Hilltown Lodge, 3 Castlewellan Road, Hilltown, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5UX

Hilltown Lodge is a two-storey, three-bay late 18th century house, symmetrical in composition, with an attached pavilion and farmyard, all set in mature gardens on the south side of Castlewellan Road. The building has a pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridges and granite skews, with cast iron cyma recta rainwater goods. Two rendered red brick chimneys rise from each gable, though the left chimney is in a state of collapse.

Main Façade

The main façade faces north towards the road. It is constructed of lined rendered random rubble stone with stepped stucco quoins, a chamfered advanced basecourse, and an advanced plain ashlar eaves course. The central bay is half the width of the outer two bays and contains the main entrance. Two granite steps lead up to a pair of original four-panelled painted timber doors. The top and bottom panels are smaller than the middle panels; all are bead moulded with astragal applied. The left door has a handle and lock, while the right door features a Victorian knocker and a letterbox.

The doors are framed by an elaborate stucco doorcase. To either side of the door jambs (the right jamb has a doorbell) are sidelights, now boarded up, with advanced cills and blank apron panels below. Above is a frieze which insteps above the door, decorated with bead moulding to the bottom and Scotia moulding to the top. Above the door is a semicircular headed metal peacock-tailed fanlight with a moulded architrave. Over the sidelights, framing the fanlight, are three moulded segmental tympanum panels. All are inset within reeded and fluted pilasters with plain capitals supporting a moulded archivolt.

The left and right bays at ground floor each contain two boarded-up windows, all with run moulded rectangular architraves and granite cills. At first floor level there are five 6/6 sliding sash windows without horns, aligned with the ground floor openings but diminished in height.

Extensions and Side Elevations

Abutting the left of the front elevation are the remains of a ruinous extension. The abutting wall is short and single storey, constructed in random rubble stone. At its centre is a spoke-headed sliding sash window, now infilled with concrete blockwork, with brick dressings and a granite cill. This section appears to be one storey and one bay in size, continuing as an outsweeping curtain wall, now ruinous. It appears to be cosmetic, added to balance the pavilion at the right (west).

The left (east) gable is rendered and blank, abutted at ground floor right by the aforementioned extension. Its east wall is blank. Its south (rear) wall is abutted by a red brick extension with a corrugated asbestos monopitched roof. Its east wall has a 2/2 horizontally divided sliding sash window with granite cill. There is a smaller lean-to immediately behind.

Rear Elevation

The rear elevation is completely abutted at centre by a single-storey lean-to. The remainder of this elevation is rendered. There are two openings to the left of the lean-to and two to the right. To the left is a boarded-up window and a masonry-infilled window. To the right is a six-panelled door with transom over, in a state of collapse; a flight of concrete steps leads up to it. Further right is a boarded-up window.

At first floor level are five equally spaced 6/6 sliding sash windows in very poor condition, aligned with the ground floor openings but diminished in height. All have granite cills, rendered brick reveals and heads; internal shutters are visible.

The lean-to has a monopitched natural slate roof, the top of which meets the main block at first floor window cill level. Its walls match the façade and it has a framed and sheeted door with transom at the centre of its south face, with steps leading up from the rear garden. Both cheeks are blank, though there is possibly an infilled window on the left cheek.

West Pavilion

The right (west) gable of the main block is abutted at ground floor by the west pavilion, and is blank above. The pavilion forms an important role in the composition, advancing forward into the front garden to frame the house. It is single storey where it abuts the house and two storey at the west end, as the ground level falls to the right. It has a pitched natural slate roof aligned west-east.

The front wall is rendered with a raised blocking course and a chamfered basecourse. Advancing from the centre of its front elevation is a gabled return. The remaining wall to its left contains a semicircular headed window with granite cill, now sheeted over with the head infilled. The left cheek of the advancing return is blank. Its front gable is pedimented and framed in ashlar granite skews. At the centre is a concrete blockwork chimney. Filling the wall is a large semicircular headed recessed panel, possibly once containing a window, which has been roughly re-rendered. A platband crosses the gable at the springing of its head and partially wraps around to its left cheek. A rubble wall sweeps out from the right-hand corner of the gable to enclose the front garden.

Turning the right corner from the front gable of the pavilion return, the building becomes a two-storey outbuilding fronting a yard. The right cheek of the return is painted and wet-dashed. It has a large sheeted-over window at ground floor left and is abutted to the right by a lean-to porch which also partly abuts the right portion of the main pavilion. At first floor right, over the porch roof, is a small semicircular headed window with a granite cill. At ground floor left is a hand-operated water pump.

The porch walls are of handmade brick. Its gable end (north facing) has a painted sheeted timber door and its right cheek has a small two-paned window. The right portion of the main pavilion is set back slightly from the line of the left portion. It is abutted by the porch at ground floor left and has a door at right. Directly above the latter is a modern sheeted loading door. The right gable is abutted by a larger outbuilding.

The rear elevation of the pavilion is roughly constructed and resembles a two-storey outbuilding. It has a single modern top-hung timber window at the extreme right and four plain, unevenly spaced windows filling the remainder of the ground floor. There are two small openings with sheeted timber shutters at first floor, both modern openings with concrete reveals.

Farmyard Outbuilding

The outbuilding in the farmyard is two storeys high. It has a pitched natural slate roof, a brick eaves course, and random rubble stone walls, whitewashed to the front. Its front elevation faces north into the farmyard. At ground floor, to the right of centre, is a pair of large sheeted timber doors; there are two sets of similar but lower doors to the left half of the façade. At the extreme right is a small painted sheeted timber pedestrian door. At first floor left and right are single sheeted timber openings. At the centre is a fixed 3×4 paned window.

The left gable of the outbuilding is abutted by the pavilion. The exposed section above is cement rendered. The rear elevation of the outbuilding has a painted sheeted timber door at the extreme ground floor right and three openings (timbers gone; brick dressings) at first floor level. Its right gable has three ventilation slots at ground floor and a sheeted loading door at first floor; all have brick dressings.

Setting

The front garden is enclosed to the road by a rendered rubble stone wall, at either end of which is a pair of wrought iron gates hung on plain piers with pyramidal caps. The gates have plain verticals with dog bars to the bottom, held in place by a curved brace. At the top, at the meeting of the two gates, is an iron horn and latch to secure them. The front garden consists of an overgrown drive, a lawn, and some very mature shrubs and bushes. The garden is separated from the farmyard by a rubble stone wall which sweeps out from the front of the pavilion gable. To the rear is a field which may have once been a rear garden.