Lagan Lodge, 27 Church Hill, Lambeg North, Lisburn, Co.Antrim, BT27 4SB

Lagan Lodge, 27 Church Hill, Lambeg

Lagan Lodge is a rare surviving example of a late 17th-century house, built around 1680, situated on the south side of Church Hill, Lambeg. It is a semi-detached, three-bay, two-storey house with an attic storey, rectangular in plan, facing north and overlooking open countryside to the south. The building sits close to the road on its north side. It was formerly part of a four-bay house, the end bay now forming the separate property at No. 29 Church Hill, which may itself once have been part of a larger terrace. The house is reputed to have been the residence of the Wolfenden family, linen merchants, and later had connections to the Richardsons of Glenmore. It is a particularly significant survival because it retains its remarkably early original timber staircase.

Architectural Description

The walls are rough-cast rendered throughout, with rubble stone visible at ground level. A pitched natural slate roof covers the main body of the house, with gauged slates, black clay ridge tiles, and a pair of brick chimneystacks — the western one in red brick, shared with No. 29, and the eastern one a later replacement in black brick. Cast-iron rainwater goods are fixed on iron drive-through brackets, with plastic rainwater goods to the tower. To the rear, the roof forms a catslide at the same pitch, enveloping the stair-tower and extending across the entire rear elevation of No. 29.

A three-storey semi-circular stair-tower projects from the rear of the building, with a hipped natural slate roof. A single-storey wing extends to the east, also with a natural slate roof, a single rough-cast rendered chimney, a slightly projecting gable to the west, and cast-iron rainwater goods. The east gable of the wing has diminutive square-headed window openings at attic level fitted with timber casement windows and masonry sills. A pair of battered buttresses reinforces the south elevation of the east wing.

The front elevation is three bays wide and two storeys high, with a central gabled entrance porch finished with a natural slate roof, a timber fascia, and a replacement multi-paned glazed timber door. The front elevation continues westward by one further bay into No. 29. To the east, a single-storey wing runs flush with the façade and extends by a further two bays. All window openings are square-headed with painted masonry sills and replacement timber sash windows.

The irregular south rear elevation is two storeys high to the right-hand bay only, with a square-headed door opening fitted with a multi-pane timber glazed door. The three-storey semi-circular tower occupies the left side of this elevation, with a narrow catslide roof to the centre bay. The single-storey east wing has a slightly projecting gable, a uPVC conservatory attached, two battered buttresses, and small square-headed window openings. The west side of the building abuts No. 29.

The front of the property is enclosed by a tall hedge and a low rubble wall forming a narrow gravelled area to the road. A short gravel drive to the east opens onto the road through timber gates on pebbledash rendered piers.

Interior

The house retains a remarkably early original timber staircase with paired newel posts leading to the semi-circular stair-tower at the rear, along with some early architraves. A downstairs beam has been dated to 1640, raising the possibility that parts of the structure predate the commonly accepted construction date of around 1680, though the beam may have been reused from an earlier building.

Historical Background

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs record that the house "was built by some of the Wolfenden family above 100 years ago and remained in their possession up to a late period." Several architectural features, including the staircase and some architraves, suggest the house may be earlier than this account implies, and it is possible that the Wolfendens built it around 1680 on their arrival in Lambeg. A map of 1726 shows the plot belonging to Richard Wolfenden, though the document is not sufficiently clear to confirm whether the house itself is depicted.

The Wolfenden family, according to the Reverend H. C. Marshall's history of Lambeg, were said to be of Dutch extraction and settled in Lambeg following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. They played a significant role in establishing linen manufacture in the area towards the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, owning extensive bleach greens. Early in the 18th century they established a blanket factory on the River Road and later built the Lambeg Tuck Mill for thickening woollen blankets, which was owned by Thomas Wolfenden in 1787. Their goods were of sufficiently high quality to sell in both the English market and in Dublin at prices above the ordinary value. At their peak they employed around one hundred people, but following the death of the proprietor and the removal of junior family members to Dublin, the works closed around 1825. Marshall also notes an unconfirmed tradition that the Wolfenden family rebuilt the church in 1737. By 1829, the Gentleman's Magazine records the death of John Wolfenden of "Lagan-hill" on 28 September that year, and it is possible that "Lagan-hill" was an earlier name for the present house. By the late 1830s, the house is recorded under its current name, Lagan Lodge.

The Townland Valuation of 1828–40 lists the house as the residence of Robert Wilson, valued at £10 15s for the house and offices, with dimensions given for the house, a return, and two outbuildings. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe Lagan Lodge at this period as "the seat of Robert Willson Esquire," situated on the old lower road between Lisburn and Belfast, close to the village of Lambeg. It is described as "an oblong building, 2-storeys high and slated, with good office houses attached," set within a garden enclosed by a quickset fence and a demesne of approximately fourteen English acres, bounded to the east by the River Lagan and to the west by the road, with the house commanding "a fine prospect of a wide extent of the surrounding neighbourhood."

By the time of Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), the house had come to form part of the property of Jonathan Richardson MP, who lived at the nearby Lambeg House and was a cousin of his neighbour Jonathan Richardson of Glenmore. Both were involved in the linen bleaching business, and it appears likely that the house — by then divided into four separate lots — provided accommodation for managers and workers at the bleaching works. The main portion, valued at £10, was occupied by Thomas Stewart and others, with further dwellings valued at £2, £1 10s, and £1 occupied by James McClean, Nathaniel White, and Mary Anne Bruce respectively. The houses are described first as "tenements" and then as a "cottier's house," with dimensions and a small plan drawing noted in the margin.

Charles Brett records an oral tradition that the house "originally formed part of a row of cottages attached to the mill, known as 'Primrose Cottage'," and that the extra storey, attics, and staircase tower were added for the benefit of an incoming mill manager.

By 1923, the house had been divided into seven separate dwellings, mostly valued between £1 and £2, with the main part split into three dwellings valued at £4, £3, and £1. All were leased from the Lambeg Bleaching, Dyeing and Finishing Company Ltd. The easternmost part of the building, which at that time housed two dwellings, had by then been demolished. The part now known as No. 29 Church Hill was occupied as two dwellings by W. J. Crawford and Joseph McCabe, while the part now known as Lagan Lodge was divided into three dwellings occupied by Robert Costley, Arthur Lyness, and Mary Robinson.

By 1933, Marshall's history of Lambeg records the house as having been restored to a single dwelling, described as "occupied up to recently by Mrs Robinson and her daughter." Brett also records a separate tradition — possibly relating to the same period — that the house was vertically divided when one of two sisters who owned it married a gentleman uncongenial to the other.

According to Brett, the house was purchased by a Mrs Black in 1965, and by the owners of No. 29 in 1979, who carried out extensive restoration works. The house is presently divided into two dwellings.