St Francis Nursing Home 71b Charles Street Portadown BT62 4DB

St Francis Nursing Home, 71b Charles Street, Portadown

A two-storey gentleman's residence of around 1825, now disused and substantially deteriorated. The building does not meet the criteria for listing.

Setting

The former house stands within spacious grounds to the west of Charles Street, roughly one kilometre west of Portadown town centre, in what is now a suburban setting.

General Description

The original structure consists of a two-storey hipped-roof rectangular block with rendered walls, a full-height gable-ended return to the north, and a lower L-shaped two-storey service wing to the east. To the northeast, linked to the return, is a quadrangle of former outbuildings (part single-storey and part two-storey) enclosing a yard. To the east, the house is joined via an extensive but relatively narrow two-storey link to a large Modern style block of circa 1969, the scale of which dwarfs the original structure.

The house and outbuildings have been extensively altered. Few original window frames remain in evidence. The main block and service wing have been stripped of their slates, the former outbuildings are largely roofless and gutted, and the whole structure is heavily dilapidated and in the process of being reclaimed by nature.

East Elevation

The original front appears to have been symmetrical, with a central entrance flanked by single-storey canted bays and three windows to the upper floor. However, this elevation has been completely altered by the insertion of the link joining the 1960s block. The entrance and upper floor windows are now gone, and the bays (particularly to the north) have been unsympathetically altered. The return to the north is utilitarian in appearance and appears to have been largely rebuilt circa 1980–1990s, with a small single-storey projection and a small window. The former outbuildings to the north appear to have been completely remade circa 1950s–1960s with plain render and enlarged or inserted windows with Crittall-type frames.

South Elevation

The south elevation of the main block preserves something of its original appearance with a uniform row of flat-headed windows to the first floor. However, the pointed-arch, stained-glass-filled openings to the ground level may be circa 1950s–1960s alterations designed to give this side a more 'ecclesiastical' appearance. The service wing to the left is less altered but roofless and badly decayed.

North Elevation

This side is utilitarian in appearance. The return in particular looks greatly altered, possibly even largely rebuilt, circa 1980s–1990s. The outbuildings to the northeast are similarly much altered, though the presence of Crittall-type windows suggests work took place circa 1950s–1960s.

West Elevation

This elevation consists partly of the outbuildings to the left (north) and a tall rendered wall spanning to the west side of the service wing (south end). The latter section has partially collapsed, while the outbuilding is smothered in greenery and roofless.

Historical Context

A house equating to the eastern portion of the present nursing home complex is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1835 and marked 'Mount Prospect'. In the valuation book of late 1836, this is recorded as the home of Curran Woodhouse and noted as a relatively new residence—'10 years built'—with the main block measuring 36 feet by 26½ feet by 18 feet, 'porches' (probably the front bays) each of 12½ by 4½ by 8 feet, and returns of 27½ by 20 by 13½ feet, 8 by 8½ by 7 feet, and 15½ by 6 by 5½ feet. Curran Woodhouse (born 1763) was a local grain and coal merchant, and based on the valuation, he constructed Mount Prospect around 1825–1826. The property was built on what was then the rural hinterland of Portadown, with grounds stretching from the road now known as Charles Street westwards, a formally laid out garden occupying the land to the rear of the house, and a much larger strip of 'parkland' to the east where unbroken grassland stretched as far as today's Obins Street. The main drive was to the southwest and was shared with the neighbouring property to the south (Woburn Villa, later renamed Corcrain Villa). At the gate was a small lodge, which remained in use until the early 1900s but was 'ruinous' by 1922.

After Curran Woodhouse's death in 1851, Mount Prospect was acquired by Averell Shillington (1802–1897), a Portadown draper and linen manufacturer who later established a weaving factory at Castleisland on the north side of town. He renamed the house 'Altavilla' and in or shortly before 1868 passed or sold it to his son, Thomas Shillington (1835–1935). Thomas, who later inherited his father's Castleisland Linen Company and served as a Privy Councillor for Ireland and subsequently Northern Ireland, had seven children with his wife Sarah. It was perhaps because of this that they extended Altavilla to the western side in 1880. In the 1901 census, the 65-year-old Thomas, listed as a Justice of the Peace and linen manufacturer, is recorded as living here with three of his grown-up children and two domestic servants. The building itself was noted as a first-class slated dwelling with 14 rooms in use.

The property remained with the Shillington family until 1951, when following the death of Thomas Averell Shillington (son of the above), it was put up for sale. It appears to have been acquired by the local Roman Catholic parish and in 1953 became a children's home run by the Sisters of Nazareth ('Nazareth House'). This order added the large octagonal block to the east at some time between 1963 and 1971 and remained here until 1984. At some point after this, the property became St Francis Private Nursing Home. The original house appears to have been vacated circa 1990s and would seem to have remained disused ever since.