7-27 Shiels Houses, Larne Road, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, BT38 7EA

Charles Shiels Houses, Nos. 7–27 Larne Road, Carrickfergus

These are a detached, multi-bay, one-and-a-half storey complex of twenty-one Gothic Revival almshouses, built in 1868 to designs by Sir Charles Lanyon, and situated on the west side of Larne Road. The complex is arranged on a U-shaped plan, with single-storey shared returns to the rear of the dwellings. Although partially altered in recent years, the building retains a wealth of original ornate Victorian Gothic detailing, particularly in its timberwork. It is one of five such complexes built across Ireland following the Almshouses Charity Act of 1864 and represents a well-preserved, working example of its type, making a significant contribution to the architecture of the local area.

The roofs are pitched and covered in natural slate, with deep overhanging eaves, clay ridge tiles, and round-arched fretted bargeboards supported on decorative timber brackets. The chimneys are of red brick with corbelled detailing and retain their original clay pots. The external walls are smooth rendered over a projecting plinth. Windows throughout are segmental-headed, timber-framed, two-over-two sliding sash set in chamfered reveals, with painted masonry sills, except to the rear elevation where square-headed timber casements are used. Rainwater goods consist of cast-iron ogee gutters and round downpipes.

South Elevation The south elevation is symmetrical and comprises four bays. The gabled outer bays each contain a pair of windows at ground floor and a single window at first floor, with an oculus to the apex. At the centre, a pair of segmental-headed chamfered entrances sit within a shared pointed-arched recess with a hood moulding; the doors are diagonally sheeted timber with transom lights. These are flanked on each side by a single ground-floor window and a half-dormer containing a round-arched window at first floor. To the left, a single-storey porch with a small window abuts the main block; its door, also diagonally sheeted timber with a transom light, faces west.

South-East Elevation This elevation consists of two bays, each with a single ground-floor window and a half-dormer containing a round-arched window at first floor. To the left are two segmental-headed chamfered entrances with diagonally sheeted timber doors and transom lights, each surmounted by an oculus. To the right, a door of the same type and a window are similarly each surmounted by an oculus.

East Elevation The east elevation is the most architecturally elaborate, comprising nine bays. At the left, a two-storey gabled bay contains two windows at each floor with an oculus to the apex. This is abutted to the right by an engaged three-stage gabled tower, the focal point of the composition. The ground-floor entrance to the tower is set within a pointed-arched opening containing a cusped pointed-arched doorway; the door itself is square-headed, diagonally sheeted timber with decorative iron strap hinges and handle, and features a pointed-arched fanlight flanked by composite order colonettes and surmounted by a hood moulding and the inscription "Charles Shiels Institute." The second stage contains a small window and an oculus beneath a string course. The upper stage contains a pair of fixed pointed-arched windows separated by a colonette matching those at the entrance, surmounted by a clock face at the centre.

Bay two contains a segmental-headed chamfered entrance with a diagonally sheeted timber door and transom light to the left and a window to the right. Bays three and four have paired entrances detailed as on the south elevation, flanked left and right by single windows. This arrangement is repeated at bays five and six, and again at bays seven and eight. Bay nine is gabled, containing a pair of ground-floor windows and a single first-floor window, and is abutted to the right by a further entrance door of the same type surmounted by an oculus.

North-East Elevation This elevation has two bays, each with a single ground-floor window and a half-dormer containing a round-arched window at first floor. To the left is an entrance with a diagonally sheeted timber door, transom light, and oculus above. To the right, the equivalent door is surmounted by a pair of oculi.

North Elevation The north elevation mirrors the south elevation in design, with a single-storey porch to the right containing a small window and a diagonally sheeted timber door with transom light facing west. It is also abutted to the left by a further entrance door surmounted by an oculus.

West Elevations The west elevations of the north and south blocks are each abutted by a single-storey mono-pitched porch. The exposed wall sections are blank.

Interior Courtyard Each dwelling has an enclosed yard accessed through a square-headed, vertically sheeted timber entrance gate. The internal courtyard elevations are as follows. The south elevation of the north block has a gabled bay to the left containing two windows and a recessed gabled bay to the right with a single first-floor window; the central section has three first-floor windows. At ground floor, the central section is abutted by a gabled return and to the right by a mono-pitched return. The typical ground floor to each dwelling consists of a vertically sheeted timber entrance door centrally placed, flanked on each side by a square-headed window. The south-west elevation of the north-east block has two first-floor windows and a gabled ground-floor return at the centre. The west elevation of the east block has seven first-floor windows (one per dwelling) with a lean-to return at ground floor, and further gabled returns to the left and centre and a mono-pitched return to the right. To the right of this, the west elevation of the tower house has a single window to the left and a gabled bay to the right containing two windows. The north-west elevation of the south-east block has two first-floor windows and a central gabled ground-floor return. The north elevation of the south block has a recessed gabled bay to the left with a single first-floor window abutted by a mono-pitched ground-floor return; four first-floor windows at the centre abutted by a central gabled return; and a gabled bay to the right with two first-floor windows. A mono-pitched shed sits within the enclosed yard to the right.

Historical and Social Context The almshouses were founded by Charles Shiels, a philanthropist described as being much in advance of most of his contemporaries. Shiels left £90,000 to provide housing for the needy in Armagh, Dungannon, Killough, Stillorgan, and Carrickfergus. Notably for the period, he stipulated that each group of houses was to be managed by a local committee of four members of the Church of Ireland, four of the Roman Catholic Church, and four of the Presbyterian Church, with the rules explicitly stating that "no religious disputes of any description will be tolerated." The complex also incorporated innovatory practical features: rainwater was collected from the roof to supply water for irrigation and livestock, evidenced by the well that survives in the grounds.

The Lanyon-designed houses at Carrickfergus cost £3,500 according to the Irish Architectural Archive. The tower house, numbered 2, carries the inscription "Charles Shiels Institution 1868" over its archway and retains its original working timepiece in the clock tower. According to Charles Brett's Buildings of County Antrim, the original twenty-one houses (Nos. 7–27) were built in 1868 to designs by Lynn and Lanyon; Nos. 28–31 followed in 1901 to a complementary design by Young & Mackenzie; and the final blocks, Nos. 1–6, were completed in 1915 to a slightly different design by R. M. Close. The almshouses are first shown on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902; no early valuation information exists.

Setting The complex is set within private grounds with a shared garden to the east and recent housing development to the west. To the north and south are further almshouses forming part of the same group. The site is accessed from Larne Road to the east through a brick gate screen.