Elm Park House, 22 Tonnagh Road, Killylea, County Armagh, BT60 4PZ

Elm Park House is a large, mainly three-storey, hipped-roof late Georgian country mansion dating from 1803, set within a demesne of early 17th century origin approximately two kilometres north-east of the village of Killylea. Despite having served as a farm outbuilding for more than half a century, the building has retained much of its original fabric and internal detailing. It has an interesting history both as the residence of a locally important family — the Close and Blacker-Douglas families, with connections to other notable county estates including Fellows Hall, Darton Hall and Drumbanagher — and later as a preparatory school with an unusual emphasis, for the time, on individualism and idealism. The building was designed with its main entrance facing broadly east, and is roughly U-shaped in plan. A substantial full-height addition to the south-west was made in 1884–86, and a low two-storey return to the north-west may contain the fabric of an earlier pre-19th century dwelling. A pre-1860 entrance porch and a large elaborate conservatory of the 1880s, which was attached to the south, were both removed in the mid-to-later 20th century.

Historical Background

The Elm Park estate was created by the Maxwell family in the early 17th century. The townland of Mullaghatinny was property of the See of Armagh and was leased in the early 1600s to Connor O'Donellan. By 1626, the Reverend Robert Maxwell II (1598–1672), later Bishop of Kilmore, had become tenant and built a house there that year. The house was subsequently occupied by his brother James Maxwell, who was killed during the 1641 rebellion; the house was probably destroyed at the same time. No dwelling is recorded in the townland in the 1664 hearth money returns, though the survival of the 1626 datestone — which appears to be original — suggests that some structure, or part of one, may have remained standing for a time.

By 1703, however, Thomas Ashe's survey describes a "very good stone house" with "handsome rooms above stairs, a common hall, a parlour and kitchen and other very good offices below stairs," along with a stone stable, a barn, a new ox house, a cow house and a corn mill. The occupants at that time were Captain James Butler of Bramblestown, County Kilkenny, and his wife Lady Margaret — previously Sir Robert Maxwell of Orchardstown's widow — who are described as having carried out these improvements at their own expense.

The estate eventually passed to Lady Margaret's grandson, Maxwell Close (1722–93), who married Mary Maxwell of Fellows Hall near Tynan in 1748. It is from around 1763, when Maxwell Close and his wife returned to the property after a period away, that the house became known as Elm Park — a name applied to the estate as a whole by the early 1800s. After Maxwell Close's death in 1793, the estate passed to his eldest son, the Reverend Samuel Close II (1749–1817), Rector of Keady and later Prebendary of Tynan. By 1803, Samuel's income was sufficient to allow him to purchase the freehold of Elm Park and commence rebuilding the house. His son, Colonel Maxwell Close (1783–1867), continued acquiring property in the county, purchasing the Drumbanagher estate at Poyntzpass in 1818 and rebuilding its mansion on a grand Italianate scale in 1829. Drumbanagher became his main residence shortly afterwards, and Elm Park was rented out — firstly to Thomas Knox Armstrong (1797–1840) and then, from around 1836–37, to the second Earl of Charlemont, who remained until remodelling work at Roxborough House was completed in 1845.

From 1851, St. John Thomas Blacker (1822–1900), a cousin of Colonel Close, took up occupation. He purchased the freehold of Elm Park from his relative around 1860 but only took up permanent residence a decade later. In 1880, Mr Blacker assumed the additional surname of Douglas after inheriting the estate of his uncle at Grace Hall near Dollingstown, County Down. This additional income probably funded the extensions and outbuilding upgrades carried out at Elm Park in the 1880s. After his death in 1900, his widow continued to occupy the house while his son and heir, Maxwell Vandeleur Blacker-Douglas (1859–1929), resided mainly in Dublin. Maxwell's son Robert Blacker-Douglas (b. 1892) was killed in France in 1915, and rising costs made the estate's future uncertain. After the death of Maxwell's widowed mother in 1919, Elm Park was put up for sale. By the end of 1920 only two offers had been made, both well below the asking price. The property was eventually let on a ten-year lease at £350 per annum, with an option to purchase for £7,000, to two English-born schoolmasters, Hugh Eric Seth-Smith and Willoughby Weaving of Rockport Preparatory School, Craigavad, County Down.

Elm Park Preparatory School opened in September 1921, taking the house and 61 acres. Its purpose was to prepare boys for public school, mainly in England, but unlike many such institutions it encouraged individualism and creativity and rewarded good conduct. Its pupils were largely drawn from upper middle-class families, many with connections to the linen industry. From an initial intake of just four boys and a staff of two masters and a matron, numbers rose to 27 by 1928 and 36 by 1937, with admissions almost doubling during the war years as parents feared sending their sons to schools in England. Seth-Smith and Weaving remained the school's driving force for over 25 years. Seth-Smith's sudden death in late 1946 was a major blow, and falling pupil numbers together with Weaving's retirement in 1953 called the school's future into question. With the lease on Elm Park due to expire, the decision was taken to close the school at the end of the Easter term of 1954. The property was subsequently sold to Mr E. G. Speers, a local man who had recently returned from working in copper mines in Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe). He farmed the land but did not occupy the house, building a new home close by and using the old building for raising chickens and for storage. His family still retain the building.

