Gate Lodge, 20 Bridge Road South, Helens Bay, Bangor, BT19 1JT

Gate Lodge, 20 Bridge Road South, Helens Bay, Bangor

A two-storey two-bay Victorian gate lodge built around 1870, located at the entrance to Crawfordsburn Country Park. Although altered and extended to the rear around 2000, it retains much of its original character and picturesque detailing. The building forms part of the original Crawfordsburn House Estate and is of interest as a good example of its type.

The lodge has a rectangular plan with a rear extension. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with clay ridge tiles and decorative barge boards. Rainwater goods are uPVC; there is a cast-iron hopper head. A tall ashlar chimney with large cavetto cornice rises from the building. The walls are constructed of quarry-faced basalt rubble with ashlar quoins and a projected plinth.

The principal elevation faces north and is asymmetrically arranged. To the right is a two-storey gable, slightly projected. The ground floor is abutted by a lean-to timber-framed porch with a pointed arched doorway. The door is timber sheeted with a pointed arch and large decorative wrought-iron strap hinges. Sidelights with transoms flank the door; matching windows with tongue and groove aprons are located above on the cheeks. A single window is centrally located to the first floor. To the left of the principal elevation is a single-storey section with a centrally located window. All windows are double-glazed 2/2 timber sliding sashes with long-and-short ashlar surrounds, chamfered jambs and heads, and projected cills.

The left (east) gable is blank. The building is partially extended to the left with a hipped roof and a new window opening. The right (west) elevation features a centrally located arrow-head projecting bay. The rear elevation is abutted by a single-storey extension dating to around 2000. This comprises a gable-ended projection on the left with a blank face and a flat-roofed bay to the right with a single window. The extension continues with a catslide roof to the left incorporating a single window, a central half-glazed uPVC door, and a single window to the right.

The lodge sits at the entrance to Crawfordsburn Country Park to the east of Bridge Road South. The site is bounded by a timber fence enclosing a small garden and gravel car parking area. Mature trees stand to the north, east and south, with agricultural land beyond the hedge parallel to the busy road to the west. The original gate screen has been removed, affecting the setting. Adjacent to the lodge are entrance gates to Crawfordsburn Country Park, consisting of short square stone piers, possibly contemporary with the replacement house, with plain modern metal gates.

The lodge is first recorded on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1901. It was the gate lodge, known as Helen's Bay Lodge, to Crawfordsburn House, a mansion dating to around 1820 which was replaced in 1906 by a house designed by Vincent Craig. The architect of the lodge is unknown. The building is currently owned by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and is let to the Scouts, who operate a campsite in Crawfordsburn Country Park, the former grounds of Crawfordsburn House. The lodge provides accommodation for the manager of the Scouts' campsite.