Gate Lodge, Gates and Screens Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, County Antrim, BT4 3XX

Gate Lodge, Gates and Screens, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast

This detached two-storey stone gate lodge and principal gate screen at the Upper Newtownards Road entrance to the Stormont Estate was built around 1932 to the designs of Sir Arnold Thornely (1870–1953), a Liverpool-based architect appointed by the Board of Works to design Parliament Buildings. Thornely was responsible not only for the four-storey parliament building itself but also for all the gateways, gate lodges, and the former Provincial Bank on Massey Avenue. Together, the gate lodge and entrance screen form one of the most elaborate and ceremonial entrances in Belfast, providing a fitting approach to Northern Ireland's seat of power. The lodge and screen have group value with other listed buildings and statuary within the Stormont Estate. Parliament Buildings was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on 16th November 1932, and the gate lodges were completed by that date.

The gate screen is laid out on an east–west axis fronting onto the Upper Newtownards Road, framing the long avenue to Stormont Parliament. The gate lodge sits behind the curved section to the east, with its principal elevation facing west onto the avenue. As it forms the main entrance to the estate, the gate screen here is grander than its counterpart at the Massey Avenue entrance, to which this lodge is otherwise identical.

Gate Lodge

The lodge has a pyramidal roof covered in original gauged slate with rolled leaded ridges, surmounted by a stepped Portland limestone ashlar chimney with clay pots. A blocking course runs to the eaves, and a lead-lined drip cornice frames the upper storey. The walls throughout are of smooth Portland limestone ashlar with continuous cornices over each floor and shallow corner pilasters.

Window openings are square-headed with shallow recessed surrounds and fitted with original steel casement windows throughout, reglazed with applied lead and retaining some original bronze mechanisms. The symmetrical west-facing principal elevation is two windows wide, with a central shallow breakfront containing a square-headed door opening executed in Portland limestone with an architrave and scrolled console brackets supporting a hood cornice. The door itself is a replacement panelled hardwood door, opening onto a concrete-paved footpath and lawn.

The symmetrical north side elevation has a single window to the ground floor set within a shallow breakfront. The rear east elevation is three bays wide and is abutted at ground floor level by a tall semi-circular limestone ashlar wall surmounted by spear-headed iron finials, enclosing a small rear yard. The symmetrical south side elevation has two windows to the first floor and a shallow bay window at ground level with three windows, each flanked by shallow pilasters.

Entrance Screen

The entrance screen is symmetrically arranged and comprises a central vehicular entrance supported on a pair of tall Portland limestone ashlar piers, flanked by a pair of pedestrian entrance gates. Sections of cast-iron railings on a limestone ashlar plinth wall extend to either side, each section framed by elaborate limestone piers surmounted by iron lamps. The highly decorative cast-iron gates are surmounted by anthemion finials with gilded details. The central piers are surmounted by full Greek Doric entablatures, antefixae, and urns. The remaining piers are embellished with elaborate carved panels, antefixae, and decorative cast-iron lamps. In the words of architectural historian Dean, the screen features grandiose square carriage pillars surmounted by large fluted urns raised on corniced cappings with acroteria to each corner, with each pillar flanked by a breakfront with bas-relief and Greek key patterned bands, repeated on the secondary pillars which are crowned by octagonal lanterns, all classical motifs carried through the extensive iron screen and gates. Portland limestone was the primary masonry material throughout, as recorded in the Natural Stone Database.

Historical Notes and Alterations

As writer Gallagher observed, Thornely's layout of the buildings and grounds at Stormont represents one of the most outstanding architectural sights in Ireland, with the magnificent processional avenue, lined with lime and yew trees, leading the visitor from the main gates, past the statue of Lord Carson, to the foot of the famous sixty steps of Parliament Buildings. The Massey Avenue gate lodge was valued at £200 in 1935; the Upper Newtownards Road lodge was not included in either the First or Second General Revaluations of Northern Ireland (1956–72), having possibly been jointly valued with the main Parliament Buildings. The lodge was listed in 1987. A refurbishment of the gate lodge and screen was carried out in 1997, during which the original gate screen was repaired and the plinths of the gate screen restored.

Setting

The lodge and screen front directly onto the Upper Newtownards Road, set back slightly with a bitmac front parking and set-down area. The entrance screen is aligned with the front of Stormont Parliament Building, providing access via a straight bitmac avenue of approximately one mile in length.