St Brigid's Convent and National School, Convent Road, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, BT80 8QA

St Brigid's Convent and National School, Convent Road, Cookstown, County Tyrone

This is a late Victorian combined convent and school building, completed in 1891, built in an ornamentally treated Gothic Revival style. The architect is not known. In 1965 a chapel (listed separately) was added to the main entrance front, designed by Laurence McConville of Rooney and McConville, architects of Belfast. The building has been vacant since 2001.

The complex is of considerable architectural interest as a group. The conventionality of the Gothic Revival convent forms a striking contrast with the post-Second World War chapel in a modern style that has been attached to it, and with the Gothic Revival church standing alongside. This juxtaposition of the conventional and the modern has transcended normal questions of stylistic appropriateness to become a particularly notable illustration of an historic architectural development.

The complex consists of three principal elements: a three-storey gabled stone main convent block facing east; a long two-storey rendered rear return wing which was the former National School; and the modern Chapel of the Annunciation, a cubic concrete structure projecting centrally at an angle from the front. The chapel is described separately in its own listing record.

MAIN CONVENT BLOCK

The main convent block is a three-storey gabled stone building comprising a rectangular block three windows wide to each side of a projecting gabled breakfront, with a further bay set back at the right-hand extremity. The main façade faces east.

The roof is pitched and clad in Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses, with shaped and perforated red ridge tiles, decoratively treated timber eaves boards carried on shaped timber brackets, moulded cast iron gutters, and rectangular-section cast iron downpipes with original decoratively treated cast iron fixings. The walls are of coursed rock-faced sandstone with ashlar sandstone quoins to the extremities, a projecting plinth, and dressed sandstone surrounds to all openings. There are four chimneys, one to each extremity of the main rectangular block and one to each side of the central breakfront; these are of coursed rock-faced sandstone with a projecting stringcourse and battered ashlar caps.

On the east elevation, to the right of the central breakfront, the second-floor windows are modern rectangular PVC fixed lights with top-hung vents, set in stop-chamfered surrounds with shouldered reveals and projecting sandstone cills. The first-floor windows are original rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, one-over-one with horns, set in stop-chamfered surrounds which rise to moulded Gothic-arched recessed tympana, each ornamented with an encircled cross flanked by circles. The ground floor at this side is concealed behind a boundary wall to Convent Road.

The projecting central breakfront has walls of the same stonework as the flanking bays but without quoins to its corners; its slated roofs have ornamentally treated timber eaves to the sides and plain timber bargeboards to the gable. Much of the gable walling is obscured by the later modern chapel projecting in front of it. The north side of the breakfront contains a first-floor window in the form of a Gothic-arched timber sliding sash, one-over-one with horns, set in chamfered arched reveals. The south side of the breakfront contains a ground-floor doorway comprising a rectangular ledged timber door surmounted by a Gothic-arched fanlight, set in a chamfered Gothic-arched surround.

The façade to the left of the central breakfront is similar to that to the right, except that the ground floor is visible above the boundary wall and contains three windows sashed in the same manner as those on the north side of the central breakfront.

The north gable rises through three storeys plus an attic. The gabled roof has overhanging eaves with ornamented timber bargeboards supported on four large shaped brackets rising from moulded sandstone corbels; the bargeboards are ornamented with quatrefoil piercings. The walling is as on the main front. Windows are original rectangular sliding sash, one-over-one with horns, set in chamfered surrounds with projecting sandstone cills. The surrounds are rectangular except for the first-floor window on the left-hand side, which is surmounted by an ornamented Gothic-arched tympanum matching those on the main front, and the second-floor window directly above it, which has shouldered reveals as on the main front. At ground-floor level there is a rectangular doorway containing a ledged timber door set in tooled reveals. The second-floor windows flanking the doorway retain original wrought iron railings set on scrolling supports. Extending to the right of the north gable is a single-storey hipped-roof block in the same plane as the gable, with the rear return set back behind it. It has one window to the north face — a rectangular timber sash as elsewhere — and a doorway to the west side. Its roof is slated as on the main block, with similar red ridge tiles to the hip, a cast iron gutter on a moulded timber eaves board, and a cast iron circular downpipe.

The south gable of the main convent block is similar to the north gable but differs in window arrangement and detailing. It contains two windows at ground-floor level; a coupled window at first-floor level with Gothic-arched sashes; one Gothic-arched sashed window at second-floor level; and a rectangular timber sashed window at attic level.

