Irish National Foresters' Hall 37 Bridge Street Rostrevor BT34 3BG

Irish National Foresters' Hall, 37 Bridge Street, Rostrevor

A two-storey end-of-terrace hall of domestic appearance, located at the south end of the terrace on the south-west side of Bridge Street, at the junction with Horner's Lane, just north of the bridge over the Kilbroney River. The building occupies a prominent village setting within a conservation area.

History

The building was constructed in 1881 as a Royal Irish Constabulary barrack, replacing an earlier police station at what is now 5 Bridge Street. The architect is unknown. The barracks occupied a site previously containing two small dwelling houses, first appearing in the valuation book in 1881.

The police vacated the building in September 1919. In April 1920, it was attacked by six to eight armed and masked men who arrived by motor car and set a fire that destroyed or severely damaged the building (accounts vary on the extent of damage). The property was recorded as dilapidated by valuers in 1921. It was repaired and refurbished around 1929, when it was recorded as a house, office and yard leased by William Lyons to Dr McLaughlin, and may have served as a surgery during this period. The building was vacant in 1937, with Leo O'Callaghan noted as tenant in 1939. Around 1945, the Rostrevor branch of the Irish National Foresters acquired the lease and converted the building to its current use as a hall. The rear return was enlarged sometime between 1950 and 1979.

Structure and Exterior

The building comprises a main gable-ended section facing Bridge Street, with a relatively large double-pile two-storey return to the rear and a single-storey flat-roofed addition to the rear south-west.

The front (north-east) elevation is symmetrical, three openings wide, finished in painted lined render with raised in-out quoins. It features a central timber doorway with applied panelling (possibly a recent replacement) and a large boarded-up overlight with extractor fan. Either side are windows with 2/2 timber sash frames, painted stone cills and decorative wrought-iron security railings. Three similar windows appear on the upper floor without railings. All openings are set in typically late Victorian bevelled reveals. A tall flagpole is attached to the wall immediately left of the central upper-level window.

The south-east elevation is asymmetrical. To the right is the gable of the main block with two windows to each floor, as on the front but with replacement four-pane frames, and a central reducing chimneybreast between them. To the left of the gable is the south side of the return, which has a plain sheeted door set within a projecting porch at ground level, with a window to its left and two windows to the upper floor. The porch has a narrow window to its west-facing side. The blank side of the addition lies to the far left. The gable and return are finished as the front elevation but without quoins to the addition. A small area to this side is enclosed by wrought-iron railings.

The south-west elevation has a left-of-centre doorway with plain sheeted double doors at ground level (the addition). The upper level, largely the double gable of the return, features an upper-level doorway with plain sheeted door to its left of centre.

The roof is covered in natural slate with overhang and replacement PVC bargeboards. Three replacement brick chimneys are present in the style of the originals. The rainwater goods are a mixture of cast-iron and PVC.

The building has undergone extensive internal changes on several occasions, and the loss of some original external fabric means it does not meet the criteria for listing.