Stormont Castle, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast

Stormont Castle

Stormont Castle is a detached, multi-bay, three-storey-over-basement turreted Scots Baronial sandstone house built around 1830 and substantially remodelled in 1858 to the designs of Dublin-based architect Thomas Turner (d. 1891). It stands on an elevated, mature landscaped site to the southeast of the Parliament Buildings on the Stormont Estate, east of Belfast, enclosed by modern security fencing. The building is a rare example of this architectural type in Northern Ireland, and its central role in the government of Northern Ireland gives it national importance. It has group value with the other listed buildings on the Stormont Estate.

Origins and History

The mansion was built around 1830 for the Reverend John Cleland (1755–1834), a local magistrate and rector of Newtownards, who had acquired the Stormont Estate by marrying the daughter of the previous owner. Cleland was described as "a fearsome magistrate and man of dubious reputation," with much of the wealth that allowed him to develop the estate allegedly ill-gotten. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 depicts the mansion as a square-shaped structure captioned "Storm Mount," and the contemporary Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe it as "a large plain house with very little planting around it." At that date, the adjoining outbuildings and the gothic conservatory had not yet been erected. The Townland Valuations record the property was valued at £50 14s. in the 1830s.

Reverend Cleland's son Samuel inherited the estate on his father's death in 1834 but was killed while supervising the demolition of a wall in the grounds in 1842. Samuel's widow Elizabeth took over and continued to reside there until around 1860. It was Elizabeth Cleland who commissioned the redesign of the house. Thomas Turner added a three-storey extension to the north and a tower to the east side in 1858, and the original mansion was encased in locally quarried Scrabo Sandstone matching the new wings. The construction was contracted to John Lowry at a cost of approximately £10,000. As a result, the plain house was transformed into the Scots Baronial "Stormont Castle," with crenellated parapets, turrets, towers, and decorative stone gryphons. The extent to which the original house survives within the remodelled structure is not entirely clear, though there is historical evidence that the symmetrical five-bay south-facing block contains the shell of the original Georgian dwelling. Following the redesign, Griffith's Valuation of 1860–61 increased the value of Stormont Castle and its associated buildings to £350.

The second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1860 indicates that the two-storey extension to the northeast was not part of Turner's work but resulted from further building undertaken between 1860 and around 1890. A photograph dated around 1894 confirms this extension was in place by the time the Cleland family vacated the property. John Cleland, Elizabeth's son and a local magistrate, had taken possession by the 1860s and successfully appealed against his rates assessment in 1864, reducing the valuation from £350 to £300, where it remained until the 1930s.

The Cleland family rented out the castle from 1893. Their sole tenant was Charles Allen, a local shipbuilder with Workman, Clark and Company — the second-largest shipbuilder in Belfast and the fourth-largest in Britain — who resided there from 1893 until 1920, when the family put the property up for sale.

Following the Government of Ireland Act 1920, Northern Ireland was established as a self-governing part of the United Kingdom. The search for a seat of government began immediately, with Belvoir Park, Belfast Castle, Orangefield, and the Assembly College all considered and rejected. In September 1921 the Stormont Estate was selected, and on 20 September 1921 parliament voted to approve it as the place "where the new Parliament Houses and Ministerial Buildings shall be erected." In December 1921 the estate was purchased by the Commissioners of Public Works and Buildings of the Imperial Government for £20,334. Although initially intended for demolition to make way for new parliament buildings, the castle was retained following local pressure. From 1922 to 1972 it served as the official residence of the Northern Ireland Prime Minister and as headquarters for the Cabinet Secretariat and the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Following the opening of the Parliament Buildings in 1932, the First General Revaluation of 1935 raised the castle's value to £360. The original gate lodge to the castle was demolished around 1962 to accommodate new government buildings. Internal alterations during the 1960s led to a greatly increased valuation of £2,060 by the end of the Second General Revaluation of 1956–72. During Direct Rule the castle served as the headquarters of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Following the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 and the subsequent St Andrews Agreements of 2006–07, it became the offices of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

The building was listed Category B+ in 1987 and has since been reclassified at Grade A. Between 2006 and 2009 the castle underwent extensive renovation, returning the exterior to its Victorian appearance while providing modern office accommodation within. The restoration of the sandstone façade was carried out by S. McConnell and Sons Ltd. An extension to the north, designed "in a modern idiom which respects the historic context," was added to house the Executive Information Service. Two stained glass windows in the main tower, gifted by St Elizabeth's Parish Church in Dundonald in 2001, are memorials to Mrs Cleland and were moved from the church after it fell vacant. A modern stained glass window above the landing of the main staircase was designed by David Esler and added as part of the 2006–09 renovation.

