Stable block (Ormiston Mews), 50 Hawthornden Road, Belfast, Co Down, BT4 2GH

Stable block (now used as a store), built in 1865–67 to serve neighbouring Ormiston House, with a later extension added around 1890 and further alterations in the mid 20th century. The building is situated within Ormiston's extensive grounds to the west of Hawthornden Road, a short distance east of the house itself, approached via a drive from the east that runs parallel to the main gateway to the stable yard. To the east of the block is a largely untended lawn with thick bushes and trees to the west; to the south is a row of former garden sheds which back directly onto a modern housing development.

The stable block is relatively small, plain, and single storey, roughly U-shaped in plan, built in squared rock-faced sandstone on its outer faces, with courtyard-facing elevations in painted brick. The small yard formed by the U-shape is enclosed to the north by a tall sandstone wall. In the centre of this wall is a large carriage gateway, now without gates but retaining tall square gate piers in weathered sandstone; the pier to the east retains a shallow pyramidal cap, also badly weathered. The wall has an outer (north) face of rock-faced sandstone with the inner face in red brick and dressed sandstone coping. To the left of the gateway, on the north side of the wall, are two short projecting breeze block walls with a platform between them, which recently appears to have housed an oil tank.

The gateway leads into a cobbled rectangular yard. The longest wing runs to the south, with same-sized wings to the east and west. All courtyard-facing elevations are in painted brick, with openings of various kinds, many of which are undoubtedly not original.

The inner (west-facing) elevation of the east wing is dominated by a large painted timber screen covering roughly three-quarters of the full elevation, with only the far right-hand quarter in brick. The screen covers an area that may originally have been open; the upper half is almost entirely glazed, with a doorway to the far right, though the glazing and doorway are now boarded over. To the right of the screen, within the brick section, is a plain flat-arch sash window. Above and to the left of this window, the outline of a former lean-to structure is clearly visible — one that originally leaned against the north face of the south wing. Part of this lean-to survives as a low painted brick wall.

The long inner (north-facing) elevation of the south wing has a boarded-up window to the far left, with a timber-sheeted pedestrian door (with a two-pane fanlight) immediately to its right. Both door and window sit within a relatively large segmental-headed recess that was originally open, leading into a passage that passed straight through this wing to the rear yard — the outline of which is still visible on the south elevation. The door and window also sit within the remains of the low wall mentioned above, which appears to be the last remnant of a former lean-to. Immediately to the right of the doorway and low wall is a small shallow brick lean-to, now roofless, with a timber-sheeted door, apparently a former small store. To the right of this are two identical boarded-up window openings, then a large vehicle doorway fitted with a modern metal roller shutter with wicket gate — an undoubtedly recent creation. To the right of this is another boarded-up window.

The inner (east-facing) elevation of the west wing has a boarded-up pedestrian doorway to the left, then a narrow boarded-up window, then a large vehicle doorway with a roller shutter (similar to the above but slightly narrower), then another narrow boarded-up window to the far right.

The outer north gable of the east wing is finished in rock-faced sandstone with kneelers to the gable and has no openings. The outer (east) elevation of the east wing has a gabled bay to the far left, which is abutted by a later large single-storey hipped-roof projection in rock-faced sandstone to the north and east, and unpainted red brick to the south. The south face of this projection has a large but low vehicle doorway to the left, now without a door, then a small boarded-up window, then another identical vehicle doorway, then a pedestrian doorway, and to the far right another boarded-up window. The two vehicle doorways have large areas of tongue-and-groove timber sheeting above them. Returning to the east elevation of the east wing proper, immediately to the right of the gable is a sash window with Georgian panes (six over six), with two similarly sized boarded-up windows a distance to the right.

The long south elevation of the south wing is in unpainted red brick. To the left and centre are seven irregularly spaced high-level segmental-headed window and ventilation openings at eaves level, covered with metal grilles. To the right of these are three lower-level windows at normal height, all boarded up; the window to the far right is slightly taller than the other two. The outer north gable of the west wing matches that of the east wing. The west elevation of the west wing has three relatively high-level squat windows, all boarded up, and to the far right a gabled bay with two high-level window and ventilation openings matching those on the south elevation of the south wing. A high wall extends southwards from the right-hand end of this elevation.

