Brookhill Demesne Walled Garden, 88B Ballinderry Road, Ballyellough, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT28 2QX

Brookhill Demesne Walled Garden

This walled garden forms part of a historic group of garden structures belonging to Brookhill Demesne, a small estate located on the north side of Ballinderry Road, approximately 2.5 miles south-east of Upper Ballinderry. The main house, built in Jacobethan style, has been demolished, but the estate retains extensive agricultural outbuildings to the rear, a large lawn to the front, and this enclosed walled garden adjacent to the main road. The wider complex, which dates from 1800 to 1870, also includes a gate lodge at the eastern entrance (accessed through heavily wooded ground) and a tower.

The walled garden itself comprises four boundary walls constructed in basalt stone and brick, each with distinct characteristics and construction dates. The south-west boundary wall is built in basalt stone to courses with concrete coping, possibly replacing an earlier wall around 1870. This wall has been subdivided into two sites with two twentieth-century openings (Gate 01 and Gate 02) leading to modern dwellings erected within the garden. Gate 01 is in separate ownership. The gated entrance known as Gate 03, also in separate ownership, abuts the far left of this wall and was built around 1870. It features a compound pointed-arched pedestrian entrance to the right-hand side, constructed in squared basalt with red brick detailing and pitched slate coping; the gates have been removed.

The north-west wall appears to be the earliest section of the walled garden, possibly dating back to around 1610 and associated with an earlier dwelling. It is built of field stone with upper brick courses likely added later. A central gate (Gate 04) was added around 1870, constructed as a compound pointed arch in red brick with basalt spandrels.

The north-east wall is partially built in coursed basalt on its right half, with basalt rubble and intermediate brick courses on the left-hand side, topped with upper brick arches. Gate 05, the earliest gate to the walled gardens, is a simple brick-arched opening with a replacement door. This wall has been subdivided into two sites in separate ownership.

At the south-east corner stands a small one-and-a-half-storey lean-to gardeners' cottage, predating 1830, with its elevation incorporated into the face of the walled garden wall. The south-east wall is in separate ownership and is predominantly built in coursed basalt. Access gate (Gate 06), located to the left of this wall and dating from around 1850, is constructed as a red-brick pointed arch with basalt spandrels and retains iron gates. The far right of this wall has been modified, marking the former location of a gate lodge.

The walled gardens now enclose two modern dwellings accessed from the road running parallel to the site. Beyond the walls lies mature woodland leading up to a new house built at the former site of Brookhill. The historic agricultural buildings to the rear of the main estate, which date from around 1830 to 1855, are primarily asymmetrical two-storey structures with pitched slate roofs, coursed basalt construction, and red brick surrounds to openings; some have undergone twentieth-century alterations. These buildings extend to the north, with open rural landscape beyond. The gate lodge, built around 1870 to replace an earlier structure, is located at the east entrance.

The walling throughout the complex is constructed in random and coursed masonry, basalt rubble, and brick.