beresford obelisk

1
THE
BERESFORD OBELISK
A LEGACY IN STONE IN THE ROE VALLEY
ANA DOL AN
CHRIS McCOLLUM
RAYMOND BL AIR
DANIEL CALLEY
JAMES STEVENS CURL
PRIMROSE WILSON
EDITED BY EVELYN MULL ALLY
2
I NDEX
SPONSOR S & DONOR S
A E HARVEY TRUST
ESME MITCHELL TRUST
U LSTER G ARDEN
V ILLAGES L IMITED
Anon
Iona Andrews
Tom & Anne Atkinson
John & Caroline Auchmuty
Chris & Frances Bailey
The Earl of Belmore
Raymond Blair
David Brewster
Lady Brown
Emma Cahill
Anne Casement
Valerie Campbell
Julian & Anne Clarke
Anne Clyde
Andrew & Kate Coleman
John Cowdy
Dr M.D & Mrs Crone
Lord Decies
Denis Desmond
Holly Ferres
Rosie Ford-Hutchinson
Barbara FitzGerald
Raymond & Carol Fulton
John Gallivan
Sarah Gallivan
Olive Gamble
Janet Gaston
Mitchell & Rosemary Graham
Sean & Philomena Hagan
Hilary Heslip
Judy Hewitt
Lydia Inglis
Neil Kadagathur
Karen Latimer
Sheila Lewis-Crosby
Limavady Naturalists’ Field Club
Robert Logan
Philip Mateer
Robin & Annamarie Mathers
Stratton & Merriel Mills
Dermot and Camilla McAleese
Susannah McAleese and Aidan Farrell
Pamela McAuley
John & Sheena McClure
Neil McClure
Finbar McCormick
Geraldine McCullough
Robert & Frankie McDowell
Edward McParland
Ian McQuiston
Terry McVeigh
Ann Morris
John & Sharon Morrow
Evelyn Mullally
David & Inga Nicholson
Norma Nixon
Wilton & Liz Paton
Sarah Philpott
Letitia Pollard
Murray Power
Alastair & Gillian Rankin
Peter Rankin
Alan Robinson
Frank Robinson
Alistair Rowan
Catherine Santoro
Ronnie & June Smartt
John & Anne Stevenson
John Stewart
Dan and Jean Sullivan
Diana Taggart
W. Bruce Thompson
Peter Walby
8th Marquess of Waterford
Brid Weekes
Gordon Wheeler
Joan Whiteside
Edward & Primrose Wilson
First published in 2015 by
THE FOLLIES TRUST
Registered Office: 105 Somerset Studios, Marcus Ward Street, Belfast BT7 1RP
www.follies-trust.org
Company limited by guarantee: NI060272 Northern Ireland Charity number NIC101116
Text: © The Follies Trust & authors.
Illustrations: © as credited.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without prior permission in writing of the copyright owners and the publishers.
Editor: Dr Evelyn Mullally
Design: g2 design
Print: W&G Baird
ISBN 078-0-9566907-3-9
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
PRIMROSE WILSON CBE
9
Chairman of The Follies Trust
ANA
DOLAN
Senior conservation architect
with the
18
National Monuments Service
of the
Office of Public
Works
CHRIS McCOLLUM
22
Chartered building surveyor specialising
in
historic building conservation
26
EVELYN MULLALLY
Honorary senior research fellow in the
School of
Modern Languages,
Queen’s University Belfast
36
RAYMOND BLAIR
3
FOREWORD
The creation of Knockbreda Parish Church and Belvoir Park
Brian Mackey
Page 4
Brian
MackeyHISTORY
is CuratorOFofOBELISKS
the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum,Page
Lisburn.
A BRIEF
6
Knockbreda Church
Hugh Dixon
Hugh Dixon is The National Trust’s Curator for the North East of England.
CONSERVATION
OF THE
BERESFORD OBELISK
TheTHE
evolution
of Irish burials
and monuments
Dr Finbar McCormick
Page 15
Dr Finbar McCormick teaches archaeology at Queen’s University, Belfast.
TheApeople
buriedFAMILY
in Knockbreda
SELECTIVE
TREE OF THE BERESFORDS AND
Dr William
Roulston
THE FAMILY PORTRAIT BY JOHN ASTLEY
Page 22
Dr William Roulston is Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast.
The Knockbreda Mausolea
Professor James Stevens Curl
HENRY BARRÉ BERESFORD (1784-1837) AND Page 25
Graduate of history from Trinity College
Dublin
and active member of the Donegal history
society
Professor
James StevensFAMILY
Curl is an eminent architectural historian, historic buildings THE BERESFORD
consultant, prolific author, and retired academic.
40
Writer living in County Londonderry.
