Woodbank, 451 Shore Road, Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, BT37 9SE

Woodbank is an extensive three-bay, two-storey house built around 1810, facing south on the east side of Shore Road, with views east over Belfast Lough. It is believed to have been constructed on the site of a much earlier house. The building is plainly detailed and survives in its original setting, accompanied by associated outbuildings including a vernacular house, a coach house, and a single-storey studio. Remodelling over the years has added to its interest and character, while leaving the east-facing façade — thought to be the original principal entrance front of the earlier house — largely intact. Woodbank was the home of the Bland family and, as such, contributes to both the architectural heritage and the local history of the area.

The principal two-storey block has a lower two-storey extension with a hipped roof to the left (west) gable. The roof is hipped natural slate with blue-black clay ridge tiles. Chimneys are rendered with a corbel course and octagonal chimney pots. The external walls are finished in ruled-and-lined render with a projecting string course and plinth. Windows throughout are 6-over-6 timber sliding sashes with painted masonry cills unless noted otherwise. Cast-iron rainwater goods are used throughout.

The principal (south) elevation has a central entrance fronted by a projecting Greek Doric porch with fluted columns (without bases) and an entablature. The flanking bays each have a window at ground floor level, with the right-hand window flanked by two bas-relief roundels; there is a window to each bay at first floor. The entrance door has six glazed panes over three fixed panels with a transom light above, all set within deep moulded masonry architraves.

The rear elevation is effectively three storeys — the third floor is contained within the attic level, with a shorter pitch owing to an off-centre ridge-line — and is abutted to the left by a two-storey return. The walls here are roughcast rendered. The exposed section has a door to the left (six panes over one fixed panel) and an 8-over-4 window to the right; there are two windows at first floor and two at second floor, the left of which is fixed and sits above the return roofline, while the right is 2-over-4.

The east gable is abutted by a two-storey return that forms a symmetrical three-bay elevation with chimneys at the party walls. This return features a central two-storey canted bay with a hipped roof. The central canted bay has double doors at ground floor (two glazed panes over one fixed panel) and a window at first floor, with a window to each cheek at both ground and first floor levels. The flanking bays each have a window at ground and first floor. The north gable of the return has a two-storey projecting semi-circular bay with two windows to each floor.

The west elevation of the return is abutted by a two-storey vernacular house with a pitched roof to the left. The exposed section of the return, which faces onto the courtyard, has an 8-over-8 window with margin lights at ground floor and paired windows at first floor, both flanked by small centre-pivoted four-pane casements.

The north elevation of the east two-storey extension has a single-storey canted bay with central double doors detailed as on the east elevation, a window to each cheek, and the canted bay surmounted by a tripartite window. The west gable of this extension has a round-headed window at ground floor and is abutted to the left by a random rubble wall with brick pillars featuring stepped square caps and ball finials, which support cast-metal gates giving access to the courtyard. The north elevation of the extension is roughcast rendered and is abutted by a single-storey extension with a pitched slated roof. The courtyard is enclosed to the west by a single-storey studio with a slated mono-pitch roof, and to the north by the boundary wall of the adjacent coach house.

The semi-detached vernacular house is rectangular on plan with a hipped natural slated roof, blue-black clay ridge tiles, and rendered chimneys with a corbel course and octagonal chimney pots to the left gable and central party wall. Walls are roughcast rendered. The principal elevation is three-bay with a central entrance and windows to the flanking bays; there are two 1-over-1 sliding sashes at first floor. The west gable is abutted by the main building's north return to the left; the exposed section has a window at first floor. The rear (south) elevation faces onto the enclosed courtyard and has a timber-sheeted door to the right and two 8-over-8 windows to the left. At first floor there are three windows: a 3-over-6 to the left, a 6-over-3 at the centre, and a 1-over-1 above the door. The east gable comprises two lean-to extensions — a single-storey one to the right with a replacement door and window, and a two-storey one to the left with two timber casement windows at ground floor. The right cheek, facing the courtyard, has a timber-sheeted door with a fixed 4-over-4 window above; the left cheek has a fixed 4-over-4 casement window. The exposed gable section has a window at first floor.

The adjacent coach house sits to the west of the vernacular house. It is rectangular on plan with a hipped natural slated roof, blue-black clay ridge tiles, and a single red brick chimney to the centre of the north elevation. The principal (north) elevation is finished in exposed random rubble; other walls are roughcast rendered. A round-headed coach arch to the north façade is accompanied by replacement windows throughout.

The property is set in mature landscaped gardens to the south and east, the eastern gardens extending to steep grass verges and a private slipway enclosed by a random rubble wall at the shore. Access from the west is through paired masonry pillars with stepped square caps and ball finials, providing a central vehicular entrance with a pedestrian entrance to each side, all with timber gates; a gravel driveway leads to car parking and to the enclosed courtyard to the west of the house.

The building appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834, at that time with more accretions than survive today. The name 'Woodbank' first appears on the third edition map of 1902. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 records the occupier as the Reverend Robert W. Bland, with a house, offices, gate lodge, and land valued at £48, later revised to £65. The property is described in the valuation fieldbook as being of "elegant and stone finish and south aspect and nicely situated close with the shore," and a hand-drawn map in the fieldbook records the measurements of the various sections. Valuation revisions show the occupier as Edward Bland, subsequently revised to Captain Euan Miller in 1930 and to Elizabeth Crookshank in 1932; the lessor is listed as Colonel H. McCalmont and the building valuation is noted as £55.

The architectural historian Brett assigns the date of 1810 to the house. He also quotes Boyle, writing in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1839, who describes Woodbank as "the residence of the Rev. Robert Bland" and states it is "of the Grecian and Elizabethan style, built 1837, 2 storeys high, with three acres of ornamental ground and planting," and names Thomas Jackson of Belfast as the architect. As Brett points out, however, there are no Elizabethan features and very few Grecian ones — the classical porch being the notable exception — and this evidence must therefore be treated with caution.

Woodbank was also the home of Lilian Bland (fl. 1877–1972), who became the first female aviator, building and flying her own plane, the Mayfly, from Carnmoney Hill in 1910.