Bannbrook House, 67 Cranagh Road, Coleraine, County Londonderry

Bannbrook House

Bannbrook House is a significant early house with deep historical connections to the Downhill estate and Frederick Augustus Hervey, the fourth Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry. The listing covers the house itself together with its gates, entrance piers, gate screen, and an outbuilding. The house stands in the townland of Bannbrook Lower, within the parish of Dunboe, County Londonderry, and remains in private ownership.

Origins and Historical Background

Documentary evidence indicates that a house has stood on this site since at least 1691, when it is recorded as having been built by a 'Squire Ford'. This attribution comes from David McBlain, an architect-sculptor who, together with his father James, had worked for the Earl-Bishop of Derry at Downhill in the 1780s. Writing in 1835, McBlain stated that Bannbrook House 'was built by Squire Ford in 1691, the sexangular part by Bishop Hervey', and that 'the Boyle family were the late inhabitants after the Barnetts'. A second 1835 entry records that 'the house was built by William Ford Esquire in 1691, and an additional part was added by Lord Bristol in 1792', listing successive occupants as William Ford Esquire, William Ford Esquire Junior, Doctor Barnett (Doctor of Divinity), Miss Robinson, James Boyle Esquire, and Hugh Swan.

The 'Squire Ford' in question was most probably William Ford, brother of the Reverend Roger Ford (born in Drogheda around 1657), who served as Archdeacon of Derry and Rector of Dunboe from 1685–86 until his death in 1719. Roger Ford rebuilt the parish church in 1691 and appears to have lived in the area for at least part of his incumbency, as his eldest son was born there in 1703. William Ford is noted as 'William Ford of Bannbrook' in a genealogy contained in the Groves Manuscripts and lived until at least 1738, when he was left a legacy in the will of Richard Helsham MD.

The townland of Bannbrook Lower had belonged to the See of Derry since the late 14th century. In 1761, Reverend Thomas Barnard, eldest son of William Barnard, then Bishop of Derry, became Rector of Dunboe. His brother, Reverend Dr Henry Barnard — the 'Dr Barnett' of the 1835 memoirs — subsequently acquired the lease of Bannbrook. Henry Barnard died in 1793, and the property passed to a William Henry Barnard and to Miss or Mrs Elizabeth Robertson, apparently his sister or sister-in-law. By this point the house had become part of the Earl-Bishop's Downhill Estate. A new lease was granted by the estate in May 1794, witnessed by Michael Shanahan, who acted not only as the Bishop's architect but also as estate manager.

It is very likely that Shanahan was responsible for the substantial extensions to Bannbrook carried out around this time. His involvement means the house can be confidently added to the list of Shanahan-designed buildings in Ulster. The association with the Barnard family, as descendants of William Barnard, a former Bishop of Derry, gives the house additional historical interest.

In 1805, Mrs Robertson was obliged to sell the lease of Bannbrook to James Boyle of Dungiven for £1,000 in order to help resolve the financial difficulties of her nephew Andrew Francis Barnard. Boyle expanded the holding in 1813 by adding three fields of Little Bannbrook. He remained at Bannbrook until some time before 1835, when the property passed to a Hugh Swan. The Swans were subsequently evicted by Sir Hervey Bruce Baronet, grandson of Sir Henry Hervey Aston Bruce, who had inherited Downhill and all the Earl-Bishop's Ulster estates.

By the time of the 1856 valuation, the occupier was listed as James Craig. The recorded dimensions at that date were: the main house 47½ ft by 29 ft by 20 ft, with an upper and lower storey of the northern annex each measuring 53 ft by 20 ft by 12 ft, returns of 12 ft by 9 ft by 22 ft, 29 ft by 12 ft by 12 ft, and 11 ft by 9 ft by 6 ft, along with two outbuildings — one measuring 82 ft by 21 ft by 14 ft, the other a thatched shed of 55 ft by 15 ft by 6 ft. The rateable valuation of the house stood at £10 in 1836, rose to £14 0s 3d in 1856, then fell to £9 in 1862 and £5 in 1886, reflecting its long decline from genteel status.

The Craig family carried out major repairs in the 1920s, including replacing the roof of the main house. The roof of the late 18th century L-shaped extension collapsed in the early 1940s, and the wing was abandoned around that time. The main house stood unoccupied for five or six years in the 1950s. Following reoccupation it underwent a major refurbishment, including the addition of a canted bay to the rear. Further refurbishments took place in the 1970s and 1980s. At the time of the survey in 2007, the property was still occupied by a descendant of the James Craig recorded in the 1856 valuation — his great-great-grandson.

Architectural Description

The Main House

The main house is a solid, gable-ended, five-bay building of one and a half storeys set on a raised basement. Its front façade faces east-south-east and presents a symmetrical arrangement of five bays. The central entrance is reached by a flight of nine sandstone steps with no flanking railing or wall; these were installed in the 1960s to replace an earlier set of stone steps that had been flanked on each side by a stone wall with coping. The entrance itself has a modern mahogany panelled door with a fanlight above in a wooden frame. The flanking windows are fitted with plastic top-hung one-over-one units, installed in the 1980s to replace original wooden sliding sash frames that had held six panes over six.

Originally there were four basement windows on the front elevation, each positioned directly below a window above. Only one original opening now survives — that at the south end. The two former basement windows to the north of the entrance were replaced in the 1960s by a single, centrally positioned, larger opening fitted with a wooden door.

The entire external wall surface of the main house, on all elevations, is rendered in pebble dash applied around 1960, with a low cement plinth at the base.