He is
the author of a UAHS book, City
of Derry: an
Merchants & Gentlemen: The lives of Thomas Greg, Waddell Cunningham & THE HOUSES OF HENRY BARRÉ BERESFORD Page 34
William Rainey
Dr Nini Rodgers
DANIEL CALLEY
Historical Gazeteer to the Buildings of Londonderry
PROFESSOR JAMES STEVENS
CURL
47
Eminent architectural historian, historic
buildings
consultant, prolific author and retired
academic
Dr Nini Rodgers is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in the School of History and Anthropology, Queen’s University, Belfast.
FISHMONGERS’
AND HABERDASHERS’
COMPANIES
TheTHE
conservation
of the Knockbreda
mausolea - the
consultant’s viewPage 46
Chris McCollum
Chris McCollum is a chartered building surveyor specialising in historic building conservation.
PRIMROSE WILSON CBE
ARCHITECTURAL LANDMARKS IN THE ROE VALLEY
Page 56
Bibliography
Founder Chairman of The 54
Follies Trust
57
Image Acknowledgements
Front cover: John Astley, Portrait of the Tyrone family,
oil on canvas, c.1756-9 (Private Collection)
Back cover: Beresford Obelisk © Michael Craig 2015
Lydia Wilson is a journalist and architectural historian, and senior associate at
The Architectural History Practice Ltd.
Pr imrose Wil son
4
Primrose Wilson
5
INTRODUCTION
Ireland has a number of obelisks erected for a variety of purposes. The largest
is the Wellington testimonial in Phoenix Park erected in 1817 which James
Howley says ‘is the largest in Europe and must surely be one of the ugliest’.1
Edward Lovett Pearce designed the impressive Stillorgan obelisk to Lady Allen
in the early eighteenth century while the Ross monument in Rostrevor was
erected ‘where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea’, in memory of
Major General Robert Ross. In 1814, when Britain was at war with America,
he set fire to a number of public buildings in Washington including the
President’s Mansion – now known as the White House. Another magnificent
eye-catcher, between two great estates, the Conolly folly in County Kildare,
was erected in 1742 as a famine relief project. However, while most people
know about the obelisks mentioned above, few have heard about the Beresford
obelisk at Ballyquin!
The monument is a fine classical obelisk on a square plinth and constructed
in ashlar stone from a local quarry. Not surprisingly, a hundred and seventy
years after the foundation stone was laid, the monument was showing signs
of its age and in 2014 was placed on Northern Ireland’s Built Heritage at
Risk Register. The monument, while it commemorates an individual and acts
as an eye-catcher in the landscape, also serves as a physical link to an earlier
countryside, predating the Great Famine, and the land reforms that followed.
The landscape of small farms and clachans has disappeared but this feature
remains as a link to that earlier culture.2 The obelisk has no commercial value
and confers no financial advantage upon its owner. It is a private responsibility
for a public benefit and in 2011 the Follies Trust was asked if it would help.
The Follies Trust is grateful to everyone who contributed to the conservation
project. Particular thanks go to our professional adviser, Chris McCollum,
and his team, also to the contractor and sub-contractors. We acknowledge, on
page 2 of this publication, donors who made it possible to conserve the obelisk
and the sponsor of the associated educational project – the Heritage Lottery
Fund. Grateful thanks are due to the authors of the articles in this publication
and to our editor, Dr Evelyn Mullally, as well as to the owner, William Purcell,
for providing access to the monument. Few people have heard of Henry
Barré Beresford but it is hoped that this book will rescue him from obscurity,
establish links to the history of the important Beresford family and provide the
context of the times in which he lived and worked.
Notes
1.
Howley, James. The Follies and Garden Buildings of Ireland. Yale 1993
2.
McRandal, Dermot. Letter of support for the Follies Trust. 2014
Ana Dol an
6
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF OBELISKS
Ana Dolan
The obelisks that we see today, often used as memorials in graveyards,
belong to an ancient and impressive lineage dating back to Ancient Egypt.
Famous Egyptian obelisks, such as Cleopatra’s Needle, were used to adorn
civic spaces in cities such as Rome, Paris, London and New York. They are
probably the oldest man-made objects in those cities. Their original role was
to commemorate people or events and this function has not changed. They
are heavy, difficult to make and to transport. Due to their shape, they can be
easily knocked over and broken. Nevertheless, their appeal has endured over
the centuries. Every modern empire has aspired to acquire or create obelisks,
often as a symbol of power and authority.
The practice of making obelisks has been dated to around 2700 BC when
in the Nile valley the Ancient Egyptians began to build monumental stone
architecture. They built on an enormous scale: gigantic pyramids, huge temples
and colossal statues. The Ancient Egyptians invented the obelisk, made from a
single piece of quarried stone. An obelisk is square at the bottom and tapered
towards the top ending in a pyramid shape. The top was sometimes sheathed in
gold or bronze to catch the sun. Obelisks were placed in pairs at the entrances
to temples, usually on top of simple pedestals.
