Gate Lodge, 3 Abbey Street, Bangor, Co Down, BT20 4JE

Gate Lodge, approximately 1850, Jacobethan style

This is a one-and-a-half storey, two-bay Jacobethan gate lodge to Bangor Castle, built around 1850 to an irregular plan. It stands on Abbey Street, east of Bangor town centre, adjacent to St Malachy's Wall. The architect is disputed: the building has been attributed to both William Burn and Anthony Salvin, and scholarly opinion tends to credit Salvin with the gate lodges specifically, while assigning the main castle largely to Burn. A monogram of the original owner, Robert E. Ward, is clearly visible on the front elevation, and a datestone of 1852 is recorded in the literature, though it could not be located during field inspection.

Exterior

The roof is pitched artificial slate with clay ridge tiles, and the gabled ends are finished with table-skew copings and moulded coping stones terminating in poppy finials. The chimney stacks are smooth rendered with moulded squared pots, though the current stacks are modern replacements. Rainwater goods are cast iron, with semi-circular gutters and circular downpipes.

The walls are ashlar sandstone with a projecting plinth and a moulded corbel table. Windows are replacement timber casements with lattice leadwork applied to the glazed face, set into single and bipartite square-headed moulded sandstone surrounds with cusped-arch insets, label moulds, and stops. The main entrance door is timber with a Tudor arch, comprising three rectangular lower panels beneath three tall lancet-arched panels, fitted with cast-iron ironmongery. This door sits within a Tudor-arched opening that is itself embraced by a moulded square-headed surround with indented spandrels and a stepped label mould framing the signature stone (REW) above.

The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged. The right bay projects slightly and is gabled, featuring a canted bay window at ground floor with a single window above. The entrance bay projects further and is set into the re-entrant angle between the two main bays; it contains the main entrance door and a blind decorative arrowloop at the apex. A blank arrowloop is also located in the gable head, with a single ground-floor window to the south face of the porch. The left bay contains a single window.

The south gable has a paired window centrally placed at ground floor with a single window directly above. The rear (west) elevation is asymmetrically arranged: to the left is the west face of the north gabled bay, with two small casement windows at ground and upper floor level; to the right is the recessed west face of the south gabled bay, with a single-storey lean-to rear porch extension containing a modern timber door and a single casement window. The north elevation mirrors the south gable on its right-hand gabled bay, with a matching paired window at ground floor in the slightly recessed left bay. A small gargoyle is located at the junction between the corbel and the gable shoulder.

History and ownership

The gate lodge appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858. A second gate lodge, now demolished, was also present on Castle Street to the east of Bangor Castle. Both lodges are included in Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64, where Bangor Castle is listed as a house, offices, steward's house, gate lodges, and land, valued at £230 and owned by Robert E. Ward. The estate, including the gate lodges, passed to Baroness Clanmorris in 1908 following the death of Robert Ward; Lord Clanmorris had married Ward's daughter in 1878.

There is some scholarly uncertainty about the architects. While William Burn is generally credited with much of the castle itself, completion of the work, including the stable and service block, is thought likely to have been carried out by Anthony Salvin. Salvin's obituary credits him with a new house or substantial alteration for Robert Edward Ward costing £9,000. Architectural historian Dean concludes that the main house is essentially Burn's work, while the two gate lodges are clearly by a different hand, and credits Salvin on stylistic grounds.

The gate lodge is not separately listed in valuation records, so its occupiers are largely unknown, but census records identify Emily Trimble, a spinster born in 1849, as the occupier in both 1901 and 1911. She described herself variously as lodge keeper and gate keeper. The lodge had seven rooms and was categorised as second class owing to its size and construction. Emily Trimble died in 1930 aged 80 and is buried in Bangor Abbey churchyard. Her sister Dorothea appears also to have worked in service at a large house in Beaumaris, Anglesey.

In 1941, following the death of Baroness Clanmorris, much of the castle grounds were sold to Bangor Council. The demesne wall, of which the gate lodge originally formed a part, was subsequently taken down. Road widening has since brought the lodge to the edge of the main road, whereas originally it would have stood set back behind the demesne wall. A yard wall to the rear of the property may be original.

Alterations and condition

The building has undergone modernisation resulting in the loss of some historic fabric, including the chimney stacks, which are modern replacements. Despite this, the quality of materials, craftsmanship, and the Jacobethan style, which matches Bangor Castle itself, have survived. Major changes to the road layout and alterations to the surrounding setting have isolated the lodge from the main house.

Setting

The gate lodge stands directly adjacent to a dual carriageway to the north, with a long row of two-storey commercial premises across the road. To the east lies a large public car park, beyond which is the heavily wooded Castle Park. To the south are the remains of St Malachy's Wall, with Bangor Abbey church hall immediately behind. To the west, adjoining an enclosing rubble masonry boundary wall, is a small public park with landscaping and seating. The front of the lodge has a small garden enclosure bounded by a low hedge and a gated entrance.

Despite its isolation from the main house and the loss of some historic fabric, the lodge remains a good example of its type. Its historical associations are of local interest, and it contributes positively to the group value of the Bangor Castle buildings as a whole.