The Lodge, 135 Old Newry Road, Ballyvally, Banbridge, Co Down, BT32 3NB

The Lodge, 135 Old Newry Road, Ballyvally, Banbridge

The Lodge is a symmetrical detached single-storey twin-gabled villa with adjoining two-storey hipped-roofed outbuildings, built around 1840 and situated on the north side of the Newry Road to the south of Banbridge town centre. It is of particular interest for its central round tower and the unusual proportions of both the house and its adjoining outbuildings, which survive with their architectural detailing largely intact. The house represents the ongoing development of the area during the latter years of expansion along the Newry Road and remains in its original setting as one of several houses that once characterised this stretch of road.

Form and Plan

The house is U-shaped on plan, with canted bay windows and a projecting porch to the front, and a central round watch tower at the centre of the plan. To the rear, two-storey slated outbuildings are arranged in a U-shape around a central yard.

Roofs and Rainwater Goods

The main roof is pitched natural slate with blue-black angled ridge tiles, bargeboards to the gables, and rendered chimneystacks fitted with tall terracotta pots. At the centre of the roofline rises a round watch tower with a conical copper roof topped by a weathervane. Rainwater goods are cast-iron half-round gutters on projecting eaves, with cast-iron hoppers and downpipes.

Walls and Windows

The external walls are finished in painted ruled-and-lined render on a contrasting plinth. Windows are a variety of timber-framed sliding sash with projecting painted sills; the canted bays have multi-paned tall timber casements.

Principal Elevation (Southeast-Facing)

The principal elevation faces southeast and is symmetrically arranged. Two gabled bays contain tall canted bay windows with panelled aprons and heads and dividing pilasters, flanking a square pilastered porch with a dentilled cornice. The classical porch has a round-headed 1-over-1 window with margin panes to the southeast side. Access from the northeast is via a granite step through a raised-and-fielded five-panel timber door with brass door furniture, surmounted by a transom light and moulded to impost level. A matching recess is positioned to the southwest side of the porch.

Other Elevations

The southwest elevation has three 4-over-4 sash windows to the right and paired 4-over-4 windows to the left. The northwest rear elevation is abutted on both sides by the adjoining two-storey outbuildings, forming the central yard; the central section of this elevation was not inspected at the time of survey. The northeast elevation has five evenly spaced 4-over-4 windows.

Outbuildings

The two-storey outbuildings are arranged in a U-shape with a hipped natural slate roof and rendered chimneystacks to the centre of the northeast block. Walling is painted ruled-and-lined render, with roughcast render to the northwest elevation and smooth render to the southwest gable. The rear northwest elevation has a modern projecting porch. The northeast elevation has five 4-over-4 windows to the first floor and four to the ground floor; at the centre of the ground floor is an elliptical-headed carriage arch containing timber-sheeted gates.

Setting

The Lodge sits on a large site north of the Newry Road, with grazing land to the south. The principal access from the Newry Road to the southeast is via a long tarmac avenue lined with young trees. The original entrance on this side comprises cast-iron railings with fleur-de-lis heads set on a curved granite plinth, with cast-iron piers capped with acorns supporting the original gates. A second access point is located on the south side of the Old Newry Road to the north, where red-brick and rendered square gate piers with pointed caps support original cast-iron gates.

The yard to the northwest contains a converted coach-house to the west with three segmental-headed arch openings, each fitted with modern timber-sheeted gates; the central arch is flanked by two timber casement windows. Red-brick and rock-faced stone gate piers with pointed caps stand to the northwest, with an original cast-iron latch gate. To the southwest is a landscaped garden. To the northeast is a walled garden with a modern conservatory.

Historical Background

The earliest cartographic evidence for the house is on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1860, where it appears uncaptioned as a rectangular block with two rear returns. By the fourth edition of 1903–18 it is captioned as The Lodge and shows additions including outbuildings to the rear and a porch to the front. The Valuation Office classification suggests a construction date of around 1835, which is consistent with the evidence of Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64, the first occupier recorded being Stewart Craig, who leased the property from the Marquess of Downshire. The buildings were valued at £14 and the plot measured approximately three acres. Dimensions were recorded for the centre, two wings, two bow windows, and a single-storey shed.

Stewart Craig was appointed weighmaster and butter-taster at Banbridge market house in 1825. His role was to weigh goods and taste and examine butter so that it could be branded according to quality. He was not salaried but was paid a fee under the terms of the Butter Acts by those wishing to have their produce branded, and was thought to clear between £300 and £400 a year from the markets. He was also responsible for maintaining the market place and reportedly spent a large sum fitting doors and windows to the sheds and stores. Market days in Banbridge were Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Craig devoted those days to his market duties. He is recorded at length in the Commissioners' Report on Fairs and Markets of 1853, discussing his work and the difficulties of obtaining good casks or firkins for packing butter. Banbridge was at that time synonymous with high-quality butter, and it is thought likely that Craig, who derived a relatively comfortable income from his position, was the builder of the house.

The house passed to Sarah Henry in 1876 and then to Hugh Glass in 1877. Glass, a solicitor, purchased the property for £450 and made a number of improvements including the addition of a porch and further outbuildings, which caused the rateable valuation to rise to £78. A newspaper report in the Belfast Newsletter of 29 August 1872 records Glass acting in a linen industry dispute between a manufacturer and a weaver, the weaver alleging non-payment of wages and the manufacturer counter-accusing her of embezzling a quantity of yarn. Hugh Glass died on 10 December 1891, and the house passed to his wife, Mary Jane Glass. The house was recorded as vacant at the 1901 census, but by 1911 Mary Jane was resident there with her nephew and a servant in her twenties. The census classified the house as first class, with fourteen rooms.

The First General Revaluation of 1933–34 assessed the house at £44, reduced to £40 on appeal. The associated plan shows the house with bow windows, a porch, and a three-storey observation tower to the rear. A two-storey return housed a billiard room on the ground floor with a large bedroom above. An enclosed courtyard comprised a number of double-height outbuildings and a covered way with a bedroom over. The stables had lofts above, and a former carriage house was in use as a garage with livery quarters for a chauffeur. In the grounds were a heated glasshouse and a toolshed. The principal accommodation comprised a porch, hall and two large reception rooms at the front. Upstairs were three small bedrooms, a kitchen, pantry, scullery, and a small room for the maid above the kitchen. The house was still lit by oil lamps as late as 1935. The grounds to the front were kept in grass, which Mary Jane Glass cut yearly and sold; she also kept a goat.

Mary Jane Glass died on 13 May 1940. The house subsequently passed to Gerald U. Finney in 1942, Robert Willis in 1945, and Robert Boyce in 1954. It was listed in 1976 and continues in use as a domestic dwelling.