An example of hieroglyphs
Obelisks were dedicated to the sun gods, connecting the realm of the sky to
the earth like some kind of solar conductor. They commemorated notable
events in a Pharaoh’s life, the four sides carved with hieroglyphic writing,
which described the dedication. Usually the writing glorified the Pharaoh, or
commemorated an event such as a military victory. The practice of making
and erecting obelisks continued for over two thousand years and they were
placed in the temple complexes all along the Nile.
The unfinished obelisk in the Aswan quarry
7
Obelisks were carved from a single piece of stone. This required resources that
only the most powerful rulers could provide. An example of a large unfinished
obelisk survives in the Aswan quarry. This large stone is 42 metres, or 137
ft long, but was abandoned when it developed a crack in the upper section.
It was carved directly out of the bedrock by gradually digging out two long
trenches on each side of the stone. When the two sides were deep enough,
they began undercutting the supporting stone to release the stone from the
bedrock. The fact that it was a single piece of stone was essential as they were
interpreted as symbols of power. The stone was finished by polishing the four
faces and carving inscriptions.
The next task was to transport the obelisk, possibly on a timber sledge pulled
by hundreds of men, to the banks of the Nile and then on to its final location.
The illustration from the walls of Hatshepsut’s temple shows two obelisks, end
to end, mounted on a barge being transported along the Nile from a stone
quarry to the temple. At the new site, the obelisk was rolled up to the temple
and erected on its pedestal. One theory is that they were pulled up gigantic
temporary ramps and allowed to gradually slide on to their base. Enormous
resources were required to complete this complex operation. Project managers
today would most likely be overwhelmed by the demands of such a task.
Obelisk at Karnak, Luxor
The Fallen Obelisk, Karnak, Luxor, 1896
The era of obelisk-making in Ancient Egypt commenced during the period
known as the Old Kingdom (2494-2184 BC) when obelisks were made from
multiple stones, rather than from a single stone. The first large-scale obelisks
were made during the Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC) but the main period
associated with obelisk building is the New Kingdom (1550-1186 BC). Most
of the surviving obelisks date from this time, but surprisingly few survive in
their original location. Many fell as a result of earthquakes, were pulled down
deliberately, or were moved within Egypt by new Pharaohs, who erected them
at their temples.
8
Ana Do l a n
The image of Imperial Rome as imagined by Piranesi
Ana Dol an
The process of relocating obelisks arose from the belief that writing the name
of the king in hieroglyphics on the obelisks endowed them with part of the life
force of the ruler. As long as the stone endured the dead pharaoh also endured
in the afterlife. If the name of the pharaoh was removed or the obelisk was
destroyed then part of the life of the pharaoh was destroyed in the afterlife.
Pharaohs ruled Egypt for almost three thousand years. Their language, art
and architecture developed in an unbroken line with obelisks present from
the beginning to the end. Their role, embodying the relationship between the
pharaoh and the realm of the gods, diminished with the culture that created
them. Such was their influence that the next major empire to emerge, the
Romans, continued to use obelisks as symbols of power and majesty.
In the 18th century, the image of Imperial Rome as imagined by Piranesi, was
of a city shown with rows of obelisks lining the streets and around the base of
important buildings. While this idealized view of the city owes more to the
artistic imagination than to historical fact, there is no doubt that the symbolic
power of obelisks continued to fascinate the Romans.
The Vatican
Circus Maximus
Following the defeat of Cleopatra in 30 BC, Egypt became the imperial
property of the Emperor Augustus. The prefect of the new territory, Gallus,
erected a large 25.3-metre-high obelisk in the centre of the new Forum Julius
near Alexandria. This obelisk, which stands to-day in the centre of St Peter’s
square in the Vatican, has no inscription. It is thought to have been made
by Cleopatra as a memorial to Julius Caesar. Augustus also ordered a pair of
obelisks, erected by Tuthmose III, to be moved from Heliopolis to Alexandria,
where they were erected in front of a mausoleum dedicated to Caesar. These
became known many centuries later as ‘Cleopatra’s Needles’ although she had
no part in their creation.
Augustus also began the more ambitious practice of bringing obelisks from
Egypt to Rome, transporting two from Heliopolis in 10 BC. One was erected
in the racecourse called the Circus Maximus and the other in what is known
today as the Piazza Navona. The Romans regularly held parades and triumphs
to display the spoils taken from defeated lands. The obelisks were displayed
9
in the city to show the ascendancy of Rome over Egypt. Over the next four
centuries 50 major obelisks and many smaller ones were transported from
Egypt to Rome. The Romans continued to make new ones in the Egyptian
quarries when the demand exceeded the supply.
Obelisk in the Hippodrome, Istanbul
The emergence of Christian Emperors did not halt the transport of obelisks
from Egypt. In 324 AD the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul) was founded
as the capital of the eastern empire. An obelisk from Karnak was moved there
to confirm the city’s status. It was erected in the Hippodrome around 390 AD
where it still stands. There are accounts of at least four other Egyptian obelisks
in the city but no trace of them can be found today.
