Outbuildings at Ballyward Lodge and Estate, 18 Ballyward Road, Ballyward, Banbridge, Co Down, BT31 9PS

Outbuildings at Ballyward Lodge and Estate

A group of early-nineteenth-century outbuildings located to the rear of Ballyward Lodge, at Ballyward Townland west of Castlewellan. The buildings form part of the estate's working farm complex and are arranged around a main courtyard to the south-west of the house, with additional structures lining the farm lane extending south from the gardens.

Main Courtyard Buildings

The courtyard is enclosed to its west side by a two-storey three-bay out office (OB1) with an asymmetrical east-facing elevation. The wider left bay features 6/6 sash windows with granite cills to both storeys, while a timber-sheeted entrance door with multi-pane overlight sits to the right of centre. The gables are blank. The rear elevation has 1/1 diminished windows to the ground floor and 6/6 windows to the first floor left, with the first-floor right window removed. A single-storey link block, partially demolished to the rear, is abutted to the left. This link has three segmental-headed openings with brick heads and timber-sheeted double doors.

To the south, OB2 is a two-storey range. The north elevation facing the courtyard has an exposed box 6/6 sash to the left end, two timber-sheeted doors either side of a large sliding vehicular door, and spoked roundels to the loft and angled east gable overlooking the garden. The rear elevation is blank. The west elevation of OB2 is lit to the ground floor by an inward-opening casement and a fixed pane loft window.

Farm Lane Range

OB3 is a two-storey block abutting OB2 to its rear with parallel ridge line. The south elevation has two 12-pane exposed box windows to the first floor over ground floor abutments comprising a crude lean-to and modern stable block. The garden-facing gabled elevation is painted and blank. The west gable is topped by a bellcote and features a timber-sheeted loft door accessed by external concrete steps.

OB4 is a plainly detailed single-storey store with a timber-sheeted door to the west having a datestone inscribed 1811 over it, and a metal-framed casement loft window above. The brick east-facing gable is built up in snecked rubble stone over a brick garden wall with masonry plinth, infilled with segmental-headed openings that have been blocked. The other elevations are blank, enclosed to the south by a tall cement-rendered enclosure.

OB5 is a simple single-storey stable with a timber stable door to the west.

All outbuildings have pitched slate roofs with cast-iron rainwater goods over projected eaves bands or projected brick eaves. OB3 has a chimneystack with moulded cap. Walling is generally roughcast and unpainted, except for more formal courtyard and garden elevations which are painted with contrasting plinths. OB3, OB4 and OB5 are linked at their east side by a brick wall in crude Flemish bond, though a modern stable range (fronted between OB3 and OB4) is of no architectural interest.

Gardener's House

Adjacent to the outbuildings is a one-and-a-half storey house, extended and raised, rectangular on plan. The pitched natural slate roof is fitted with painted rendered chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods on brick eaves. The walling is rendered to the gables and rear; the principal elevation comprises exposed rubble stone with fieldstone quoins and some brick-dressed openings. Three 2/2 exposed box sashes with granite cills are positioned to the ground floor left, with a modern glazed door insertion flanked by small fixed pointed-arched timber lattice windows. A lean-to return extends to the rear. The interior retains a simple original layout with a central timber staircase, four-panelled doors and architraves, and a small cast-iron fireplace to the attic room.

Setting and Boundaries

The complex sits within an agricultural setting in the Ballyward demesne, with mature plantation to the north, gardens to the east, and modern farm structures to the south. Agricultural land lies to the west. The courtyard is accessed via the main entrance avenue to the east, with the farm lane branching off to the right before entry. A secondary farm access from Ballyward Road is located to the north. A tall roughcast wall separates the garden from the yard, with access between the two via a square-headed opening formed in dressed stone with a wrought-iron gate. A water pump stands in the yard.

Adjacent to the cottage is a modern vehicular access gate set into a rubble wall leading to the lower enclosure; the piers are topped with five upright triangular capping stones.