Campbell College, Belmont Road, Belfast

Campbell College

Campbell College is a High Victorian, multi-bay, two-storey-plus-attic school complex in the British Tudor Revival style, built in stages between 1891 and 1899 to designs by W. H. Lynn and constructed by H. Laverty & Sons. It stands within its own landscaped grounds off Belmont Road, close to a number of other listed buildings in the Stormont area, and is listed at Grade B1. The listing covers the main school building, its walling and steps.

Historical Background

The college is named after Henry Campbell, a successful local linen merchant who died in January 1889 and left the majority of his fortune for the establishment of either a hospital or school in his memory. His Will specified that any school built should provide "a superior liberal Protestant education." The Trustees appointed William H. Lynn (1829–1915) as architect — one of the most prolific architects in late-Victorian and Edwardian Belfast, responsible for the Belfast Central Library and the Bank Buildings, among many other prominent city structures.

The school was built on the estate of Belmont House, an early 19th-century two-storey gentleman's mansion formerly the residence of Sir Thomas McClure, who had vacated it by 1890. The house, valued at £55 between 1860 and 1894, was used as the Clerk of Works office during construction and demolished in 1894. The Belmont estate was chosen partly because the area was a flourishing, expanding affluent suburb of Belfast, and the south of the city was already served by Methodist College. Lynn toured schools in Britain and Europe before settling on a distinctly British Tudor Revival design.

Tenders were invited from May 1891. H. Laverty & Sons were appointed on a tender of £54,214. The school officially opened on 3 September 1894 with 215 pupils, a quarter of whom came from within one mile of the school. Construction of additional wings continued until 1899, by which point the school and its contents were insured for £101,000 and the total rateable value stood at £1,510. A dormitory wing and additional workshops were recorded in the Annual Revisions of 1896.

The original building was divided into three main blocks: the central block (including the tower) housed dormitories and the main dining hall; the wing to the south-west provided accommodation for the joint headmasters; and the large wing to the south-east contained the grand central hall, which later became the school chapel.

The success of the school led to significant expansion in the early 20th century. Following the Partition of Ireland, the Trustees acquired the neighbouring Cabin Hill in 1924, then converted Ormiston House and Netherleigh House into additional junior schools in 1926 and 1928 respectively. All three were sold in the 1970s, with proceeds reinvested in the college. During the Second World War, Campbell College was requisitioned for use as a General Hospital, with pupils relocated for the duration to the Northern Counties Hotel in Portrush.

In 1957–58, a new study block and science laboratory — known as the MacDermott Wing — was designed by Reginald Sharman Wilshere (1888–1961), architect to the Belfast Corporation Education Committee since 1926, who designed 26 schools in Northern Ireland between Partition and the Second World War. This was among the last contracts he completed before his death in 1961. The school chapel, in the south-east wing, was added in 1965 and included a chancel, choir stalls and a vestry room. A sports complex was constructed to the north of the original college in 1971. A large modern block was built to the east of the original complex in 2004, followed in 2012 by a further block to the north providing additional boarding accommodation.

The college has notable alumni and former staff. C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters, was a former pupil; Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), Nobel prize-winning novelist and playwright, briefly taught there in 1928. The college was listed in 1987, when Paul Larmour described it as "a picturesquely grouped exercise in Tudor Revivalism, reserved in style and refined in detail."

External Description

The building is irregular in plan, facing south, with a number of later extensions. The roof is pitched natural slate with roll-top red clay ridge tiles. Gables have raised moulded stone verges with floriated finials. Dormer windows are built off the face of the wall and have raised stone verges and kneelers to their gables. Rainwater goods are cast iron. Chimney stacks are of rectangular section with corbelled coping stones and clay chimney pots. Walling is red brick laid in Flemish bond on a moulded stone plinth. Window openings are generally square-headed with mullioned ashlar sandstone architrave surrounds and timber casement windows. Sandstone dressings are used to the mullioned windows throughout.

Principal (South) Elevation

The principal elevation faces south and comprises the south and east elevations of the west wing, the east and south elevations of the central block, and the west and south elevations of the east wing.

The south elevation of the west wing features a four-stage tower at the west end, with a window to each stage, moulded string courses at first- and fourth-stage lintel level, a raised parapet, and a pyramidal natural slate roof with a metal weathervane. Immediately to the east of the tower, a projecting single-storey flat-roofed porch faces south-west, with a four-centred arched door opening within a square-headed architrave leading onto four stone steps and having a raised parapet. Further east are two identical two-storey-plus-attic gables, separated by a two-stage buttress, each with a two-storey three-sided canted bay to the centre. A further projecting single-storey flat-roofed porch faces south-east to the next bay to the east, again with a four-centred arched door opening within a square-headed architrave onto four stone steps. Two dormer windows appear in the roof of the last two bays to the east.

The east elevation of the west wing is four bays wide, with a gable to the south end, a two-storey three-sided canted bay with raised parapet immediately to the north, and two two-storey bays to the north adjoining the east elevation of the central block, separated by a two-stage buttress. There are also two two-storey-plus-attic bays and a three-storey gabled bay with a single-storey flat-roofed two-sided canted bay to the north-west corner.

The south elevation of the central block is ten bays wide, two storeys plus attic, with a five-stage clock tower to the north-east corner. Two-storey flat-roofed three-sided canted bays appear to the third and sixth bays. An imposing single-storey flat-roofed porch to the last bay to the east has octagonal pilasters to the corners, a raised parapet, and a large four-centred arched door opening onto four stone steps.

