Gate screen, Ballyalton House, 39 Ballyrainey Road, Ballyalton, Newtownards, Co Down, BT23 5AD

Gate Screen at Ballyalton House

A sturdy but decorative gate screen and gates dating from circa 1840s, reflecting the Tudor Gothic styling of Ballyalton House itself. The gate screen sits at the roadside approximately one mile west of Newtownards, to the west of Ballyrainey Road.

The gate screen comprises curved stone walls approximately 1.25 metres in height, finished with lined render and painted. It features two sturdy plain end piers with stone pyramidal caps and coping to the tops of the walls, with a moulded base. To the north is a further pier, and between both northern piers there was once undoubtedly a small pedestrian gate leading to a now-demolished gate lodge.

The gates consist of four piers, each made up of four pilasters that give the piers a thick cruciform plan. Each pilaster is decorated with cusped lancet panels. Above each panel is a moulded course, above which runs a quatrefoil frieze. The piers are finished with pyramidal-like moulded caps and moulded bases matching the walls. Central carriage gates are flanked by narrow outer pedestrian gates. The gates are wrought iron with spear head decoration.

The rear (or inner) face of the southern wall has been recently repaired in breeze block and remains unrendered. Cast iron bollards with sea horse motifs, originally manufactured for use in Belfast, have been placed in front of the gate screen by the current owner. These were presumably salvaged from elsewhere.

A small gate lodge formerly stood immediately north of the gate screen but was demolished in the late 1960s. While the present owner reports local descriptions of this lodge as 'ink pot' shaped, contemporary Ordnance Survey maps suggest otherwise.

Ballyalton House itself appears to have been built prior to 1833, but the front facade was probably remodelled around 1840–50. The gate screen dates from the same period and reflects the Tudor Gothic styling of the house's front elevation. A curved screen is indicated on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map, possibly suggesting an earlier date for the screen.