The last and largest obelisk brought to Rome came from the great temple of
Amun in Karnak where it had stood for two thousand years. Constantine had
brought it to Alexandria with the intention of shipping it to Constantinople.
His son Constantinus II brought it instead to Rome and erected it in the
Circus Maximus. It eventually fell but was rediscovered in the sixteenth
century broken into three pieces. In 1588 it was repaired and re-erected in
Rome’s Piazza di San Giovanni Laterano by Pope Sixtus V.
As the centuries passed, the splendour of Rome faded and much of the city
became farmland littered with the remains of temples, palaces and arenas. The
broken obelisks lay underneath the rubble of the once magnificent city. By the
middle of the twelfth century only one obelisk remained standing in Rome.
By the end of the 14th century antiquarians began to examine the Roman
ruins in a systematic way. At that time, the connection between the obelisks
and Egypt was unknown. Greek texts began to circulate which included
descriptions of Egyptian hieroglyphs. This was evidence that the obelisks were
of Egyptian origin. The obelisks and the hieroglyphs provided evidence of the
sophistication of Egyptian civilization. Their presence in Rome where they
were displayed as trophies confirmed the military conquest of Egypt by Rome.
The objects themselves demonstrated the skill of the Egyptians in making
these objects and the technology of the Romans who transported them.
10
Obelisk in original poistion beside church
The Castello
Vatican Obelisk re-erected
The Castello
Ana Do l a n
Ana Dol an
From 1563 onward, the Counter-Reformation gave the papacy a new focus
and energy. The reforming pontiffs began the task of rebuilding Rome. The
tradition developed that St Peter had been put to death at the base of the
only surviving upright obelisk which had been brought from Alexandria to
Rome by Emperor Caligula and erected in 10 BC. Between 319 and 329 AD
a basilica dedicated to St Peter was built beside the obelisk. Successive popes
had redeveloped the Basilica of St Peter but the obelisk remained in a poor
location. In 1585 Pope Sextus V looked for proposals of how to move this
enormous obelisk to a more imposing location.
The proposal of Domenico Fontana, a forty-two-years-old architect,
was considered the best of 500 submissions. His illustrated book
DellaTrasportatione dell’Obelisco Vaticano tells the dramatic story of moving
the obelisk. Fontana was given sweeping powers that any architect today
might envy. He had the authority to demolish any house that stood in his way
but the owners had to be compensated. He was given an unlimited budget
to complete the task. Officials were ordered to assist him without delay or
excuse. He built a massive timber tower, called the castello, which was both a
scaffolding and a crane. On 30 April 1586, following two masses, the obelisk
was successfully lifted off its base using 5 levers, 40 windlasses, 907 men and 75
horses. The huge crowd of spectators was forbidden to speak or spit on pain of
death. Cannons were fired to mark the successful completion of the first stage
of the operation. Cannons were fired again eight days later when the obelisk
was lowered onto a specially built sledge. The architect was accompanied
home by musicians with drums and trumpets. A huge ramp was built to move
the sledge 275 ft to the new location. The castello was dismantled and reerected. After two masses and before another silent crowd, the obelisk was
again raised upright. The entire operation was completed on September 26
1586 and a Christian cross was placed on the top of the obelisk to demonstrate
how Christianity had triumphed over pagan Rome and Ancient Egypt.
Sextus V and Fontana went on to locate, repair and re-erect three other
obelisks in Rome. The castello was used in all these operations. A new era of
repairing and relocating obelisks had begun. Fontana’s book, which described
11
this splendid piece of engineering, was read throughout Europe and led to a
renewed interest in Egyptian antiquities. In 1650 Pope Innocent X placed
an obelisk in the centre of Piazza Navona, while the obelisk of Ramesses II
was moved to form part of a new fountain in front of the Pantheon. Around
the same time, the piazza in front of St Peter’s in the Vatican was created.
The magnificent colonnades, designed by Bernini, enclosed the public space
and enhanced the dominant central position of the Vatican obelisk. In the
17th century many smaller obelisks were found and re-erected as part of
elaborate settings. The most famous if these is the Bernini fountain in the
centre of the Piazza Navona. The obelisk, found in five pieces in the Circus of
Maxentius, sits on an elaborate base depicting four great rivers emerging from
caverns. Another obelisk, dedicated to the Pharaoh Apries, was discovered in
1665. Bernini placed it on top of a statue of an elephant outside the church
of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. During the 17th and 18th centuries Rome
became the principal stop on the Grand Tour. Obelisks were extensively
studied and drawn and the hieroglyphs were a rich source of speculation and
interpretation for scholars from across Europe. The aristocratic visitors took
home prints and folios of drawings. In 1748, during the demolition of some
houses, the remains of the famous Solarium obelisk was found. This obelisk
was previously erected by Emperor Augustus in the Campus Martius. Prior
to that it had stood in Heliopolis in Egypt and was dedicated to the Pharaoh
Psammetichus II. Pope Pius VI, who had already restored two obelisks, decided
to re-erect the obelisk with the assistance of the architect Giovanni Antinori.
