The Beeches, Derry Road, Strabane BT82 8DY

The Beeches, Derry Road, Strabane

A detached, symmetrical three-bay two-storey rendered former manse, built around 1860. The house stands on an elevated site within its own landscaped grounds to the east of Derry Road, accessed by a long avenue. It is rectangular on plan, facing west with a pair of full-height gabled breakfronts and a central entrance portico.

The front elevation retains much of its original character, although the gables appear to have been raised. It is dominated by the square-plan porte cochere with a large round arch on all three sides, supported by Doric rendered columns that are engaged to either side of the entrance. The arches have plain keystones and pebbledash rendered spandrels with a continuous cornice to the lead-lined roof. Above the portico is a recessed central bay containing a pair of round-headed window openings with moulded architrave surrounds and round-headed single-pane timber sash windows. The paired window openings to both breakfronts are square-headed, set within chamfered stone surrounds with hood mouldings, each with a single masonry sill featuring three console brackets and single-pane timber sash windows.

The entrance door, accessed via stone steps within the portico, is an original raised-and-fielded panelled door with a central fillet, rectangular overlight, and flanked by rendered pilasters with a cornice above.

The three-bay north side elevation was originally two-bay and has pebbledash rendered walling with plain square-headed window openings to the first floor and elaborate smooth rendered surrounds to the ground floor. The south side elevation features a full-height three-sided canted bay to the left and a lean-to conservatory to the right.

The roof is natural slate with rendered chimneystacks, octagonal clay pots, roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles, and rolled lead ridges to the bays. The barge-boards and finials to all gables have been replaced, as have the windows and roof. The walling is painted ruled-and-lined rendered render with painted rusticated masonry quoins and a projecting plinth course. Window openings have square heads with moulded surrounds, painted masonry sills, and replacement 1/1 timber sash windows throughout (unless otherwise stated).

Substantial additions to the rear comprise a multi-bay two-storey L-plan return and a lean-to rear entrance porch. The rear east elevation comprises three gables projecting to various degrees, mostly with replacement fabric. The central gable contains a round-headed window opening with a fixed multi-pane timber window. The south gable is abutted by the lower L-plan return with uPVC windows, which obscures the original rear elevation layout and detracts from the building's interest.

Historical context

The house was built as a manse for ministers of the Second Strabane Presbyterian congregation. It first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1907, captioned "Manse", and is named "The Beeches" on the fourth edition of 1951. The house was first recorded in an Annual Revisions fieldbook dating from 1860–64, when it was occupied by the Reverend William Russell and leased from the Marquis of Abercorn. The building cost £420 with a valuation of £17; dimensions are recorded as 41×29×16. In 1875, the valuer noted that the value of the house was very low, with no alteration made. By 1886, the occupier had become the Reverend C.K. Toland.

The Second Strabane congregation had seceded in 1816, though the reasons are unclear. Reverend William Russell's ministry, beginning in 1846 and ending in 1882, was the first of any notable duration in the congregation. Reverend C.K. Toland was the last minister of Second Strabane, as the congregation reunited with First Strabane in 1911.

In 1919, the house was occupied by James H. White and leased from the Committee of the Presbyterian Church. After 1934, the valuation was raised to £45. At that time, the house comprised a kitchen, scullery, and three reception rooms downstairs, with three bedrooms, a maid's room, a bathroom, and water closet upstairs. A valuer's comment noted that the house was of "moderately good quality" with "rear apartments rough and not in good order", a tennis court, and "grounds well kept". By 1944, the house had been sold to John Weir and James White had retained a portion of the grounds as a building plot. The house has since been substantially renovated with its windows and roof replaced.