The clock tower is of square plan with three-stage angle buttresses. The first and second stages each have two openings; the third and fourth stages have single three-part windows; the fifth stage carries a clock face. The tower has a pyramidal roof with a metal finial, and a six-stage octagonal turret to the south-east corner.

The west elevation of the east wing has a two-storey bay to the north corner, two two-bay-wide two-storey-plus-attic gables, and two two-storey bays to the south end. The north bay has a two-part square-headed window at first-floor level with stained leaded glazing. The bay before last has a square-headed door opening with a double-leaf diagonal-sheeted door with glazing, leading onto five steps.

The symmetrical south elevation of the east wing has a double-height three-sided canted bay at the centre, projecting from a double-height gable containing a large rose window, flanked by two-storey two-bay-wide gables. The canted bay has a hipped natural slate roof behind a raised parapet. An octagonal ventilator with an ogee-shaped metal roof sits atop the east wing. Window openings to the canted sides and the rose window have stained leaded glazing. Moulded stone string courses appear at ground- and first-floor lintel levels.

East Elevation

The east elevation consists of the L-plan east elevation of the east wing to the south and a U-plan elevation to the north, incorporating the MacDermott Wing at the north end.

To the south, there is a five-bay-wide two-storey-plus-attic building facing east, with two bays and three projecting gabled bays. Cast iron hoppers discharge to rectangular section downpipes. The gabled bays to the centre each have two windows at ground- and first-floor level; the last gable to the north has an ogee-headed door opening with fanlight and a three-part window at first-floor level above. The U-plan section has a two-storey-plus-attic flat-roofed three-sided canted bay facing east at the south end.

An eight-bay-wide elevation faces north with a gable to the fourth bay having three-part windows. An eleven-bay-wide elevation faces east with a hipped roof behind a raised parapet, and has segmental-arched openings. A segmental-headed door opening to the third bay from the south has a square-headed double-leaf sheeted timber door with glazing, fanlight and sidelights, opening onto a raised platform with stairs. The sixth bay projects and has a tall window. The last bay to the north has a segmental-arched door opening with a square-headed double-leaf diagonal-sheeted timber door with fanlight.

The MacDermott Wing occupies the north part of the U-plan. Its twelve-bay-wide elevation faces south and its two-bay-wide elevation faces east. A recessed bay at the centre is flanked by a four-bay-wide gabled part to the east and a seven-bay-wide part to the west. Cast iron hoppers discharge to circular section downpipes. A Tudor-arched door opening to the central bay has a smooth artificial stone surround. Square-headed two-part window openings have smooth artificial stone surrounds with timber casement windows. The east-facing elevation has a gabled bay to the south and a projecting bay to the north with a square-headed door opening fitted with a double-leaf timber panelled door with glazing.

North Elevation

The north elevation consists of an L-plan two-storey hipped-roof part to the east and a gabled two-storey-plus-attic building to the west, abutted by a modern flat-roofed two-storey extension. A single-storey lean-to-roofed six-bay-wide extension to the east end faces north, with segmental-arched openings and a segmental-arched door to the last bay fitted with a modern double-leaf timber door with fanlight. A two-storey five-bay-wide elevation immediately to the west has segmental-headed openings and a raised parapet, with cast iron hoppers discharging to rectangular section downpipes; the fourth bay has a segmental-headed door opening with a modern flush door. An eight-bay-wide elevation faces west, again with segmental-arched openings.

A symmetrical two-storey-plus-attic building to the west has a three-bay-wide gable at the centre flanked by two bays on each side, all with square-headed windows and dormers built off the face of the wall. A square-headed door opening sits at the centre. Rainwater goods here are cast iron ogee guttering and hoppers discharging to rectangular section downpipes. A square-plan ventilator to the roof has louvred openings and an ogee-shaped roof with a metal finial.

West Elevation

The west elevation consists of the west-facing elevation of the central block and the north- and west-facing elevations of the west wing. The central block's west elevation has a three-bay-wide part to the north with square-headed window openings and a six-bay-wide part to the south with square-headed mullioned window openings, all fitted with top-hung casement windows. The fourth bay from the north has a square-headed door opening with a replacement timber door and fanlight, opening onto five steps. A single-storey lean-to roof supported on metal posts and having a square-headed opening connects the central block with the west wing. The west wing's north gable has a projecting rectangular section chimney stack and a single-storey lean-to extension. The west elevation of the west wing has a two-storey bay to the north, a three-sided canted bay at the centre, and the four-stage tower at the south end.

Interior

Important parts of the interior survive intact. These include the panelled front hall and grand staircase in the central block, the chapel, and a late-Gothic memorial screen by James Reid Young, incorporating sculptures by Rosamund Praeger. The screen, located in the central hall, was installed in 1920 to commemorate the 585 alumni who served in the First World War, 119 of whom were killed in action. Young was a former pupil of the college. The clock in the tower was installed in 1924 as a memorial to former headmaster William Allison.

Setting

Campbell College stands within its own landscaped grounds, which include a number of modern buildings and a gate lodge to the south-west. It is situated just off Belmont Road, in close proximity to a number of other listed properties in the Stormont area. Two statues depicting boars in a heraldic style on the main approach to the college building are recent additions to the estate.