The missing sections of the obelisk were replaced by plain uncarved granite
so that the original hieroglyphs could be read. The obelisk was positioned on
top of the original Roman base and stands today in the Piazza Montecitorio.
However, the political power of the Vatican was in decline. In 1796 the Papal
States were conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte. Powerful Islamic rulers had
dominated Egypt since the decline of the Roman Empire. Very few Europeans
had travelled through the country which remained unknown and unseen. The
ostensible French motive for the invasion was to overthrow Islamic tyrants.
The real motives were the French dependence on Egyptian cotton and the
strategic importance of access to India. The French Republic had conquered
12
Ana Do l a n
Ana Dol an
The last obelisk to leave Egypt was the second Cleopatra’s Needle in Alexandria
which the French gave to the Americans. It was rolled aboard the SS Denton
on cannon balls through a hole cut in the hull. After a month at sea, the
obelisk arrived in Staten Island. A special railroad was built to move it from
the dock to its current location in Central Park. Thousands of New Yorkers
gathered on January 22nd, 1881 to watch as the obelisk was erected.
Europe and considered itself the new Rome. In 1798, the French invasion was
a military disaster but the scientists and scholars who accompanied the army
produced first-hand accounts of the antiquities. One of the most important
discoveries was the Rosetta Stone. At last the writing on the obelisks could be
understood. Their age and purpose could finally be deciphered.
Obelisk being erected at Place de La Concorde, Paris
Obelisk being erected on the Thames Embankment, London
In the Imperial 19th century, as in Roman times, obelisks would once more
be taken as trophies from Egypt. During the Napoleonic wars, the French and
the English had recorded the two obelisks in Alexandria known as Cleopatra’s
Needles. One lay flat on the ground and the other remained upright. After
the war, the Egyptian Government offered the fallen one to the English and
the upright one to the French. However the French decided that they would
prefer the much bigger pair of obelisks located in the front of the temple in
Luxor. After three years of careful planning, in December 1833 one of the
Luxor obelisks arrived in Paris. After much debate, the obelisk was erected
at the end of the Champs Elysées in the centre of the Place de la Concorde.
The location marked the site of the guillotine which had beheaded Louis XVI
and Marie Antoinette. The matching obelisk remained in Luxor where visitors
commented on the missing companion. It remained the legal property of the
French nation until the 1990s when President François Mitterrand graciously
returned the ownership of the second obelisk to the Egyptians.
The English still had full title to the fallen Cleopatra’s Needle but there was
no interest in bringing it to London. Sir James Alexander, a British soldier,
admired the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde on a visit to Paris in 1867.
He became obsessed with the idea of bringing the British-owned obelisk to
London. With the financial help of a wealthy doctor, Sir Erasmus Wilson,
and the engineer George Dixon, a special barge, the Cleopatra, was designed
to transport the Needle to London. The barge set off for London towed by the
ship the Olga. When a terrible storm broke out in the Bay of Biscay, six sailors
lost their lives attempting to save the Cleopatra. The tow ropes were cut when
the barge began to sink and the obelisk was presumed lost. The barge was
later discovered afloat and the obelisk was eventually erected on the Thames
Embankment. The names of the men who lost their lives are engraved on a
fine Egyptian revival pedestal.
13
Obelisk arriving in New York, 1881
The unbuilt Washington monument
New obelisks have been built all over the world, inspired by the Egyptian
originals. The Washington Monument in Washington D.C., completed
in 1884, is a towering 555 ft high. The original winning design by Robert
Mills included a tall obelisk emerging from a pantheon-like building at the
base. In Ireland, the Wellington Testimonial, in the Phoenix Park in Dublin,
was completed in 1861. It is 203 ft high and is one of the largest obelisks
in Europe. The Conolly Obelisk at Castletown House, Co. Kildare, was
recently restored by the National Monuments Service Office of Public Works
in Ireland. The obelisk, commonly known as the Conolly Folly, reflects the
Renaissance practice of incorporating an Egyptian obelisk mounted on top
of a classical style composition. The 70 ft high obelisk is positioned on top
of a multi arched structure which is also 70 ft high. The arch is similar to the
Triumphal Arch of Hadrian in Jerash, Jordan.
The obelisks of Egypt were sacred symbols and memorials. For both the
Romans and the Victorians, the subsequent moving and re-erection of an
original Egyptian obelisk was a demonstration of Imperial political power
and technical prowess. The practice of building new obelisks is a cultural
continuation of their original primary function, to commemorate outstanding
individuals and events in stone.