The roof of the stable block is slated, with parapets in overlapping stone to the gables and cream clay ridge tiles. The east wing has two original dressed sandstone chimneystacks to the south end of the ridge, with two later smaller red brick stacks to the north of these — one of which awkwardly backs onto one of the original stacks. Rainwater goods to the original stable block are cast iron; those to the later hipped-roof section are a mixture of cast iron and PVC.

To the rear of the stable block, a few metres to the south, is a later long single-storey brick-built row of garden sheds (dating from around 1890), with a long narrow yard running between them and the stable block, now largely weed-covered. The yard is entered via a vehicle gateway to the east, with corrugated iron-sheeted gates, which stretches from the south-east corner of the hipped-roof portion to a high sandstone wall to the south; this wall in turn meets an equally high sandstone wall at a right angle. In this latter wall a blocked-up pedestrian entrance is still visible. These walls originally enclosed a large formal garden, on the north side of which — backing onto the shed row — stood a long glasshouse. The glasshouse has been demolished and modern housing now occupies the former garden. To the west end, the long yard is enclosed by another high wall with a pedestrian gateway. The yard-facing (east) side of this wall is in brick; the west side is probably in sandstone, though this could not be confirmed due to thick greenery.

The shed row is noticeably lower in height than the stable block and has a single-pitch corrugated asbestos roof that leans against the former dividing wall between it and the demolished glasshouse. Roughly at the centre of the row is a relatively small two-storey section, whose flat roof is covered by a large flat metal water tank. From the two-storey section westwards, the façade is set back slightly. The far left-hand section of the north elevation of the row is covered in thick greenery and no openings could be seen. To the immediate left of the greenery are two boarded-up windows, then two boarded-up pedestrian doorways. The two-storey section has a boarded-up doorway and window to the ground floor and a single boarded-up window to the first floor. To the right is a doorless doorway that originally gave access to a short passage leading to the glasshouse, then two windows — one retaining the dilapidated remains of a sash frame — followed by two doorways with plain timber-sheeted doors and a small bricked-up window set between them. Further to the right is another boarded-up window and then another doorway. The short east elevation of the row is incorporated into the wall that stretches southwards from the gateway and has no openings. The west elevation merges with the wall to that side, which rises to form a parapet with a concave slope to the north; this elevation could not be seen from the west but is believed to have a single window. A comparatively tall dressed sandstone chimneystack rises from the rear (south) side, just to the west of the two-storey section.

Ormiston House was designed by David Bryce of Edinburgh and built in 1865–67 for James Combe, a Scots-born iron founder and linen manufacturer (of Combe Barber). The property was sold around 1880 to shipbuilder Sir Edward J. Harland, who remained there until 1887, when it was acquired by his business partner William Pirrie, later Viscount Pirrie. Pirrie, who became Chairman of Harland and Wolff, retained the house until his death in 1924. By that stage the property was partly owned by the shipyard itself, and between approximately 1911 and 1920 it appears to have been used to house various company directors, among them George Cuming, recorded as resident in 1918. Shortly after Pirrie's death, Harland and Wolff came into sole ownership and sold the property in 1928 to Campbell College, which held it until the mid 1970s. Since then the property has served as government offices but is presently vacant.

The stable block appears to have been built at the same time as the main house (1865–67) and originally consisted of the U-shaped building arranged around the small courtyard, though no original plans appear to have survived to confirm this with certainty. The small hipped-roof extension to the east side of the stables was added some time before 1901, as it is shown on a map of that year, as are the garden sheds and large walled garden to the south. The precise date of the walled garden and glasshouse is uncertain, but the appearance of both the sheds and the extension suggests they were added in the 1880s or 1890s, possibly by William Pirrie, who extended the house itself in 1896–97 (when he was Lord Mayor of Belfast) and made changes to the grounds, creating among other things a nine-hole golf course. A valuer's notebook entry dated 1903 records these changes and shows the garden and stable extension as pre-existing by 1896. During the mid to later 20th century, much of the southern half of Ormiston's grounds was sold off for housing development, and the walled garden and glasshouse were demolished in the process. The garden sheds survived and were used by Campbell College as changing rooms serving a swimming pool installed by the school some distance to the south of the house, while the stables were converted to quarters for the groundsman and used as stores.