Architecture and Plan

The main dwelling is composed of a three-storey section that is roughly U-shaped in plan, with the principal entrance at the base of the U. It largely dates from 1803, with a two-storey addition of circa 1884–86 — containing a grand dining room and what became known as the master's quarters — attached to the western end of the south stroke of the U. Later extensions on the western side created a narrow inner court. Attached to the western end of the north wing is a long two-storey terrace containing servants' and farm labourers' accommodation. To the rear west is a series of stone outbuildings set within a farmyard.

East Façade

The eastern front façade is symmetrical, with a shallow breakfront at the centre. The front door opening is flat-headed, set within a raised stone surround with carved stone console brackets and surmounted by a projecting cornice. To either side of the door are tall narrow window openings, with two windows above — one at first floor and one at second floor. Either side of the breakfront are three windows, one to each floor. Openings have Georgian reductions to the upper floors.

South Façade

The centre and right of the south façade comprise the three-storey section, while to the right, and slightly set back, is the later two-storey addition; to the far left is a single-storey addition that abuts Outbuilding One. The taller floor-to-ceiling heights of the two-storey section result in a common ridgeline across the building. At the centre of the façade — the left side of the three-storey section — is a projecting two-storey square bay, articulated with shallow pilasters supporting an entablature; a projecting cornice runs between ground and first floors. The bay is topped with a parapet incorporating cast-iron balusters and panelled sections, with two window openings above it. Ground floor windows to the bay are French windows arranged in triplets, with matching openings at first floor. The cheeks of the bay have single openings at each floor; these are tall and narrow, the lower ones slightly taller. To the right side of the three-storey section, windows are evenly spaced with two openings to each floor, with Georgian reductions evident to the upper floors. The two-storey addition to the left side of the façade has openings arranged in triplets at ground and first floor. The ground floor openings were originally doorways leading into the conservatory and are surmounted by shallow overlights; the first floor openings are surmounted by triangular pediments. There is a single opening to the single-storey section.

West Façade

The rear west face of the house is an ad hoc mixture of various additions and extensions attaching to the western ends of the main north and south wings. The façade is flanked by two wing-ends with a narrow open court between, now landlocked by later additions. Across the ground floor of the south wing is a flat-roofed extension; to the right, a further flat-roofed extension abuts the east face of Outbuilding One. A lean-to extension is set on the south face of the north wing, while the long servants' quarters terrace is set on the west face. Together, the rear of the house, these extensions and the east face of Outbuilding One create an enclosed rear yard.

North Façade

The north face of the house is three-storey and is flanked by projecting three-storey semicircular bays, with a long, stepped and terraced two-storey wing containing the servants' quarters extending to the right. The central section has four evenly spaced window openings to each floor, with two matching windows to each floor of the bays. As elsewhere, openings have Georgian reductions to the upper floors. There is a datestone of 1803 over the ground floor window immediately to the right of the left-hand (eastern) semicircular bay, substantially concealed by thick creeper growth.

Materials and Construction

The roofs are mainly pitched and slated, and hipped in form. A small single-storey extension to the west side is flat-roofed. Cast-iron gutters rest on corbelled stone eaves courses, and the downspouts are round cast-iron. Chimneystacks rise from the ridges and from the gable ends of the north and south wings; they are rendered and have corbelled caps with some decorative clay pots. Walls are rendered with dressed stone quoins to corners. Window openings have stone dressings with stepped quoins and stone flat-arch lintels. Many window frames are missing or boarded over. Frames are generally six-over-six sash. Window frames to some of the principal rooms and the master's bedroom are timber mullion and transom. The front entrance doors are paired, part-glazed and panelled.

Servants' Wing

The servants' wing is a long rectangular stepped block, two storeys in height, abutting the western end of the north wing. It steps down in two stages, giving the impression of two distinct dwellings, although the two parts are internally linked. Each part of the north façade has three dormer windows at first floor and a series of evenly spaced ground floor windows. To the far left at upper floor level there is a datestone bearing the Maxwell armorial and a Latin inscription reading "SINE CRVCE SINE LVCE DOTAB IT DEVS STRVXIT ROBERT MAXWELL FILIVS ANO DO 1626" — translating approximately as "Without the light of the cross — endowed by God, it was built by the son of Robert Maxwell in the year 1626." The right side of the rear south façade has two window openings at first floor and a door and a window at ground floor, all evenly spaced. The left side abuts Outbuilding One. Many window frames are missing or boarded over; those that remain are generally six-over-six sash. Walls are rendered. The roof is partly hipped and partly gabled. A tall rendered chimneystack is attached to the internal gable between the two halves of the stepped terrace.

