The Court, 226 Hillhall Road, Lisburn, County Down, BT27 5JQ

The Court is a one-and-a-half-storey, three-bay symmetrical Georgian farmhouse with outbuildings, built around 1790 on the site of a fortified 17th-century bawn. It sits in a largely unspoiled rural setting on a large, mature site south of Hillhall Road, Lisburn, in the townland of Hillhall. The house and outbuildings incorporate the surviving remains of the earlier bawn wall, which is designated as a scheduled historic monument (SMR ref: DOW015:001).

Architectural Description

The house is rectangular on plan with a one-and-a-half-storey return and a single-storey extension to the rear. The roof is pitched natural slate with raised stone skews, terracotta ridge tiles, and rendered chimneystacks to the gables. Rainwater goods are cast-iron half-round. External walls are pebbledash with a smooth rendered plinth and quoins. Windows are generally 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash with horns, set in smooth rendered surrounds with projecting sills.

The principal elevation faces north and is symmetrically arranged, with two windows to either side of the main entrance. The entrance door has thirteen raised-and-fielded panels, flanked by fluted pilasters and sidelights, and surmounted by a decorative fanlight; the whole is set into a smooth rendered surround with fluted pilasters and a keyblock. Above the entrance is a modern dormer window insertion, which detracts from the original composition.

The east elevation has a timber-framed casement window to the centre at attic level. The south elevation is abutted at its centre by the one-and-a-half-storey return. The west elevation has a dormer window to the right and a replacement timber-framed window at ground-floor level. The east elevation has a dormer window to the left, a diminutive window to the ground-floor left, and a bipartite timber mullioned window to the ground-floor right; the gable has two windows at attic level and is abutted at ground floor by a more modern single-storey extension. The west elevation has a timber-framed casement window to the centre at attic level.

Setting and Outbuildings

The house stands on a large, mature and relatively unspoiled rural site, with a number of mature trees to the east of the main house. A large garden to the front is enclosed by a mature hedgerow and accessed via a timber latch-gate with early stone piers, from a lane to the west. The main driveway is accessed through a pair of painted cast-iron gates.

The back wall of the house to the west is adjoined by an early, almost full-height, roughcast rendered crenellated bawn wall. This continues to form the back wall of a yard-facing, single-storey roughcast and slated outbuilding, with an adjoining one-and-a-half-storey barn to the west. The barn has an early timber-sheeted half-door to the centre; the outbuilding has a double-leaf timber-sheeted door to the centre flanked by two replacement windows. Further to the west, the bawn wall continues in rubble stone and is incorporated into an enclosed garden. The original entrance between the enclosed garden and the outbuilding was once arched, but the arch has been removed and replaced with metal gates. A gravelled driveway leads to the rear of the house, where a series of modern agricultural sheds has been constructed.

To the south of the house, accessed through a replacement timber farm-gate, is an early roughcast and slated outbuilding with raised skews, having an early timber-sheeted door with a window above to the west elevation.

Historical Significance

The Court is of considerable local and national historical significance as one of the earliest residences of the Hill family, who became Viscounts of Hillsborough and later Marquises of Downshire, and were among the most powerful landowning dynasties in County Down and across Ireland.

The founder of the Hill dynasty in Ireland was Sir Moyses Hill, who arrived in Ireland in 1573 as a soldier in the army of Elizabeth I, raised to suppress the rebellion of the Gaelic chieftain Brian O'Neill, who was later defeated and executed in 1574. Moyses Hill remained in Ireland and was made Governor of Olderfleet Castle in Larne, later campaigning against Hugh O'Neill during the Nine Years' War (1594–1603). In recognition of his service, he was knighted in 1603 and granted 2,000 acres in County Antrim and 40,000 acres in County Down as part of the Ulster Plantation. In 1617 he was appointed Provost Marshall of Ulster for life, placing him in charge of Ulster's domestic security in the aftermath of the recent rebellion. Having previously lived at Carrickfergus and then in the Upper Malone area on his County Antrim holdings, Moyses Hill constructed a permanent fortified bawn residence on the site of the current dwelling at The Court sometime before his death in 1630. The house was originally called Hill Court.

On Moyses Hill's death, his son Peter Hill inherited the estate and constructed a fortified mansion on the plan of the earlier house. According to local historical sources, this new dwelling had turrets and loopholes, and the surrounding countryside was overlooked by a large number of cannons. This fortress residence was renamed the Hall of the Hills, giving the surrounding area the name Hillhall. Peter Hill was referred to in period records as "Peter of Hill Hall," and it was he who began construction of the fort at Cromlyn around which the town of Hillsborough later grew.

In 1690, during the Williamite War in Ireland (1689–91), The Court was reportedly visited by King William III on his journey between Carrickfergus and Hillsborough as his army made its way south to face the Jacobite forces. Members of the Hill family continued to reside at Hill Hall until the early 18th century, when Hillsborough Castle became their permanent residence. Hill Hall fell into disrepair over the following decades, and at some point prior to 1834 the current dwelling was constructed on the site. The house was built adjoining the ruined remains of the earlier fortified mansion and incorporated the northern part of the early bawn wall into its masonry; an arched entryway originally existed along the northern portion but has since been demolished and replaced with a modern iron gateway.

The house can first be seen on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834, where it is depicted as an oblong building with a small rear return, in the townland of Hillhall. The 1834 map also shows four outbuildings to the south-west of the house and a tower to the south-east, originally part of Hillhall Castle. By the time of the second edition of the Ordnance Survey in 1859, the site was first recorded as "The Court." A large outbuilding had by then been added to the south-west side of the house, and a gate lodge — since demolished — had appeared at the end of the entrance path to the site. The tower recorded in 1834 does not appear on later editions and could not be identified during field research; it appears to have been replaced by an outbuilding. The gate lodge is described by Dean as a single-storey square two-roofed building with a pyramidal roof and clipped eaves, constructed around 1840.

In 1861, The Court was occupied by a Mr Henry Mussen, who leased the property from the Marquis of Downshire; at that time the house, offices, and gate lodge were valued at £14. Historical sources indicate the house was occupied by a Mr John Harrison in 1856 and that it was constructed as a gentleman farmer's villa. Dean places its construction in approximately 1790, a date consistent with field research. By 1920 the fourth edition Ordnance Survey maps show three additional farm buildings had been constructed to the rear of the farmhouse. The Ordnance Survey map of 1969 shows no change from the 1920 layout, and the gate lodge was still standing at that time.

The surviving portion of the 17th-century bawn wall is in a relatively intact condition, particularly on the north-west and north-east sides of the farmyard, making The Court one of the most significant sites in the local area. The architectural detailing of the house is largely intact and the internal layout is largely unchanged, displaying the symmetry and proportions typical of the period. The overall interest of the property is enhanced by the outbuildings to the west and the fine cast-iron entrance gates.