Stable Yard at, Narrow Water Castle, Newry Road, Warrenpoint, Newry, Co Down

Stable Yard at Narrow Water Castle, constructed around 1816, with later alterations dating from around 1835. The yard forms part of the broader Narrow Water demesne and retains considerable external character despite some internal subdivision. It is listed for its architectural style, proportion, ornamentation, setting, and group value within the demesne, though some alterations detract from the overall composition. The yard has local historical interest and is in private ownership. The extent of the listing covers the two stable blocks, the cobbled paving, and the boundary walling.

Historical Background

Mount Hall was originally erected by Francis Hall in 1707. In 1835, Roger Hall replaced and remodelled it as the present Narrow Water Castle, to designs by architect Thomas Duff. The remodelling introduced shouldered gables, lattice windows, and Tudor finials — details that also appear on the south and east boundaries of this stable yard, strongly suggesting they were remodelled at the same time. A datestone of 1816 on the rear (west) stable block confirms it was built to serve Mount Hall. The rest of the yard, being similarly detailed, likely dates from the same period. Ordnance Survey mapping supports this: two parallel blocks are shown on the 1834 six-inch map, and a return at the east end of the east block appears on the 1860 edition.

The Stable Yard

The rectangular yard is enclosed on all four sides and is cobbled throughout. The front (east) stable block closes the east side, the rear (west) block closes the west side, a plain high wall with gates closes the north, and a more elaborate wall with Tudor detailing closes the south, forming the boundary with the domestic yard. The front elevation of each block faces inward onto the cobbled yard.

The Front (East) Stable Block

This is a two-storey, five-bay block. It has a pitched natural slate roof with a steep gabled pediment to the central bay, carried on its own pitched natural slate roof that ties into the main roof at a higher ridge level. The pediment contains a central roundel, now fitted with a modern light fitting. There are two small cement-rendered chimneys: one to the right of centre on the extreme left bay and another to the right of centre on the second bay from the left. The rear (east) pitch has two wall-head dormers and two modern rooflights.

The front (east, yard-facing) elevation is exposed random rubble stone with red brick jack arches over all openings. All windows are exposed box sashes with four panes over eight, with horns and dressed granite cills. All bays except the central one are three windows wide at first-floor level.

The extreme left bay has three ground-floor windows, though the rightmost of these is offset to the right by a four-panelled door that shares its opening. The second bay from the left also has three windows at ground-floor level. The central bay, which is narrower than the others, contains a large segmental-headed coachway with a tongue-and-groove sheeted infilled head and a brick architrave. The surrounding walling reveals that this coachway is a later insertion: the jack arches of earlier windows are still visible to its left and right at first-floor level. The two right-hand bays are identical to each other; each has a central door at ground-floor level flanked by single windows, all aligned with the first-floor openings above. Both doors are tongue-and-groove sheeted double-leaf doors, each with a fixed glazed inset.

The right (south) gable of the east stable block faces the domestic yard. It is lined and rendered, with a shouldered gable, a pitched coping, and a large octagonal Tudor pinnacle matching that on the servants' block. At ground-floor level there is a pair of casement windows, each a cast-iron lattice, set within a common opening. At first-floor level there is a similar cast-iron lattice window with additional crudely constructed side-hung timber lights.

The rear (east) wall of the east stable block is lined, rendered, and unpainted. The left two bays (as seen from the east) each have a single four-over-eight sliding sash window at each floor level. The ground-floor windows are separated, and flanked at either end, by small buttresses. The first-floor windows have shouldered wall-head dormers over them, with plain panels inset into their gables. The central bay has a filled-in coach arch — smaller than the yard-facing coachway — flanked by buttresses and with a four-over-eight sash at first-floor level. The two right-hand bays each have a four-over-eight sliding sash at ground-floor level, again separated and flanked by buttresses. There are no first-floor openings in these bays, and a modern plastic soil pipe abuts the wall here.

The left (north) gable of the east stable block is lined, rendered, and unpainted. The gable is shouldered with a pitched coping and a large Tudor finial at the apex. At ground-floor level it is abutted by a single-storey porch with a hipped natural slate roof, a terracotta ridge, and a hip-knob. The porch has a cement-rendered base wall. Each of its faces has vertical fixed timber-framed windows — four lights to the front and four to the left cheek. The right cheek has two fixed lights and a part-glazed four-panelled door. On the gable above the porch there is a four-over-eight sash window.

The Rear (West) Stable Block

This is a two-storey, three-bay block. It has a hipped natural slate roof with a gabled pediment to the central bay, carried on its own pitched natural slate roof that ties into the main roof. The pediment walls are harled and painted, with a central roundel infilled with timber boards. There is a small cement-rendered chimney to either side of the central bay.

The front (east, yard-facing) elevation is exposed random rubble stone with red brick jack arches to all openings. All windows are six-over-three sashes with horns and dressed granite cills. All doors are modern six-panelled with modern sidelights to one side only.

The left and right bays are each four openings wide. The left bay has a door at the left and right of the ground floor, with the remaining openings containing windows. The right bay has a door in the first and third openings from the left at ground-floor level, with the remaining openings as windows. The central bay is occupied at ground-floor level by three large coach arches grouped closely together, sharing finely dressed granite architraves. All three have slightly advanced keystones; the central keystone is incised with the date "RH 1816". The right gable is rubble stone and blank.

The rear elevation is three bays wide and has a number of modern plastic soil pipes abutting. The left bay is abutted, slightly left of centre, by a modern dashed chimney stack that tapers at eaves level with slated shoulders. There are four windows at ground-floor level: one to the left of the chimney stack and three to the right. The extreme right window is rectangular and has been infilled internally with concrete blockwork. The remaining three are four-over-four fixed-pane windows in brick-dressed segmental-headed openings, with the top four panes of each curving to follow the segmental head. There are three four-over-eight sash windows at first-floor level, the leftmost set to the left of the chimney breast.

The central bay has three windows at ground-floor level. The central and right ones are boarded up. The left one is larger and contains a pair of margin-paned one-over-one sashes. At first-floor level there are two windows: the left is a modern fixed timber light with a top-hung transom; the other is a four-over-eight sliding sash.

The right bay has three windows at each floor level. At ground-floor level, the left-of-centre and right-end windows are six-over-six sashes, and the leftmost is a four-over-eight sash. At first-floor level there is a similar four-over-eight sash at the left end, and two one-over-one sashes — one right of centre and one at the right end. The left gable is rubble stone and has a single window at ground-floor level, positioned right of centre.

Boundary Walls and Gates

The north boundary of the stable yard is formed by a high random rubble wall with pitched copings. At its centre, two dressed granite gate piers support a pair of large wrought-iron gates. Both the main verticals and the dog bars are topped with wrought-iron spear-head finials.

The south boundary is a high rendered wall with a pitched coping. Its south face (looking into the domestic yard) is divided into four bays by three applied single-stage buttresses with sloping copings, with similar buttresses at the left and right ends. The right end of the wall is flush with the south gable of the front (east) stable block. Each bay contains a narrow arrow-loop window with a fixed cast-iron lattice light (the leftmost has come out of its opening). The two right-hand bays each have a Tudor-headed doorway with a chamfered reveal and head. The rightmost doorway has a flat-iron gate and gives access to a lean-to shed on the north side of the wall; the other doorway has no gate and also serves a shed.

The north face of the south boundary wall (facing into the stable yard) is rendered and painted. Its left end is abutted by the lean-to shed, which has a lean-to natural slate roof that cat-slides out to the centre, and coursed rubble stone walls. The shed has a small central return under the cat-slide roof and two doorways, each with brick dressings.