Exterior

The building is irregular in plan, facing south, with a two-storey wing to the rear and a connecting former stable range to the northeast. The symmetrical principal block, built around 1830, was refaced and remodelled around 1858. Roofs are hipped natural slate with rolled lead ridges, lead finials, lead valleys, decorative profiled sandstone ashlar chimneystacks with black pots, and replacement iron box hoppers and downpipes. All roofs are set behind crenellated parapet walls. Towers have lead-lined flat or ogee roofs, and the bartizans have lead-lined conical roofs topped by iron and brass finials. Walling throughout is random coursed, rock-faced sandstone ashlar with smooth moulded dressings and string courses. Window openings are square-headed with flush sandstone architrave surrounds and single-pane timber sash windows.

Entrance Tower and South Elevation

A four-stage, square-plan, turreted and battered entrance tower, built around 1860, stands to the southeast of the principal block. Its lead-lined flat roof is set behind a crenellated parapet wall with a machicolated course at the base. The three outer corners have bartizans, and a five-stage square-plan stair tower occupies the northwest corner. The upper stage has tripartite round-headed openings; the first and second floors have bipartite openings; and the basement level has deeply recessed timber sash windows.

The south elevation of the tower is abutted by a square-plan sandstone ashlar portico and a flight of steps. The portico has four banded Doric piers, a plain entablature, and a pierced balustrade over with ball finials. Double-leaf timber panelled doors open onto the raised platform, and the replacement sandstone steps are enclosed by pierced and solid balustrades terminated by a pair of stone gryphons.

The principal south elevation of the main block is five windows wide, framed by bartizans at either end rising from clasping piers, with a central breakfront and two-storey canted bay window. The roof behind the crenellated parapet wall has a string course at its base, and a crow-stepped gable with ball finial rises above the central breakfront. A pierced stone balustrade surmounts the central bay, and the central second-floor window has a carved stone overpanel. Iron bars protect the basement windows.

West Elevation

The asymmetrical west side elevation is also framed by bartizans and is abutted to the south by an octagonal four-stage tower and to the north end by a projecting chimneystack. The tower rises from a square-plan base and has a lead-lined roof with iron cresting. A shallow single-storey-over-basement rectangular bay window occupies the central bay, with a lead-lined roof, stone transom and mullions, and timber casement windows. To the right is a square-headed door opening with timber French doors and an overlight, opening onto a flight of stone steps enclosed by stone balustrades that bridge the basement area.

North and East Elevations

The rear north elevation is three windows wide and is abutted to the east end by a two-storey rear wing with a four-stage square-plan tower at the inner angle. The exposed section of the rear elevation has a symmetrical composition with a square-plan ground-floor-over-basement bay window to the left, a three-sided canted bay to the right, and a central shallow breakfront.

The double-gabled east side elevation is abutted by a four-stage square-plan tower to the front pile and by the two-storey return to the rear pile, enclosed by a short crenellated screen wall. The tower has a lead-lined ogee roof with a decorative finial and oculi to the upper stage only.

Rear Wing and Former Stable Range

The two-storey-over-basement rear wing has crenellations and bartizans matching the rest of the building, with crow-stepped gabled ends. A central entrance bay to the east elevation is framed by a further pair of bartizans. A gablet above the entrance carries a date plaque inscribed "1856," with a glazed porch below.

The south range of the former stable yard now forms part of the castle interior. It comprises a single-storey crenellated stone block abutted by a square-plan three-stage battered clock tower to the east end and a single-bay two-storey projection to the west end with a diminutive square tower. The clock tower has a lead-lined sprocketed roof surmounted by a timber lantern with an ogee lead-lined roof and vane. The clock stage has a round-headed opening with a timber-framed louvred surround and a gilded iron clock face. A curved stone screen wall to the east end has crenellations and balustrading.

The rear wing interconnects with the south range of the former stable yard, which is fronted by a crenellated screen wall with a gabled and turreted projection to the west and the clock tower to the east.

Interior

The principal rooms and the stairhall retain the character of the castle. The building has undergone successive refurbishment works, restoration, and partial rebuilding in which original fabric was removed and either reinstated or faithfully reproduced.

Setting

The castle is set within a mature landscaped site. Four sets of stone steps to the west of the castle are all that remain of the formal garden recorded in its original form in photographs by R. Welch dating from 1894. The Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes notes that "formal bedding in the vicinity of the glasshouse and immediately to the west of the house, was recorded in its original form in R. Welch's photographs of 1894 but have now gone."