Warden's House, Strand Street Station, Strand Street, Enniskillen, BT74 7JR

Warden's House, Strand Street, Enniskillen

This is a two-storey, hipped-roof Neo-Georgian house built in 1936 as the Commandant's residence for the new Royal Ulster Constabulary depot at Strand Street, Enniskillen, which was officially opened that year as the force's main training establishment. It was probably designed by Thomas Francis O. Rippingham (c.1896–1964), who served as Deputy Chief Architect at the Ministry of Finance under Chief Architect Roland Ingleby Smith (1882–1942); plans for the house are inscribed by the Deputy Chief Architect. Rippingham appears to have been responsible for the majority of Neo-Georgian police buildings constructed in Northern Ireland during the 1920s and 1930s, most of them variations on the theme displayed here. As a residence for a senior officer, however, this design includes finer elements of domestic detailing not found on public police premises — most notably the classical doorcase and decorative fanlight with petal tracery. An early plan drawn up sometime before mid-August 1934 shows the house was originally intended to include an attic level with two bedrooms, but this was revised later that year to produce the layout as built. The main contractor was Henry Laverty & Sons, and work appears to have commenced in late 1934. The new facilities were officially opened in 1936 by the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, James Craig. In 1946 the site was visited by Princess Elizabeth. The RUC training centre closed in 1986 following a terrorist mortar attack and relocated to Garnerville in east Belfast. It is probable the house was vacated at that point, though this is not certain. The complex subsequently reverted to use as a local police station, passing to the newly formed PSNI in 2001–02. At some point the house was converted to police office space, a use it retains. The site on which the house stands was previously occupied by a powder magazine belonging to the adjacent infantry barracks, constructed in 1816 to a design by John Berrell of Dublin.

Setting

The building sits adjacent to the western boundary of the Strand Road PSNI complex, close to Enniskillen town centre and the lough shore. It occupies a level site within a small garden, with an open lawn to the front (eastern) side and a more private garden area to the west. The site is surrounded by mature trees. To the eastern side of the site stand a number of well-preserved late 18th and 19th-century buildings originally belonging to the infantry barracks established in 1790, many of which are listed separately. The site, or at least part of it, was purchased by the Northern Ireland Government in 1927, and the scheme for its conversion to police use was approved in May 1933. By 1946 the force were in possession of the whole site.

Exterior

The house has a rectangular plan form. Set to the north-eastern corner is a detached flat-roofed garage; a screen yard wall connects the front (south) garage wall to the north-eastern corner of the house, enclosing a back yard to the north side. The driveway widens in front of the house to create a forecourt and parking area.

The front eastern façade is symmetrical. At its centre is a shallow breakfront containing an elliptical-headed door opening. Paired storm doors are surmounted by a decorative fanlight with petal tracery; the doorcase is flanked by engaged Doric pilasters supporting entablature capitals, above which rises a broken-bed pediment. To either side of the door opening are small oculi. Flanking the breakfront on each side at ground floor are two window openings. At first floor there are five evenly spaced window openings, the three middle ones resting on the breakfront; the central opening is somewhat narrower than the others.

The southern façade is symmetrical, with two window openings to each floor.

The western façade is symmetrical, with paired French windows at the centre surmounted by a projecting pagoda-style copper-clad canopy. A single window opening sits to either side at ground floor. At first floor there are three evenly spaced window openings, the central one being wider than those flanking it. A timber fence is attached to the left side.

The northern façade is informally arranged with window openings of differing sizes. To the right of centre is the rear door opening, surmounted by an overlight. To the right of this are two windows, with a further window to the left. At first floor there are three windows. This façade faces the back yard, which is enclosed by the west face of the garage, the north face of the house, and a curving timber fence to the north and west.

Materials and details

The main roof is hipped and covered with black fibre cement slates with matching ridge tiles. Rising from the hips on either side are two matching rendered chimneystacks with corbelled caps and squat matching clay chimney pots. Rainwater goods are aluminium, with round downspouts and ogee-profile gutters. Window openings, apart from the two oculi, are flat-headed, with proportions reflecting the Georgian convention of reduced height from ground to first floor. Window reveals are plain and sills are cut stone. Original windows have been replaced throughout with uPVC frames incorporating faux astragals set within double-glazed units; French windows are also uPVC. The front entrance has paired timber panelled doors; the rear entrance has a timber sheeted door. External walls are finished in plain render over a shallow stone plinth.

Garage

The detached garage is flat-roofed and rectangular in plan. On its west side are two small external stores. The south wall, which faces the forecourt, has a replacement up-and-over door. The front south wall extends westward to connect to the north-eastern corner of the house; set in the middle of this wall is a semicircular-headed door giving access to the back yard. The north wall has a flat-headed window opening to the left. The flat roof sits behind a low parapet with stone copings. Walls are finished in smooth render to match the house.

Significance and alterations

As a house designed for a high-ranking officer at a flagship police training establishment, this building represents a more refined example of Rippingham's Neo-Georgian police architecture, with the classical doorcase and petal fanlight as its most notable surviving features. Unfortunately, the replacement of the original windows with uPVC units and further alterations to the interior have reduced its architectural interest. It shares its site with the older former military barracks buildings to the east, which are separately listed.