Belmont House Special School, Racecourse Road, Londonderry, BT48 7RE

Belmont House Special School

A two-storey neo-Renaissance building of three bays on its entrance front and five bays along the south facade, with smooth rendered walls colour-washed and slated roofs. The west elevation features a narrow break front rising through both storeys, containing the main entrance. A single-storey gabled and slated porch with a more domestic character has been added in recent years, with the actual entrance door positioned on the north flank wall of this porch.

On either side of the break front are sliding sash windows of two panes, each with a moulded, lugged and plastered surround and small keystone. A continuous plain string course forms the cill, continuing across the west and south facades, with a moulded plinth below. At first-floor level, centred over the porch, is a sliding sash window of twelve panes with a moulded surround, flanked by matching windows. A plain frieze with bold cornice runs along the line of the top of these first-floor window surrounds. Short and long quoins, neatly modelled, mark each corner.

The south facade is treated with similar decorated sliding sash windows at both floors. The facade is punctuated by two forceful segmented bays of two storeys, each containing four windows on each floor. The string courses, frieze and cornice continue unbroken across these bays. Quoins repeat at the south-east corner.

The east gable elevation is similarly treated with quoins at the north-east corner, though the string courses are not returned here. It contains four windows at ground floor and three at first-floor level, without mouldings, spaced regularly but grouped asymmetrically towards the south-east corner.

The roofs are double-piled parallel to the south facade, hipped at the ends, and finished in natural slates. Over the segmental bays, the slating follows the curves neatly before being truncated and finished in lead. The ridge is plain and unadorned. The south side carries two low moulded chimney stacks, matched on the west, each with three tall yellow clay moulded pots. The main building returns to the north with hipped double-pile roofs.

The building has been greatly extended northwards and to the rear, primarily to provide ancillary accommodation for its use as a special school. These extensions and alterations, particularly in their use of modern standard casement windows, are not in keeping with the original style.

Originally the building had a fine setting of garden and woodland with avenue approaches from the Culmore and Racecourse roads. The former has been closed off and much of the site has been encroached upon by other buildings. A margin of lawn remains in front of the south facade, though beyond that lies extensive bitumac car parking. The site retains some original woodland which softens the effect of newer development. To the north-east stands the remains of a walled garden, with two walls surviving in a mixture of sandstone and brick. At the south-east of the walled garden is the St Columb's Stone; nearby was found underground a stone effigy of a knight in armour.