Masonic Lodge, 3 Culvacullion Road, Gortin, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, BT79 8NJ

Masonic Lodge, Culvacullion Road, Gortin

A plain Masonic hall, now disused, close to the centre of Gortin, built around 1926-1928. The building is a detached gable-fronted two-storey structure with three bays, rendered in cement pebble dash with a pitched natural slate roof fitted with roll-moulded terracotta ridge tiles. It is rectangular on plan, facing west and set back slightly on the east side of Culvacullion Road.

The front west elevation features a gabled three-bay design. At first floor level there is a tripartite window arrangement comprising a round-headed window opening with moulded architrave surround and fluted pilasters, flanked by two square-headed window openings on a single concrete sill course. Above the gable is a semi-circular rendered plaque with the words 'MASONIC HALL' in raised lettering, with a circular plaque above displaying the Masonic emblem in relief. A central square-headed door opening at ground floor is flanked by a pair of fluted pilasters with an entablature above. A rectangular plaque above the door bears the date '1926' in raised lettering. The replacement double-leaf vertically-sheeted hardwood door opens onto two concrete paved steps.

The building displays characteristic austere detailing typical of regional Masonic halls of this period. Square-headed window openings throughout have moulded architrave surrounds with rendered keystones and concrete sills; the windows are now boarded up. Rendered quoins and a smooth rendered plinth course articulate the walls. The eaves have a plastic boxed fascia and the front gable features a plastic decorative bargeboard. Rainwater goods are replacement tin items.

The three-bay north side elevation is rendered and features an off-centre gable between the two left bays, where redbrick walling is visible at the gable apex. The rear east gable is blank. A single-storey gable-ended extension with a pitched sheeted-iron roof was built around 2006.

The site is enclosed by bitmac hardstandings. To the north stands a hedge; to the east, a timber fence; and to the south and street frontage, a pebbledash rendered wall with concrete coping. Access is provided by two pairs of rendered piers opening to the street, with a pedestrian steel gate to the south and a pair of vehicular steel gates to the north.

Historical records indicate the hall first appears on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map of 1953. It was formally recorded as a Masonic Hall in 1928 and held in fee by the Trustees Masonic Hall. Valuers' records from 1927 note that the hall cost £800 with an additional £100 for the site, with dimensions of 25 by 48 by 28 feet. During the Second World War, in 1940, the ground floor consisting of a reception room and small ante-room was temporarily occupied by the military under Defence Regulations, while the first floor continued to be used by the Masonic Lodge as their lodge room.