Farm yard, Florida Manor, 14 Florida Road, Kilmood, Killinchy, Co. Down, BT23 6RU

Florida Manor Farmyard, Kilmood, Killinchy, Co. Down

This is a large and architecturally impressive farmyard complex dating from approximately 1780 to 1800, built to serve Florida Manor and rated Grade B1 on the Northern Ireland heritage register. The core of the complex is an original U-shaped stable block, rubble-built and two storeys in height, with a hipped roof. It is a significant survival, though now substantially hemmed in and partially obscured by a large collection of much more recent and ill-fitting modern agricultural structures.

The stable block has three inner-facing facades, each with its own character. The west-facing inner facade presents five large segmental arch-headed openings fitted with timber-sheeted double doors, each with a small sash window with Georgian panes above. The outer face of this same section looks into a smaller yard immediately to the west side of the manor house and features a variety of openings: timber-sheeted doors (one of which is partly louvered), narrow window openings (some with sash frames, others louvered), a large tripartite sash window, and a large semicircular-headed archway to the left side.

The south-facing inner facade has a series of pedestrian and horse doorways at ground-floor level. At first-floor level there is a mixture of sash windows, timber-sheeted store doors, and a single roundel window. Roughly at the centre of this facade is a small plaque — possibly cast iron — bearing the date "July 18 1676". The plaque itself has the appearance of a mid-19th-century piece, and the precise nature of the date is considered odd; it most likely refers to earlier buildings on the site rather than the present structure. There is also said to be an inscribed lintel within the stable buildings carrying a date of 1796, which may be a more directly relevant indicator of when the complex was built.

The east-facing inner facade has a central, slightly projecting gabled bay containing a pedestrian door at ground-floor level, a store door at first-floor level, and a roundel window set into the tympanum. Above the gable of this projecting bay is an unusual feature that resembles a chimney stack but may originally have been the base of a bellcote. On either side of this bay are a large outer segmental arch opening and a small sash-like window, with two roundel windows to each side at first-floor level. A tall modern silo has been sited immediately to the south of this part of the block.

Throughout the inner faces of the original stable block, all doorway openings — whether pedestrian or vehicle-sized — are treated with "in and out" dressings. The facades are painted. The hipped roof is covered in a mixture of Bangor blue slates and asbestos slates. There is a brick chimney stack to the north wing, and the remains of cast iron rainwater goods are still present.

To the south side of the original block a later single-storey addition of breeze-block-like construction has been made, with a corrugated asbestos roof and a series of timber-sheeted pedestrian doors on its north inner facade.

The farmyard itself is now covered in grass and weeds. The outer faces of the original block to the north and west are largely hidden by large modern farm buildings, mainly of corrugated iron construction. The modern structure attached to the west outer face of the stable yard is particularly notable in scale, being described as resembling an aircraft hangar and used for cattle. Further freestanding modern structures stand to the northwest.

A short distance to the south of the farmyard is the former steward's house (recorded separately). Further south still, a glasshouse of pre-1834 origin once stood, though the owner confirmed at the time of the listing survey that nothing of it remains.

Historical background

The Manor of Florida was created in 1638 on lands acquired by Sir James Montgomery, second son of Viscount Montgomery, from Con O'Neill. The name "Florida" is said to derive from Sir James's love of flowers. During the Commonwealth period (1649–60) the lands were placed in the custody of a Colonel Barrow, but were returned to the Montgomery family after considerable dispute in 1664. In 1691–92 the manor passed to the Crawford family, and then to Robert Gordon through his marriage to Ann, the niece and sole heiress of David Crawford's estate, around 1770. It was almost certainly one of the Gordons who built the present house and its farmyard, probably around 1780 to 1800, with some sources suggesting 1796 based on an inscribed timber within the stables. The complex may have been built around or incorporating an earlier Montgomery dwelling, which — if the later datestone in the farmyard is to be accepted — may have dated from around 1676.

The house and farmyard are shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834, where the yard is marked "stables." By the time of the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1859–60, a linking section from the house, possibly serving as servants' quarters, had been added. Most of the farm buildings now surrounding the original block are, as their appearance suggests, post-1945.

In the later 19th century, successive Land Acts led to much of the Gordon estate being sold off, and by the 1880s the manor house appears to have been leased by a Thomas Brand. By at least 1917 the demesne had been acquired by a William Devenney, a local farmer who lived in the steward's house, leaving Florida Manor itself unoccupied and falling into disrepair. After the Second World War, the property was purchased by Milo Pickaar, who undertook substantial renovation of the house. The farmyard, as noted, retains its original late 18th-century stable block but is now substantially compromised by the surrounding modern agricultural additions.