Tobar Mhuire, 12 John Street, Crossgar, Co Down, BT30 9EG

Tobar Mhuire is a large two-storey gentleman's residence of 1864, built with a hipped roof and a mild Italianate character. It stands on the southern edge of Crossgar, set within its own compact estate, on the site of an earlier late 18th century house known as Crossgar House. To the rear of the main house is a large attached rubble-built stable block, now largely integrated internally with the principal building. The property has been used as a monastery and retreat house by the Passionist Order since 1950.

THE MAIN HOUSE

The front façade faces south-west and is symmetrical. At the centre of the ground floor is a large flat-roofed porch topped with a balustrade. The porch can be entered from either side — both openings have identical panelled timber doors with plain fanlights and moulded surrounds. The south-west face of the porch has three tall, narrow sash windows with surrounds matching those of the doorways. The porch itself is rendered and has in-and-out quoins and an oversailing cornice. The balustrade features curved balusters and squat panelled piers, with the end piers carrying urn finials. To the left and right of the porch on the main façade are two sash windows each, with vertical astragals (two-over-two) and surrounds matching the doorways. At first-floor level there are five similar but slightly shorter windows, with the central one set within a shallow recess.

The north-west façade is three bays, with the central bay recessed. Each floor has four windows, all matching those on the front, except for the top-left window which now has a fixed light with stained glass. The south-east façade is divided into two uneven bays. The left-hand bay projects forward and has a large gable-roofed conservatory or greenhouse attached at ground-floor level, with a window matching the front above it at first-floor level. The right-hand bay, which is larger, has three similar windows to each floor.

The main house is finished in lined render with in-and-out quoins and a bevelled base. The roof has a slight overhang supported on paired brackets. There are six rendered chimney stacks with dentilled corbelling. The roof is covered in natural slate with red clay ridge tiles. A small cast-iron skylight sits to the left on the rear of the roof. Cast-iron rainwater goods are fitted throughout.

THE REAR WINGS AND COVERED COURTYARD

Stretching from the rear of the main house are two rubble-built wings that connect to the stable block to the north-east. The south-east wing is two storeys, while the north-west wing is single storey. Both run parallel to each other and both have gabled roofs. The space between them, originally open, is now covered by a glazed hipped roof topped with a ridge of ventilators.

The south-east façade of the south-east wing has five windows and a door at ground-floor level and six windows at first-floor level. All windows have frames matching the main house; the door is a modern glazed model. The openings have cream brick dressings. The north-west façade of the north-west wing has two windows as before, two timber-sheeted doors, and three small roundel openings, all also with cream brick dressings.

The exposed rear façade of the main house is in three bays. The left bay is almost completely obscured by the south-east wing. The right bay has three small windows near the eaves, glazed with stained glass. The recessed inner bay has a large semicircular-headed sash window at stair-landing level, with margin panes. On the inner north-west face of the south-east bay there are two first-floor sash windows without surrounds. The inner south-east face of the north-west bay could not be seen in its entirety from outside and appears to be largely blank.

THE STABLE BLOCK

The stable block is a large two-storey structure now mainly converted to living accommodation and integrated with the house proper. Like the rear wings, it is rubble-built with cream brick dressings to its openings. It has a hipped, slated roof with cream brick chimney stacks. The block is arranged around a relatively large courtyard. At the south corner of the block stands a three-storey battlemented tower.

The south-east wing of the stable block, which appears to have been single storey, was demolished in approximately the 1960s and replaced by a large chapel — substantial enough in scale to be classed as a church were it not attached to the monastery. A wing stretches from the chapel to the south-east, and its roof can be accessed from a doorway at first-floor level on the inner south-west façade of the south-west wing.

The north-west face of the north-west wing of the stable block has a right-of-centre segmental-arched carriage entrance with timber-sheeted doors. To the left of this is a sash window as before, with a large modern window to the far left. To the right are three sash windows as before, with a panelled doorway with fanlight to the far right. At first-floor level there are four sash windows, a roundel window above the carriage arch, and a small roundel window to the far right. The block has two cream brick chimney stacks.

The inner south-east façade of the north-west wing has a very large segmental-headed window to the left at first-floor level with a modern frame — this was undoubtedly formed by partly blocking a former arched doorway. At first-floor level there are also two sash windows and, above the carriage arch at centre, a roundel window.

The north-east façade of the north-east wing has six sash windows as before to the left at ground-floor level, with a further window that appears to have been reduced in size. At first-floor level to the left are five sash windows, all as before but of slightly varying size, with a smaller window with a modern frame. To the right-hand side of this façade is a large single-storey lean-to with a series of modern windows to its north-east face, which is rendered, and a small upper-level sash window to the south-east face. At its north end the lean-to has a projecting section with a fixed-light window to the north-east face and a sash window to the north-west. Above the lean-to on the main north-east façade of the north-east wing there are three squat windows with modern frames.

The inner south-west façade of the south-west wing has six sash windows as before at ground-floor level, along with two glazed doors — one to the left and a larger one to the centre. At first-floor level there are four sash windows as before, with a doorway to the far left opening onto the roof of the wing stretching from the chapel.

The south-west façade of the south-west wing is partly abutted by the wings connecting it to the main house. The exposed section to the left has two sash windows to each floor, those at first-floor level being slightly shorter, with a single roundel opening to each floor also. The exposed section of the first floor to the right of this has two small windows with modern frames. The exposed section to the right is finished in red brick at ground-floor level, where there are three windows with modern frames and a partly glazed door — two of these windows have frames made to resemble sash windows. At first-floor level on this side there are three sash windows much as before.

The inner north-east façade of the south-west wing has five ground-floor windows and a glazed door with a semicircular fanlight. The first two ground-floor windows from the left have modern frames made to resemble sash windows. At first-floor level there are six sash windows much as before.

THE BATTLEMENTED TOWER

At the south end of the south-west wing stands the three-storey battlemented tower. Its south-west face has two sash windows to each floor. To the south-east there is a timber-sheeted door at first-floor level, reached via steps, with a sash window at second-floor level. There is a similar window at second-floor level to the north-east. The openings to the tower have cream brick dressings and quoins, as is common throughout the stable block.

HISTORY

The house was built in 1864 by James Cleland, then owner of the Crossgar townland. It replaced Crossgar House, a low, sprawling one-and-a-half to two-storey residence probably built in approximately the 1780s by the then landlord, Edward Ruthven. Ruthven sold Crossgar to William Thompson, a merchant from Downpatrick, during the 1820s. Thompson developed the village and built the market house, but does not appear to have lived at Crossgar House himself — by 1835 it was occupied by a Mrs Hamilton, and by 1845 by a Reverend Maguire. On Thompson's death in 1862, the estate passed to his nephew, James Cleland, who almost immediately demolished the old house and erected the present building with its extensive outbuildings. He named the new house after a well to the south-west of the property, known locally as Mary's Well, or Tobar Mhuire in Irish.

Either James Cleland or his son John, who inherited the estate on his father's death in 1875, subsequently redirected the main drive to the house, moving it further to the south and adding a new gate lodge — the original gate lodge to the north stood until at least 1932. The walled garden to the north-east was laid out around this same period. The Cleland family remained at Tobar Mhuire until approximately 1930, when the house was acquired by William McCalla, a Belfast shipping agent. Between 1942 and 1945 it was occupied by Allied troops. After the war it was sold to a Mr McDowell of Downpatrick, who shortly afterwards sold it to Lieutenant Colonel Llewellen Palmer. In 1950, Palmer sold the property to the Passionist Order for use as a monastery and retreat house.