The rear elevation of the main convent block has a slated roof with similar eaves, brackets, and rainwater goods to the front. The walling here is rendered in roughcast with a wet dash finish, with sandstone quoins to the extremities. There are two chimneys at eaves level in yellow brickwork, the right-hand one with battered sides. Ground- and first-floor windows are rectangular timber sliding sashes, one-over-one with horns; second-floor windows are modern PVC as before. All window reveals are smooth rendered. Projecting from the rear elevation is a tall flat-roofed service tower with a blank wall of rustic brickwork to the west and rendered side walls. The north side of the tower has rectangular timber casement windows and a modern glazed timber door at ground-floor level; the south side has full-height curtain glazing.

NATIONAL SCHOOL BLOCK

The former National School is a two-storey rendered building with its main façade facing north, eight windows wide at first-floor level. The roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with shaped and perforated red ridge tiles as on the main convent block, similar eaves boards with shaped timber brackets, and cast iron rainwater goods as on the front of the convent. There are two chimneys in yellow brick with battered sandstone caps. The walling is rendered in roughcast with a wet dash finish, with smooth rendered quoins to the right-hand extremity and similar smooth rendered surrounds to all windows, with projecting stone cills. Windows are rectangular timber sliding sash with horns: two-over-two at ground-floor level and one-over-one at first-floor level, with the windows at the left-hand extremity of the first floor being coupled.

At first-floor level there is a Gothic-arched niche with a projecting label moulding and a moulded corbel base. Immediately below the niche is a rectangular sandstone panel inscribed "St Brigid's Convent National Schools 1891" and decorated with incised shamrocks. At the right-hand extremity of the ground floor is a doorway comprising a rectangular ledged timber door with a segmental-headed fanlight, set in a segmental-arched opening.

The west gable appears to have smooth render, lined and blocked, and painted, with dressed sandstone quoins. It contains two windows, one per floor: a rectangular timber sliding sash, four-over-four with horns, at ground level, set in plain reveals; and a Gothic-arched timber sliding sash, one-over-one with horns, at first-floor level. The eaves overhang with ornamented timber bargeboards on four large shaped timber brackets, and there is a small finial to the apex of the gable.

The rear elevation has a slated roof and rendered walls as on the north elevation, with some spalling of render at ground-floor level. Two chimneys rise from just above eaves height in yellow brick with battered sides. Cast iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout. All windows are rectangular timber sash with horns, some four-over-four and some one-over-one.

SETTING

The complex stands well within the built-up area of Cookstown, on a rising site facing the main street. To the east of the buildings is a rectangular front plot comprising a sloping lawn with mature trees.

The east boundary of the front plot is formed by a low coursed rubble sandstone plinth wall with chamfered granite copings, surmounted by decoratively treated wrought iron railings comprising straight and wavy posts, scrolling bars, and shamrock finials. On axis with the front angle of the chapel is a pair of similarly treated gates with a Celtic cross as the main finial, set between openwork wrought iron piers and flanked by pedestrian gates containing Celtic cross designs. At each extremity of the east boundary is an openwork wrought iron pier with a prominent cross finial.

The north boundary of the front plot is formed by a sandstone plinth wall as on the east boundary, but with a concrete coping surmounted by ornamentally treated wrought iron railings of a simpler design. Towards the top of the front lawn the plinth wall rises in two stages to form a solid screen wall concealing the ground floor of the buildings. This north screen wall, of rubble sandstone with rough-hewn copings, contains a pair of rectangular flush timber double doors set in partly dressed reveals and surmounted by a semi-circular arched concrete open canopy roof rising from the walls. The doors have steel-dressed top edges, and each door has a shaped timber handle dressed in beaten copperwork depicting a saintly figure in a primitive style. The north screen wall continues west to abut the northern extremity of the main convent façade.

The south boundary of the front plot is formed by a mature hedge, continued westward adjacent to the buildings by a low rubble sandstone wall with sandstone copings surmounted by scrolling wrought iron railings. At its western end this wall rises to form a solid screen wall of coursed sandstone rubble with dressed copings, which abuts the southern extremity of the main convent façade and contains a rectangular ledged timber door set in tooled reveals. The south gable of the convent block faces onto the grounds of the Roman Catholic church.

Immediately to the rear of the main convent block is a concrete-surfaced yard area, with a rubble sandstone retaining wall beyond it enclosing a small garden with lawns; modern iron railings form the west boundary of the rear garden. To the west of the buildings is a large tarmac car park with an outbuilding of no special interest along its western boundary. The grounds to the rear and to the south side open onto the grounds of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, built between 1855 and 1860 to the designs of J.J. McCarthy.

The boundary to the north along the main front of the school block is a rubble sandstone wall with rock copings. It has a pedestrian gateway positioned in front of the niche and inscription panel, containing a pair of plain wrought iron gates set in tooled sandstone reveals, with a tarmac area between the boundary wall and the school.

The extent of the listing covers the convent and school buildings, the boundary walls, railings, and gates to the plot to the east of the convent, and the boundary wall to the north of the school.