-arched blue brick header over. Projecting sandstone sill course separated from battered plinth by blue brick band.

West Elevation:
Projecting two-storey bay. Buff-sandstone eaves on brick corbel table, buff-sandstone springing course and sill course to ground and first floor openings with blue brick banding below. Battered plinth. Piers between openings. Segmental-arch openings to ground floor, having buff and red sandstone headers with bull-nosed inset edge, roundel to keystone and springing stones and blue brick header over. Square-headed openings to first floor. Projecting sandstone sills. A modern extension abuts this elevation, constructed c.2003.

North Elevation:
North extension has a chamfered brick plinth. Square-headed openings with concrete lintel, mullion and splayed sill to ground floor and sandstone sill to first floor. Former door opening has in bricked up to W side.

Setting:
Six-bay two-storey extension to west built c.2003. Located on a plateau overlooking Whitewell Road, within its own grounds with car parking and lawns to east and south and metal fence perimeter to west and north. Rendered walls from north-east leading to entrance doors with ramp to east. Hedge boundary to east and south with contemporary metal entrance gateway to east.

Materials:
Roof : Natural slate
RWG: uPVC
Walling: Red brick with buff sandstone dressings
Windows: Replacement timber

Historical information

Throne Hospital, a red brick French gothic building located on the Whitewell Road, was constructed in 1873-74. The second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) records that the land that had previously been part of a gentleman’s estate that was known as The Throne. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1860) record that The Throne was the residence of Robert Simms, a partner in Simms & McIntyre, local wholesale publishers (UTD). Beringer’s 'The Throne Hospital: A short history' records that the Throne Hospital was built at the bequest of Samuel Martin, a flax merchant from Killyleagh, who ‘conceived the idea of establishing a Children’s Hospital in a rural district close to Belfast.’ Following his death in 1872, Martin’s idea was realised and carried out by his father, John Martin, who purchased the 28 acres of land at The Throne. Beringer states that ‘the site was considered an ideal one situated on the lower escarpment of Cavehill and commanding an uninterrupted view of Belfast Lough, the County Down coast and the Crumlin hills (Beringer, p. 115).

The Throne Children’s Hospital was designed by Timothy Hevey (1846-78), a Belfast-based architect who had established an independent practice in the town in 1869 and was described by the Dictionary of Irish Architects as Belfast’s ‘leading Catholic architect, enjoying the patronage of Patrick Dorrian, the Bishop of Down and Connor.’ Hevey designed a children’s hospital that would accommodate 32 beds. The builder contracted to carry out the construction of the building was the local building firm of H. & J. Martin. The hospital, which cost £4,000, was officially opened on 1st October 1874 and was transferred to the control of Belfast Royal Hospital in the following year (Beringer; DIA).

The hospital’s first Annual Report recorded that, for the year ending 31st August 1876, a total of 121 patients were admitted to the hospital. Upon taking control of the Throne Hospital, Belfast Royal Hospital stipulated that a convalescent home should be constructed at the site within a period of two years. The Board of Management undertook the extension of the hospital with the construction of a convalescent home. The memorial stone of the new building was laid on 18th October 1877. In reporting the laying ceremony the Morning News recorded that ‘the building, which is in the Gothic style of architecture, is elegantly and tastefully designed. The dressings are of white sandstone from the Scrabo Quarried, Co. Down. The building is divided into two departments – that situated on the right being devoted to the Children’s Home, and that on the left to the Convalescent Home. The former branch is designed for 32 children, and the latter for upwards of 30 patients. A spacious corridor 240 feet in length, extends from one end of the block to the other.’ The Convalescent Home was designed by Thomas Jackson & Son with H. & J. Martin once again contracted as builders. The completed hospital extension cost £7,000 and the Annual Revisions set the total rateable value of the Hospital and Convalescent Home at £305 and 10 shillings in 1878 (Beringer, DIA).

Beringer states that the Throne Hospital possessed the first Convalescent Home to be erected in Ireland and that ‘it would enable the Royal Hospital to receive more patients.’ The fourth edition Ordnance Survey map (1921) records that the towered red brick hospital building, located next to the Whitewell Road, was the smaller of the two buildings. The Convalescent Home (now demolished) was much larger and extended to the south-west of the surviving building. The Throne Hospital continued to operate from the site until the 1990s. In 1963 the building included a Plastic Surgery unit and was utilised as a hospital for the care of elderly patients from 1973 onwards.

In 1987 Larmour described Throne Hospital as ‘a vigorous and original treatment of French Gothic in polychrome brick with white Scrabo dressings.’ Throne Hospital was listed in 1987 and was closed on 4th November 1992. Following its closure the Throne Hospital swiftly fell into a state of disrepair. The development of modern housing in the area resulted in the demolition of the adjoining Convalescent Home in c. 1995. The building was badly vandalised in 1998 (NIEA HB Records). In 2000-03 the former hospital was restored by Donnelly O’Neill Architects who converted the interior into office accommodation and erected the current modern extension to the west side of the building. In 2003 the Belfast Telegraph described the restored building in the following terms: ‘The original exterior has been reinstated to recapture all its old world elegance. Meanwhile inside, the old mixes with the new to form a contemporary office space. Following a painstaking and sympathetic restoration programme the property has been restored to its former glory, whilst providing outstanding modern ground and first floor office suite.’ During the Second Survey the building was occupied by Donnelly O’Neill Architects (NIEA HB Records; Donnelly O’Neill website).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/57/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/57/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901-02)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/57/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921)
4. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/13B – Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1860)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/5/12B-12J – Annual Revisions (1865-1929)
6. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)
7. The Morning News (19 Oct 1877)
8. Irish Builder (27 Oct 1877)
9. First Survey Record – HB26/51/007 (1986)
10. NIEA HB Records – HB26/51/007

Secondary Sources
1. Beringer, T. R. O., ‘The Throne Hospital: A short history’ Belfast: The Ulster Medical Journal, 1998.
2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. Donnelly O’Neill Architects website - http://www.d-on.co.uk/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Throne Hospital is a 19th century French Gothic style building, located on an elevated position off the Whitewell Road in north Belfast. The building is of social significance, due to its former use as a Children's Hospital when it was constructed in 1874 and then extended to the south-west in 1877 as a Convalescent Home. This latter extension was demolished and the Throne Hospital closed on 4th November 1992. The current owners have converted the property to office accommodation and built a new extension to the west. The former hospital is of particular architectural interest as many of the distinctive brick details have survived including the projecting entrance bay, the ornate eaves course and the battered plinth. The octagonal towers to the south add an impressive and majestic quality and together with the mosaic tiled spandrel and polychromatic brick details, create a unique overall compositon. The stone banding, brick corbelling and piers further articulate the facades. The building was extensively renovated in 2003 following a fire that resulted in loss of much of the original internal fabric, although the roof trusses and scrolled corbels survive and are exposed within the current open-plan volume.