Former Lanesborough Arms Hotel, 8 High Street, Newtownbutler, Co. Fermanagh, BT92 8JD

Former Lanesborough Arms Hotel

A well-proportioned and symmetrical three-storey, three-bay former hotel of coursed limestone rubble with brick dressings, aligned roughly north-south along the west side of High Street. The building is one of only a few exposed stone buildings in the village and retains much of its original external character.

The principal elevation faces east. A central stone portico, the dominant architectural feature, is supported on two stone Doric columns with moulded bases and capitals and ashlar stone piers engaged to the façade. The entablature comprises a moulded cornice and plain frieze with applied lettering reading "LANESBOROUGH ARMS", and has a leaded roof with tongued-and-grooved soffit. The entrance door beneath is four-panelled timber with beaded muntins, with a geometric glazed transom above featuring a central octagonal lantern. Flanking the portico on the ground floor are two 6/6 sliding sash windows with horns and stone cills, set within stepped brick reveals. Similar windows are aligned above to the upper floors, with those on the second floor diminished in height as 3/6 sashes.

The pitched natural slate roof carries three tall yellow brick chimneys – one set to the left gable, one positioned between the middle and right bays, and another to the middle of the right bay. An advanced stone eaves course carries half-round metal rainwater goods.

The left gable is abutted by a lower two-storey building; its exposed section is cement rendered and blank. The right gable is abutted by the former Market House. The rear elevation contains sliding sash windows to the upper floors of the left and right bays – 6/6 sashes to the second floor and 3/6 sashes to the third floor. The central bay features a stairwell window of 3/6 sliding sashes aligned between each floor.

A building is recorded at this location in the 1836 Valuation book, belonging to Philip Reilly and described as a house measuring 41 feet 6 inches by 26 feet 6 inches by 13 feet, with a kitchen return of 13 feet 6 inches by 7 feet by 6 feet. By the 1860 Valuation book, the property still belonged to Mr Reilly but was then described as a hotel – "plain not well finished" – with revised measurements of 36 feet by 30 feet, three storeys high, with two returns (one measuring 18 feet by 24 feet, three storeys, and another of similar dimensions but only one storey high), and an adjoining shop of 27 feet square, two storeys high. The comparison of these statistics indicates the premises were substantially rebuilt in the mid 19th century.

Although the building has been refurbished internally, some original features remain, notably window linings and stairs.