Conservatory Cottages, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT4 3XX

Conservatory Cottages, Stormont Estate

These are the former workers' cottages attached to the north wall of the gothic-style Conservatory at Stormont Estate, situated to the northwest of Stormont Castle. They form an attached, multi-bay linear range of single-storey stone dwellings, built around 1858, most probably to the designs of the architects Turner and Babington, though this attribution remains unconfirmed. The cottages were not recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 but had appeared by the time of the second edition in 1860. They are now used as offices and form an intrinsic part of the wider Stormont Estate, sharing group value with the other listed buildings on the estate and in particular with the Conservatory to which they are physically attached.

Historical Background

Stormont Castle, the three-storey former gentleman's mansion at the heart of the estate, was constructed around 1830 for the Reverend John Cleland (1755–1834), rector of Newtownards, who had acquired the estate by marrying the daughter of its previous owner. According to Gallagher, Cleland was described as "a fearsome magistrate and man of dubious reputation", and much of the wealth that allowed him to develop the land and property at Stormont was allegedly ill-gotten. Following his death in 1834, his son Samuel Cleland took over the estate, but was killed in 1842 whilst supervising the demolition of a wall in the grounds. Samuel's widow, Elizabeth, continued to reside at Stormont until around 1860. A major alteration and extension of the mansion was undertaken in 1858, giving the building its current Scots Baronial appearance. It is within this phase of works that the cottages and the adjoining Conservatory are most likely to have been constructed, though Larmour has suggested the gothic Conservatory may date from the late 1830s. Renovations carried out in 2004 and 2009 found the Conservatory's interior to be distinctly Victorian in character, and the Natural Stone Database records that both buildings were constructed using the same locally quarried Scrabo sandstone used for the 1858 extension of the Castle, supporting a construction date of around 1858 for the cottages.

A construction date of around 1858 would point to Thomas Turner as the likely architect. According to the Dictionary of Irish Architects, Turner did not design any overtly gothic buildings but did design a number of gate screens and garden features, and submitted an unsuccessful entry for the design of the Crystal Palace built to house the Great Exhibition of London in 1851. Turner's father, Richard Turner, was employed as a contractor for the construction of Charles Lanyon's glasshouse at the Botanic Garden. Griffith's Valuation of 1860–61 set the combined value of Stormont Castle and its outbuildings at £350; the Conservatory was jointly valued with the adjoining mansion throughout its history, making it difficult to gauge its individual worth.

The Natural Stone Database records that the cottages each originally possessed a square-topped doorway and two rectangular sash windows. The 1911 census of Ireland recorded them as second-class dwellings of between four and six rooms each, occupied by estate workers employed as gardeners and coachmen. Following the purchase of the Stormont estate by the Northern Ireland Government, the glass and timber sections of the Conservatory were replaced in the 1930s. The Conservatory was listed in 1987. An inspection around 2002 found rot within the timbers. In 2004 the single-storey glasshouses were demolished and carefully replaced with current Victorian-style wings, while the central gothic sandstone structure was retained. Following the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and the subsequent St Andrews Agreements of 2006–07, Stormont Castle became the offices of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, with the Conservatory used for state and social functions. The Northern Ireland Executive notes that after the reconstruction, part of the southern section of the Conservatory continued in use as a greenhouse, while the remainder of the building — including the former workers' cottages on the northern side — incorporates modern office accommodation and a meeting venue. In 2009 a further interior renovation of the Conservatory was carried out, during which a new Victorian-style tiled floor, installed by Armatile Architectural, was laid in the southern section.

Exterior Description

The range is rectangular on plan, oriented on an east–west axis, and faces north. Its mono-pitched, lean-to roof is covered in natural slate with black clay ridge tiles to the hipped western gable end. Lead abutment flashing runs to the Conservatory parapet, and replacement cast-iron guttering and downpipes on iron drive-through brackets are fixed just below the projecting stone fascia. The walling is of coursed rough-hewn sandstone with lime pointing throughout, unless otherwise stated. Window and door openings are square-headed with voussoired sandstone heads, some of which have fallen and consequently appear slanted. Replacement 6/6 double-hung timber sash windows are fitted with part-exposed sash boxes and sandstone sills.

The north-facing front elevation is built in sandstone with irregularly spaced window and door openings. The replacement timber doors are glazed to the upper half in a three-pane-wide by three-pane-high arrangement, and sheeted to the lower half. At the eastern end of the front elevation is a group of three segmental-headed window openings formed in voussoired sandstone, fitted with fixed multi-pane timber windows. Six octagonal stone chimney pots, arranged in pairs, are visible peering over the reverse side of the parapet at regular intervals, as is the octagonal glazed lantern with crocketed pinnacles and pineapple finial that forms the entrance to the Conservatory behind. When viewed alongside these ornate features, the single-storey terrace reads as simple and vernacular in character.

The east gable is blank, with painted rendered walling extending to the ridge. The south elevation forms the internal north wall of the Stormont Conservatory and is built in handmade red brick to the lower half, laid in English garden wall bond, with random coursed squared sandstone to the upper half and a series of vertical machine-made brick strips inserted at approximately one-metre intervals. The west gable is blank, constructed from random uncourced sandstone, and the end of the central spine wall is exposed to its full abutment height at this gable.

The cottages have been extensively renovated, with external fabric replaced using appropriate materials to a high standard. Despite this, the vernacular quality of the simple structure has been retained.

Setting

The terrace of former dwellings abuts the north wall of the Stormont Conservatory, to the northwest of Stormont Castle. The buildings now front onto a tarmacadam driveway with parking bays opposite; the driveway leads northwest towards Parliament Buildings. They form an intrinsic part of the wider Stormont Estate.