Note
Obelisk, a History. Brian A. Curran, Anthony Grafton, Pamela O. Long & Benjamin Weiss.
The Conolly Obelisk, Castletown House, Co. Kildare
‘© Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Cambridge, Massachusetts: Burndy Library, 2009.
15
THE CONSERVATION OF
THE BERESFORD OBELISK
Chris McCollum
The Beresford Obelisk which dates from 1840, is a classically designed stone
structure consisting of a 34 foot needle set on two square steps on a 12 foot
rectangular high plinth (containing two of the original four slate plaques).
The Practice has a long standing relationship with The Follies Trust and shares
its passion for historic buildings and its particular enthusiasm for structures
such as this. Working with historic buildings demands a particular set of skills
and expertise and over the years we have worked with the Trust on a number
of similar structures.
In early 2013 we undertook a preliminary inspection to determine the main
threats to the building fabric and to make an initial assessment of its condition.
The purpose of this assessment was to provide confidence for the Trust that the
structure could be conserved, what the repair issues might be and the likely
cost of that repair.
Our assessment was a visual one from ground level, drawing on our experience
in working with historic structures. We were able to confirm that the needle
and steps were constructed of local sandstone (Dungiven) built in battered,
ashlar and moulded blocks with a core of rubble and that the base was a mix
of stone and brick now rendered but perhaps originally of dressed stone.
This initial assessment concluded that there was a slight stoop to the top third
of the needle and localised disturbance of stone sections at high level. Coupled
with that was evidence of structural cracking where vegetation was taking
hold in joints in the stone which had been washed clean and damaged first
by driving rain and then freeze/thaw action. Almost every stone joint to the
16
Chri s M cCo l l u m
Ch r is M c Col l u m
needle was plucked clean by this weathering. The stooping action witnessed
is very characteristic of rust jacking of hidden iron cramps (used to pin stones
together) which corrode and expand, pushing up the stone joints at each level.
Corroding metal cramps will expand to around ten times their original size
and a slender stone structure of this vintage could expect to contain many
such cramps.
Void in obelisk caused by weathering
In addition to this individual stones had failed due to poor bedding techniques
with some face bedding to ashlar elevations and edge bedding to corner stones
to the needle. How a stone performs in a building depends on many issues but
a critical aspect is how its bedding plane is laid. Depending on the function of
the stone the bedding plane can be laid edge, naturally or face and if incorrectly
laid, the stone will fail prematurely. A number of stones were dislodged and
the cement based render was failing and characteristically plucking the face
of the stones below. Finally, much of the original moulded stone had impact
damage where it had been keyed to allow the cement render to be applied.
Enough moulding remained to allow the original profiles to be determined.
We concluded that the failure at high level was caused by driving rain washing
the joints and then corroding the hidden cramps. This opened up the joints
and allowed rainwater to penetrate down into the core of the fabric which
in turn destabilised the structure by washing out the stone and lime matrix
binder. This in turn allowed stones to become dislodged lower down and the
repair using cement had plucked the face of individual stones. At ground level
was damage associated with cattle rubbing on the corners of the monument
and dislodging further stone.
In broad terms, we suggested that the repair should include taking down
and rebuilding the top section of the needle including grouting of core to
replace fines washed out by driving rain. All stone joints required to be cleaned
out and deep pointed prior to then being re-pointed using an appropriately
designed lime mortar. The pointing and the filleting of ledges should be flush
to ensure the shedding of rainwater as efficiently as possible. We suggested
17
the render to the base should be removed to allow the condition of the stones
beneath to be ascertained. It was suggested that if the stone had been clearly
dressed and remained in reasonable condition the render should not be reapplied. The existing slate plaques were fractured but in serviceable condition
and could be reset behind replaced stone architraves as the original detail
(removed to facilitate the cement render). The two missing plaques could be
reinstated. Based on that preliminary inspection we suggested a budget of
£52,400 excluding VAT, professional fees and new slate plaques. We suggested
that to remove some financial risk for the Trust it would be sensible to arrange
high level access to allow a hands-on inspection of the needle.
In early 2014 the Trust was sufficiently confident to commission the Practice
to undertake that high level survey. This was via a ‘cherry picker’ on a blustery
Saturday morning in early March 2014. The survey allowed individual
decayed stones to be inspected at close quarters and the exact condition of the
upper reaches of the needle to be ascertained. This inspection confirmed our
original thoughts with stone delaminating where weathering of weak beds and
washing of layers of clay within the stone matrix had allowed water ingress and
increased weathering. Iron cramps were corroding to the upper reaches of the
needle and this was the cause of the stoop noted earlier. The apex stone was
entirely failed and this had allowed rainwater to trickle down the core of the
structure from top to bottom which leached out the lime matrix and allowed
stone to become dislodged. The surface of the stones were etched and pitted
due to the extreme weather this structure is exposed to. Repair options based
on repointing, re-dressing, indenting or renewal was possible on a stone by
stone basis as a result of this inspection technique.
