Castle Dobbs, 74 Tongue Loanen, Carrickfergus, Co.Antrim, BT38 9BU

Castle Dobbs is an exceptionally attractive and well-constructed Palladian country house built around 1730, set to the east side of Tongue Loanen Road, Carrickfergus, within mature wooded parkland to the north of Belfast Lough. It is one of only a few remaining examples of the grand classical Palladian style in Northern Ireland still in private ownership, and remains in the hands of the Dobbs family to this day. Together with the other associated structures on the grounds, it forms an estate group of great integrity.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION

The house is a detached, symmetrical three-bay, two-storey-over-basement structure, rectangular on plan and aligned east to west. Single-storey-over-basement perpendicular flanking wings extend to either side, linked to the main block by courtyard quadrants. The roof is hipped and slated with rolled lead ridge and hips, a leaded parapet (blocking course) supported on a moulded cornice, and four ruled-and-lined rendered chimneys with square terracotta pots.

The walls are finished in ruled-and-lined render with chamfered vermiculated rusticated stepped quoins (plain raised stepped quoins to the second floor and rear elevation), string courses, a modillioned eaves cornice to the wings continuing as a string course to the central block, and a smooth rendered plinth. Windows throughout are timber sliding sashes with masonry cills, with varying surround details described below by elevation. Rainwater goods are cast iron, although the majority are concealed.

PRINCIPAL (SOUTH) ELEVATION

The principal south elevation is seven windows wide with a central projecting bay three windows wide, topped by a triangular pediment. The basement level is entirely rusticated with ruled-and-lined render above the string course. There are seven windows to each floor: 6/3 sliding sashes at basement level; 2/1 sliding sashes at first-floor level with consoled cornices and moulded architraves; and 6/6 sashes at second-floor level with keyblocks.

The piano nobile is accessed by a grand symmetrical entrance stair with carved stone balustrading and piers, supported on two Greek Ionic columns flanked by plain pilasters, forming a portico over the basement-level entrance below. The basement entrance contains a double-leaf timber panelled entrance door surmounted by a cornice on consoled brackets, flanked by double round-headed windows, with two plainly detailed 6/3 sliding sashes to each side of the entrance stair. At piano nobile level, timber glazed entrance doors are recessed within fluted pilasters surmounted by an entablature and triangular pediment, with three windows to each side, the central window sitting within the projecting bay. At first-floor level there are seven windows, all with plain surrounds and keyblocks.

The main block is flanked to east and west by alcoved connecting blocks joining it to the wings, each with two oval lunette windows to each floor.

EAST AND WEST WINGS

The west gable is abutted by the single-storey-over-basement west wing, aligned north to south. The exposed section is blank with a projecting block to the left, also blank. The west wing is detailed as the main block with vermiculated rusticated quoins and plain banded rustication to the basement. The south elevation has three windows at each floor. The west elevation has seven windows to each floor, with a recessed section to the right containing a stair leading to the piano nobile (detailed as the north elevation), a door surmounted by a leaded corner canopy, and access to the basement level through a timber panelled door below the stair. The north gable is blank.

The east gable is abutted by the single-storey-over-basement east wing, also aligned north to south. The exposed section has a projecting block to the right, detailed as the main block, with a Serliana window to the east elevation. The east wing is detailed as the west wing throughout in ruled-and-lined render. The south elevation matches the west wing. The west elevation has five windows to each floor: 4/4 sliding sashes at basement level and 2/4 sliding sashes at first-floor level, all with exposed boxes. The north elevation is blank.

REAR (NORTH) ELEVATION

The rear elevation is symmetrical and seven windows wide, with a central triangular pedimented projecting bay three windows wide. The piano nobile is accessed by a grand symmetrical entrance stair with carved stone balustrading and piers, supported on two Greek Ionic columns flanked by plain pilasters, forming a portico to the basement level entrance below. The basement entrance contains a double-leaf timber panelled entrance door surmounted by a cornice on consoled brackets and flanked by double round-headed windows, with two plainly detailed 6/3 sliding sashes to each side. At piano nobile level, timber glazed entrance doors are recessed within fluted pilasters surmounted by an entablature and triangular pediment. Windows at first-floor level have plain surrounds with keyblocks. The east elevation of this section has a central timber panelled door with plain raised stepped quoins, two plainly detailed windows to each side, and five windows at first-floor level with moulded lugged architraves.

OUTBUILDINGS AND SETTING

The west elevation of the east wing is abutted to the right by a two-storey random rubble outbuilding with a pitched slated roof. A series of two-storey outbuildings form a courtyard to the east side of the house. These have pitched slated roofs, random rubble walls with brick surround details and a detailed brick eaves course, timber casement windows, and timber sheeted door openings.

The house is set within mature wooded parkland with views over Belfast Lough to the south and a formal landscaped garden to the north. It is accessed by a gravel driveway from the north gate lodge.

HISTORY AND ATTRIBUTION

The present house is said to have been built around 1730 by Arthur Dobbs, who was at the time Surveyor of the Irish Works, in the manner of Sir Edward Lovett (Young, p.253). According to Young, the single-storey wings were added at some later date (p.253). Charles Brett, however, suggests a slightly later construction date of around 1750, proposing that the house is based on Plate 64 of James Gibbs's A Book of Architecture (1728), a copy known to have been in Dobbs's possession — notably, Plate 64 is missing from the book (Brett, p.78). Brett also suggests that changes to the house in the 1850s were possibly the work of Charles Lanyon (p.78).

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe the house as "a spacious old-fashioned looking mansion… plantations, grounds and house are in a very neglected state" (p.59). The Memoirs also state the house was built "120 years ago", which if accurate would point to a somewhat earlier construction date. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832 shows the building with an additional extension to the west elevation. By the 1857 and subsequent editions it is named "Castle Dobbs", though it is not until the 1902 edition that the building appears in its current form, without the west additions. Valuation records confirm the western extension comprised farm buildings, pulled down between 1857 and 1859.

The Townland Valuation of 1836 records a dwelling house and offices owned and occupied by Richard Dobbs Esq., valued at £46 14s, later revised to £53. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 lists a house, offices, gate lodge, and land, initially valued at £45 and later revised to £12 5s, with a note confirming the demolition of the old farm buildings and the construction of new ones. Valuation revisions from the 1870s record the occupier as Conway Dobbs, held "in fee", with a valuation of £120 revised to £128 in 1878. In 1886 the occupier is recorded as Montague Dobbs. By 1904 the gate lodge entry is crossed out and replaced with a separate entry, and a gardener's house is named in the description at this time (though it appears on the 1857 map). A smaller house is also separated from the main estate valuation at this time, occupied by Jacob Johnston and leased from M.W. Dobbs at a value of £2 10s; it is unclear which building this refers to, though it may be the smaller lodge. By 1914 the entry for Castle Dobbs lists a house, offices, steward's house, gardener's house, and land, with a building valuation of £125.

Conservation works were undertaken in the 1980s. Isherwood and Ellis of Belfast and Ballymena carried out investigations in 1981, taking down ceilings in the west wing to examine the roof structure. This was followed by major conservation work in the mid-1980s (Pierce and Coey, p.163).