The north gable has no openings, as the adjacent wing is attached to it. The south gable elevation has a small first-floor window opening positioned on the east side of the gable, fitted with a plastic top-hung one-over-one window.

The rear elevation is complicated by two later additions. At the south end, a two-storey canted bay extension was added around 1960; its eaves rise a few feet above those of the main house. It contains a plastic top-hung one-over-one window at first-floor level and a plastic picture window at ground floor. At the north end of the main block there is a small, one-bay, lean-to kitchen extension whose roof pitch continues the line of the main roof. Added around 1920, it contains a small window at the front and a side door which now serves as the everyday entrance to the house. Between these two additions there are two ground-floor windows: one small picture window and one long rectangular plastic one-over-one window, the latter apparently corresponding to an original opening in the main house wall.

The roof structure of the main house was replaced in the 1920s and re-slated in 1956–57. There is no skylight on the front elevation, but two small skylight windows sit on the rear slope. A brick chimney rises above each end gable; both were rebuilt in the early 1920s.

The North Wing

A four-bay, L-shaped extension with a bowed end was added to the north gable of the main house. Although it has a relatively recent roof, the wing is currently derelict internally. It once contained very large and splendid reception rooms. The wing appears to have been built in two or three separate phases, all evidently dating to the late 18th century.

The earlier portion, immediately adjacent to the main house, is a two-bay building that once accommodated a large room on the ground floor, almost certainly a ballroom — a smaller counterpart to the great picture gallery that the Earl-Bishop built in the west wing of Downhill, later known as the Winter Garden. On its western side there is a narrow two-storey extension with a lean-to roof. On its northern side is a two-bay, two-storey block terminating in a bowed end, containing a single room on each floor.

The walls of the entire wing are of random rubble masonry. The render has long fallen away, and all the openings — many now blocked — have or had brick-trimmed surrounds. The present roof, formed of zinc-coated plastic tiles with insulation beneath, was erected in the 1990s. The previous roof, which had collapsed around 1950, was described by the then owner as having been composed of overlapping planks with a boat-like curved form. There is currently no chimney stack on the wing, though one must originally have existed rising from the centre of the building.

The east elevation of the wing is set well back from the front façade of the main house. The boundary between the two main building phases of the wing is visible in the centre of this elevation. On the southern, older portion there are two camber-headed, brick-lined windows set just below the eaves. Impressions in the wall face below both windows show that they once formed the upper halves of a pair of tall windows which lit the ballroom. On the ground floor beneath these ghost windows there is a brick-lined door opening with a batten door, now disused, flanked by a derelict 20th century metal-framed window. Close by is a former door opening now filled with breeze blocks and a small window. The northern part of the east elevation shows the ghost impression of a tall first-floor window that once lit the drawing room, while at ground floor level there is a brick-lined, camber-headed door opening containing a batten door, also now disused.

The bowed end elevation retains its original six-over-six sliding sash window, with a brick-lined surround, a narrow stone sill, and a wooden lintel curved to follow the face of the wall. Immediately below this is a camber-headed, brick-lined door opening giving access to the ground floor, flanked on each side by brick-lined, camber-headed, near-square window openings whose frames are missing. Above the original eaves line of the bowed end, the wall has been raised in brick to form what is best described as a curved gable, providing support for the roof. Although constructed of 18th century brick, this feature does not appear to be original.

The west elevation of the wing is in two parts. At the north end, a long rectangular window opening at first-floor level once lit the drawing room, but has lost its original frames; signs of later rebuilding above this opening indicate that the original lintel collapsed at some stage. At ground-floor level, south of this window, there is a further brick-lined, camber-headed, near-square window opening currently blocked with corrugated iron.

The southern end of the west elevation is formed by a two-storey lean-to extension added to the original wing. This may be contemporary with the bowed drawing room block or may represent a separate phase; the pitch of its roof follows that of the main wing roof. The north gable of this lean-to has at first-floor level what appears to have originally been a circular brick-lined window, subsequently altered to accommodate a rectangular light with a metal frame. At ground floor level there is a small rectangular opening and a brick band seven courses deep. The front elevation of this lean-to has been altered numerous times, as ghost impressions in the wall surface attest. It presently has a single unframed window opening at first-floor level and a ground-floor door giving access to the building. Until recently, a narrow farm building of 1920s date extended from the west side of this lean-to addition.

The Outbuildings

To the south-west of the house stand substantial remains of a long rectangular office building, now used as a farm building. It is probably of late 18th century date but has been much altered and is now in an unstable condition. Originally it was a gable-ended structure of random rubble stone walls. Part of the building appears to have served as a coach house, evidenced by two large blocked arches in its south wall.

The Entrance Gates and Screen

A short avenue connects the house to the road. The double entrance gates are of wrought iron bars hung from square piers, each surmounted by a narrow block of sandstone. On three faces of these sandstone blocks, running dog or Vitruvian scrolls are carved in relief. Each sandstone block is surmounted by a modern recumbent leopard, made in recent years by the son of the owner. The piers are each linked by a curved and a straight quadrant wall to outer square piers with pyramidal caps.

Interior

The wing is derelict internally. Some notable interior detailing survives from the late 18th century phase, most notably an Adamesque fireplace and plaster medallions. The various camber-headed windows and the circular window in the wing find close parallels in the architecture of Downhill, particularly in the buildings of the rear yard dating from the 1780s, reinforcing the attribution to Michael Shanahan.