The inspection also allowed the needle to be accurately measured and each
stone to be renewed to be scheduled. At the same time a full measured survey
of the structure was made including the moulded details to the lower reaches
which were picked up using plumbs and squares. Every survey and inspection
should reduce the amount of unknowns and therefore reduce the risks of
financial overspend and programming for the client.
18
Chri s M cCo l l u m
Ch r is M c Col l u m
Later that spring design work began with the production of detailed scale
drawings, specifications and stone schedules. Part of that process was
considering the Conservation Philosophy to be adopted. In line with good
practice the significance of the structure was determined. The structure
has both architectural and historical interest borne out by its listed status
(HB02/08/003) and was built to commemorate Henry Barré Beresford, Agent
of the Marquess of Waterford. The listing describes it as a relatively rare object.
The conservation philosophy was drawn up with the Follies Trust and drew on
the founding manifesto of the Society for the Protection of Ancient buildings
(1877) the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
Charter (1966) and Australia ICOMOS Charter (1999) (Burra Charter).
Our approach was to repair in an effective and honest manner, doing no
more than prudence demanded and avoiding tampering with sound fabric.
The work should consolidate the structure without unnecessary restoration or
intervention. Where stone sections had been destroyed and there was enough
original fabric to reinstate without conjecture then this was permissible. A
combination of traditional and proven modern conservation techniques would
be employed and the work would seek to eliminate the primary breakdown of
the structure. The natural process of general decay would not be interfered with.
The tender package included 1:2 scale drawings of the stone profiles to be
renewed together with detailed drawings of the repairs and rebuilding details.
A comprehensive specification linked the drawings and this was then finished
with a stone by stone repair schedule which specified the size and bedding
of the stone with any repairs required. The contract was a lump sum with
quantities which gives the greatest financial control.
Open joints
The best planned and specified project will fail if insufficient attention is given
to the contractors who are invited to tender. Our built heritage is at risk if
contractors with insufficient conservation or management skills are employed.
That said, perfectly competent local contractors should not be overlooked in
favour of those with national repute. A tender list of contractors was drawn
up based on personal observation matching the size and expertise of the
19
contractors with the size and complexity of the proposed contract. As stone
repair was a critical aspect of this project and this trade is usually sub-let,
the management skills of the main contractor are critical. Likewise to ensure
value for money the proximity of the contractors to the site is an important
element. The number of firms invited to tender should be sufficient to ensure
the market is tested and in this case four contractors were invited to tender.
New stone being placed
New capstone
Traditional materials of repair were specified. Analysis of the original stone
determined it was no longer available commercially and a commerciallyavailable alternative stone was employed; one with a similar chemical makeup, texture and colour to the original. A lime based mortar was specified
using hydraulic limes (NHL5 and 3.5) depending on the exposure of the
stone elements. New stone to the needle were specified as naturally bedded
to help reduce weathering of the stone at exposed edges. The Practice favours
traditional techniques of workmanship and materials such as hand pointing
and dressing of stone. The method of fixing stone followed techniques little
changed since the date of construction but using stainless steel in lieu of iron
to avoid problems of corrosion and expansion. New stone was specified for the
architraves around plaques based on an accurate profile lifted off an original.
A lead damp proof course was included as an intervention below the cap stone
as a secondary means of throwing rainwater clear of the wall core at its most
vulnerable point.
The lowest tender received was £51,850 with the two lowest prices within
8% of each other. The comparison with the original estimate gave the Trust
further assurance and following a period of fund raising work was planned to
begin in the spring of 2015. However, strict stipulations on grant aid meant
that work had to begin in January 2015 to be completed by the end of the
financial year. Dovetailing building conservation work to suit accounting
procedures is an unnecessarily frequent problem for the construction industry
and demands a flexible approach bedded on a sound conservation philosophy.
Further protection using bubble wrap was specified and the exact specification
of the lime pointing revisited.
20
Chri s M cCo l l u m
Ch r is M c Col l u m
A rigorous programme of site inspections, recording and reporting, testing
and site meetings ensured the work proceeded in accordance with the Follies
Trust requirements. Designer risk assessments had been employed during the
drafting process and these were the basis of early inspections to remove any
further risk items to the contract. The structure was inspected again with the
main contractor and the stonemasons and final marking of stone undertaken.
This saw some additional renewal of stones which were partially offset by
redressing and indenting rather than renewal.
Students from North West Regional College visiting
the Obelisk
Original capstone
The original stonemason’s mark
Traditional stone masonry techniques were specified including repointing
using steel rulers for deep work and narrow pointing irons for finishing work.
