North (Town) gate screen and walling, Montalto House, Dromore Road, Ballymaglave north, Ballynahinch, Co Down, BT24 8PX

North (Town) Gate Screen and Walling, Montalto House

A broad, decorative gate screen of circa 1867–68, designed by William Brown of Ballynahinch, fronting the north (or town) gateway to the Montalto estate. The screen is situated on the south side of Dromore Road, to the west of Ballynahinch town centre.

The screen is relatively wide with carriage gates to the centre flanked by tall pillars, and a curving outer screen terminating in shorter end pillars. The main gate pillars have square shafts in rock-faced basalt-like stone, possibly greywacke, which rest on a bevelled plinth. They have side jambs in sandstone to which the gates and railings attach. The shaft is topped with a fluted frieze with cornice and a swagged urn on ramped base, all in sandstone. A surveillance camera is attached to the west pillar. The outer pillars are much shorter and plainer, with shafts similar to the main pillars but with plain sandstone frieze and corniced pyramidal caps. The carriage gates sit between secondary cast iron posts with panels and ball finials. The gates themselves have a rising curve to the top with scroll decoration between the rails and short additional rails with arrowheads. To the rear (east) the posts have recently added tubular props, which do not appear to be physically attached. The shorter outer railings have scrolled decoration but are generally much plainer, resting on a low bevelled sandstone base. A pedestrian gate on the east side has a post similar to the main gate but thinner.

The gate screen was originally constructed with wooden gates and railings. These were replaced with the present iron gates in the early 1900s. The main gates are now opened by hidden electric motors. Before commissioning the design from William Brown, the then owner of Montalto, David Stewart Ker, had sought preliminary ideas for the screen from the architects Turner & Drew, some of which were more grandiose than the design eventually executed.