Park Lea, Main Street, Crumlin, Co Antrim

Park Lea was a two-story, seven-bay house built between 1800 and 1819 in Crumlin, County Antrim. Originally constructed in 1801 as a boarding school by the Presbyterian minister, Rev Nathaniel Alexander, it was described in the 1830s as a 'good classical boarding school' and 'an academy for both boarders and day scholars', built of stone and lime. The house had harled walls and a hipped roof. The lower windows and entrance had been altered, but the upper windows were originally set in recessed sash boxes with full glazing bars. A four-bay return wing of lower eaves level was also present, with the lower windows retaining full glazing bars in unrecessed boxes; three of the upper windows had been modernised, while one retained full glazing bars in an unrecessed box. The ground-floor entrance was recessed within an elliptical arched opening, accompanied by a panelled door flanked by patterned sidelights and a decorated fanlight. A splayed, single-story bay window was located on the adjacent gable of the main house. The building was originally listed but subsequently delisted on July 21, 1995 and has since been demolished and replaced by a housing development. Historical sources include Ordnance Survey maps from 1832-3 and the Ordnance Survey memoirs of Ireland.