Abutting the western side of the servants' quarters is an open elliptical-headed arch giving access to the farmyard, with a datestone of 1884 and the cypher "BD" (for Blacker-Douglas) on its keystone. Attached to the left west side of the arch is what appears to be farm labourers' accommodation — or perhaps a steward's house. This is two-storey with a projecting two-storey gabled bay to the left of centre. A small single-storey outhouse is attached to the western gable and a further single-storey outhouse to the right side of the south face. The front north façade of the projecting bay has a roundel at first floor and a semicircular-headed dressed opening at ground floor. At first floor there are two windows to the right side and one to the left of the bay; at ground floor there is one small window to the left and a later timber-clad lean-to obscuring the ground floor to the right. The rear has door and small window openings to the ground floor only. The roof is slated and gabled. Walls are rubble stone and partly rendered. Window openings are mainly flat-headed, with frames either missing or boarded over. Door openings are flat-headed and doors are timber sheeted.

Outbuilding One

Outbuilding One is a rectangular two-storey outbuilding abutting a return on the west side of the main house and the rear of the servants' terrace, with a pitched and slated roof. The southern side of its east façade, which is adjacent to the grand dining room, has been embellished with decorative features including jettied gables with pierced timber verges (now partly missing) and diamond-patterned openings. The northern side of the east façade is more randomly and plainly composed. The west façade has a random, almost vernacular composition, with an elliptical-headed archway to the right of centre leading to the rear yard. Other coach arches are also elliptical-headed; all such openings are stone dressed. Window openings are all flat-headed and of various sizes. The south façade has a large flat-headed window opening with a Crittall-style frame at first floor and a flat-headed door opening to the left at ground floor. The north side abuts the south face of the servants' terrace. The roof is slated with natural blue-black slate and has two jettied gables but is otherwise hipped. Rainwater goods are cast-iron but missing in many places. Walls to the south, west and the northern side of the east face are rendered; walls to the south side of the east façade are stone-faced, with coursing that includes random rubble and squared rockface.

Outbuilding Two

Outbuilding Two lies to the west of Outbuilding One and is set roughly on an east-west axis. It is a two-storey, gable-ended freestanding block whose long north and south façades have random, almost vernacular compositions. Doors and window openings are mainly flat-headed. To the east gable there is a segmental-headed hayloft door opening at first floor. A later lean-to single-storey addition abuts the western façade. Window frames are mainly Crittall-style; first floor openings are very small. Doors are timber panelled. The roof is covered with natural blue-black slate. Walls are random rubble and partly covered with render.

Outbuilding Three

Outbuilding Three is a freestanding L-shaped block.

Walled Garden

The walled garden is located to the south of the house. Walls are part rubble stone and part brick. Some sections have collapsed and part appears to have been demolished. There is a replacement door to the north-eastern corner.

The 1880s Extensions

The large extension to the south-western corner of the house, the conservatory and the square two-storey projection were designed by James Rawson Carroll of Dublin (1830–1911) and appear to have been carried out between 1884 and 1886, with Collen Bros as contractors at a cost of £1,037 7s 2d. The large Outbuilding One extending from the south side of the return also appears to have been embellished at this time, with decorative jettied gables added to its eastern side. Map evidence suggests that further outbuildings were added to the south-west of the existing complex at this date and greenhouses erected on the north-eastern side of the walled garden. When the house was later put up for sale, Blacker-Douglas's agent stated that over £20,000 had been spent on the property during this period. The house retained its mid-1880s form until around 1950, when the porch was removed; the conservatory was dismantled at some point after 1977.

Gate Lodges and Entrance Structures

Two dwellings are designated as gate lodges on the 1835 Ordnance Survey map: one to the west along the rear drive and another at what was originally the main entrance to the south. The southern entrance still retains a lodge, though it has been converted in recent years to a garage for a neighbouring post-1977 bungalow. The lodge has an overhanging hipped roof on brackets and appears to date from around the 1820s–30s, though it could be of later date as its site appears vacant on the 1860 map. Accompanying it is a gate screen with unusual cut-stone piers of quatrefoil profile, with cushion bases and concave pyramidal caps, and a set of decorative iron gates with spear-head rails. The screen may be mid-Victorian, perhaps of the 1860s.

The western lodge shown on the 1835 map was longer than the southern one and appears to correspond to the "gate house" measuring 45ft x 15ft x 9ft recorded in the 1837 valuation. It was demolished sometime after 1860 and superseded by a new lodge sited much further to the south-west at the end of a drive previously serving as a public road. This lodge — still in use as a dwelling and listed — is a small, mildly picturesque gable-ended building with a projecting porch, stone walls and an overhanging roof with fish-scale slates; it appears to date from the 1880s and was probably part of the Blacker-Douglas improvement scheme, possibly also the work of James Rawson Carroll.

At the head of the northern drive off Knappagh Road there is another mildly picturesque lodge, also appearing to date from the 1880s and also listed.

Two rustic bridges over a stream in woodland to the south of Elm Park House are shown on the 1835 map but do not appear on any later editions.

Setting

The house is prominently positioned on a low rise within open farm pasture. Its setting is largely unspoilt and many of the contemporary outbuildings have been retained, including the long range attached to the rear of the house that was decoratively remodelled in the late Victorian era. A detached replacement dwelling has been constructed to the south and west of the main house, and to the west there is a range of metal-clad farm sheds. The surviving gate lodges, gate screen and sections of the walled garden all contribute to the group value and overall interest of the main house and its estate.