Local Heritage and Visitor's Centre, Bangor Castle, Castle Park Avenue, Bangor, Co Down, BT20 4BN

Former Stable Yard, now Local Heritage and Visitor's Centre, Bangor Castle

This is a split-level, one- and two-storey former courtyard stable block built in 1852 in the Jacobethan style, erected alongside the adjoining Bangor Castle as part of the same estate development. The architect is disputed: both William Burn and Antony Salvin have been credited with the design, and it is possible that both had a hand in it — Burn perhaps responsible for the main house and Salvin for the stable yard. A third architect, William Walker of Monaghan, was also consulted by the owner Robert Edward Ward and produced plans, though these were never executed. The building sits north of Castle Park, at the end of Castle Park Avenue off Abbey Road, in the centre of Bangor.

Architectural Description

The building is constructed in ashlar sandstone with a moulded corbel table and decorative stonework detailing throughout. The roof is natural slate with clay ridge tiles and lead valleys. Rainwater goods are cast iron, with semi-circular guttering and circular downpipes. Chimneys are large, square and octagonal, appearing both as singular and clustered stacks.

External windows facing outward are 6/6 and 4/4 timber sliding sash, arranged singly, in pairs (bipartite), and in threes (tripartite), with transoms and mullions. They have chamfered surrounds with label moulds and stops. Windows facing into the courtyard have chamfered surrounds with stone sills and voussoired flat arches. Doors are replacement timber sheeted Tudor-arched types with chamfered sandstone surrounds.

Principal (South) Elevation

The principal elevation faces south and is asymmetrically arranged. To the right is a single-storey gable end with square chimneys rising from the gable apex and louvered square-headed openings centrally placed in the gable head. To the left of the gable, set into the existing wall, is a square-headed sheeted timber door with a fixed light over, now serving as the entrance to the modern section of the visitor centre. To the left of this is a one-and-a-half-storey section featuring a Tudor-arched gated coach entrance, above which the upper floor projects forward over stone corbel brackets with stone detailing above.

West Elevation

The west elevation is also asymmetrically arranged, comprising two gable ends flanking a single-storey courtyard wall, which now serves as the external wall to a modern restaurant infill. On the right-hand side, a double-height three-stage castellated octagonal tower occupies the south-west corner of the building. The tower has arrowloop openings on alternating facets and moulded string courses. Adjoining this tower to the left is a symmetrical two-storey gable end with a three-stage lateral buttress centrally placed, flanked by tall arrowloop windows to the ground floor and sliding sash windows to the first floor. A smaller arrowloop is located centrally within the apex, and the moulded gable rises to a poppy finial over the apex stone. A diagonal buttress is positioned to the left-hand side.

The single-storey wall between the gable ends has five two-stage lateral buttresses, with the central two bays stepped up and a moulded coping over. On the left-hand side is a two-and-a-half-storey gable-ended projecting block. Its south face, which abuts the courtyard wall, has a Tudor-arched door to the ground floor and two windows to the first floor. The west-facing gable is symmetrical, flanked by three-stage diagonal buttresses, with a tripartite window to the ground floor, a bipartite window to the second floor, a single window at attic level, and a small arrowloop in the gable head. The north face of this block abuts the adjoining Bangor Castle building.

North and East Elevations

The north elevation is similarly abutted by Bangor Castle. The east elevation presents the side of a long single-storey block with intermittent piers and, right of centre, a cluster of three squared chimneys breaking through the eaves line.

Courtyard

The courtyard is now landscaped and enclosed on all sides by single- and two-storey buildings with varying window and door sizes. It has been partially infilled by a double-height modern restaurant. The range forming the north side of the courtyard is part of the accommodation of the adjoining Bangor Castle building. Single-storey historic accommodation abuts the east side of the courtyard.

Alterations and Adaptation

Although the buildings have undergone adaptation — including modern additions to the entrance and restaurant area by architects McAdam Design, who also adapted the former laundry to the east of the stable yard — the historic character has survived in the quality of materials and craftsmanship. The Visitor's Centre was opened in 1984, housed in the former stable, laundry, and service courtyard.

Historical Background

A house belonging to the Ward family or their predecessors, the Hamiltons, has occupied this site since at least 1611, when Sir James Hamilton was first granted lands in Bangor. This first mansion appeared on Raven's map of 1625 and subsequently underwent several phases of rebuilding and remodelling, culminating in a late 18th-century Gothic castle depicted in at least two paintings from the 1830s. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 shows this substantial building captioned as "Bangor Castle," listed in the Townland Valuation of 1828–40 at £54 and owned by Colonel Ward.

Following Colonel Ward's death in 1837, his son Robert Edward Ward demolished the old castle — some accounts stating that he disliked it, others that it had been destroyed by fire. A foundation stone of 1848 names William Burn, who was credited with the designs in his obituary. However, Antony Salvin is also credited in his obituary with a "new house or substantial alteration" for Robert Edward Ward. The obituaries of both men record the cost of the building as £9,000. There is a visible difference in style, with regard to stonework and detailing, between the main castle and the stable block, lending weight to the possibility that both architects contributed. The porch of the castle bears a plaque reading "Erected by Robert Ward 1852," and Ward's monogram also appears on rainwater hoppers. The arms of both the Ward and Clanmorris families appear in the castle stonework.

The castle and outbuildings first appear on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64 lists "Bangor Castle" as a "house, offices, steward's-house, gate-lodges and land" valued at £230 and owned in fee by Robert E. Ward. By the first Annual Revision of 1866, the steward's house had been removed from the description and the entire property was revalued at £200.

In his 1901 census return, Robert E. Ward recorded himself as "landlord." Then aged 82, he was presiding over a substantial household that included his son-in-law Lord Clanmorris and three of his ten grandchildren, their rank described as "honourable." A staff of sixteen was employed, comprising a groom, two nursemaids, a housekeeper, five housemaids, a cook, two laundresses, a butler, two footmen, and another male domestic servant. The majority of the staff were of English or Scottish extraction.

The property passed to Baroness Clanmorris in 1908 following Robert Ward's death; Lord Clanmorris had married Ward's daughter in 1878. By the time of the 1911 census the house was home to Lord and Lady Clanmorris. A staff of thirteen was now employed, with a noteworthy addition being a chauffeur alongside the existing groom. The household also included laundresses, housemaids, a cook, a kitchen maid, a lady's maid, and an "odd man." By this date the majority of staff were of local or southern Irish birth, the exceptions being the butler and housekeeper, who were both English.

Several photographs have survived depicting the castle with its chimney stacks intact and the interior as it appeared when inhabited as a private mansion. When Baroness Clanmorris died in 1941, much of the castle grounds were sold to Bangor Council and the demesne wall was taken down. In 1952 the castle became Bangor Town Hall, and it is subsequent to this that most of the chimney stacks were removed. The large saloon where Ward had held music recitals is now the Council chamber, the organ having been sold. Stained glass windows in the chamber include depictions of Edward III, from whom the Ward family claimed descent. At the time C.E.B. Brett was writing in 2002, the castle was undergoing an extensive programme of stonework restoration.

Setting

The building abuts Bangor Castle to the north. The wooded landscape of Castle Park lies to the south and west. To the east are a car park, Bangor Leisure Centre, and Bangor Academy.

The stable block has group value with the adjoining Bangor Castle and its gate lodge. It is of national importance as the former stable yard of one of the finest Victorian residences in Northern Ireland, designed by prominent architects for the Ward family and later occupied by the Clanmorris family.