Joints were specified to be hit at the end of each working day with a traditional
Churn Brush to texture the joints. Where joints were wide a local grit was
added to the mix to control shrinkage of the mortar. Samples of new stone,
dressing, raking out, deep pointing and final repointing were agreed ahead of
schedule to allow work to run smoothly.
poor condition but has been retained at the base of the structure to allow
visitors to see the extent of weathering the stone was subject to on top of the
obelisk and to allow the mark to be viewed.
The two missing slate plaques were re-made, by S. McConnell & Sons Ltd of
Kilkeel, using fragments of the originals to create a template for the lettering
style of the originals. The text for both plaques was known. The cost of this
work was an additional £4,000.
Site of missing plaque
The main contractor was J. S. Dunlop of Ballymoney with the main subcontractor Trademark Masons of Castlewellan.
As work came to an end all interventions were documented with markedup drawings providing a permanent record of what was done. The record
included photographs, updated elevations and details. Two new slate plaques
were commissioned based on known wording and using fragments of the
originals together with lettering from the remaining plaques. These were hand
finished. The final account figure was £51,845. In addition to the construction
cost and professional fee, the Trust paid VAT at 20%. the rate of 20% is a
significant additional financial burden.
Whilst predicted, the extent of washing of the core was only revealed with
the taking down and rebuilding of the upper section of the needle. This
action occurs on exposed masonry where voids develop within the core of
the structure which allows rainwater to penetrate deep during driving rain.
Where possible these types of voids should be located and grouted to replace
the missing matrix. It is acknowledged that the nature of the repair technique
means it can be controversial in building conservation. However, in this case
it was considered unavoidable given the extremes the structure was exposed to
on all four elevations at all times of the year.
When the apex stones were removed, a mason’s mark was found on the inner
face of the stones. Masons’ marks are a practical way for masons to identify
pieces of stone they have worked on and are usually to be found on other stone
projects that the mason worked on over his career. There is seldom any way of
relating the marks to the mason who created them but it would be interesting
to know if this particular mark is to be found on other stone buildings or
structures in the Limavady area. The apex stone was replaced due to its very
21
Chris McCollum Building Conservation Surveyors are motivated by our
enthusiasm for the buildings and people we work with and sharing our
passion with like-minded clients, contractors and tradesmen. We are flexible
and happy to engage with minor projects as well as larger scale work. We are
creative and constantly striving for better ways of doing things but we have a
preference and leaning towards traditional materials, skills and trades.
Plaques replaced
A SE L E CT I V E FA MI LY TRE E O F THE B E RE SF O RD S
22
23
Marcus Beresford (1694-1763)1 = Catherine Power (1701-1769)2
George
Jane
Eliza (Betty) =
Anne
John
Catharine
Frances
William
Araminta
(1738-1805) = (1) Anne Constantia de Ligondes
(lst Baron Decies &
(1735-1800) = Elizabeth Monck William Cobbe3
(created 1st Marquess of Waterford 1789)Archbishop of Tuam)
Henry de la Poer Beresford
John
(1772-1826) 2nd Marquess (archbishop of Armagh)
John Claudius
Jane = George Fitzgerald Hill
William Carr Beresford
(illegitimate)
Henry de la Poer Beresford (1811-1859) 3rd Marquess
=
(2) Barbara4
William Montgomery
Elizabeth =
Luke Gardiner
John de la Poer Beresford (1814-1866) 4th Marquess
Anne =
William
George Townshend
Henry
Barré Beresford (1784-1837)5 = Eliza Baily
John Henry de la Poer Beresford (1844-1895) 5th Marquess
Anna
James
Henry de la Poer Beresford (1875-1911) 6th Marquess
John
Barré (1815-1895)
Mary
Henry
William
James
George
=
(1)
Sophia
Lyons-Montgomery
= (2) Caroline Hamilton-Ash
John Charles de la Poer Beresford (1901-1934) 7th Marquess
William
Randal Hamilton Beresford-Ash (1859-1938) = Florence Browne
John Hubert de la Poer Beresford (1933-2015) 8th Marquess
Douglas Beresford-Ash (1887-c.1950) = Betty Helena Rous
Henry Nicolas de la Poer Beresford (2015) 9th Marquess
John
Randal Beresford-Ash (1938-2010) = Agnès Montmoreau
1.
Marcus Beresford succeeded his father to the title of 4th Baronet Beresford of Coleraine in 1701; he was created lst Viscount Tyrone in 1720 and lst Earl of Tyrone in
1746. His son George was created lst Marquess of Waterford in 1789.
Catherine was the daughter of James Power, 8th Baron Power. As he had no male heir she inherited his land but not his title. ‘Power’ is an Anglicization of ‘Poer’. The
family claimed descent from Robert le Poer who was sent to Ireland by Henry II in 1176 and was made custodian (custos) of Waterford the following year. The name le Poer
(variously spelt) is an Anglo-Norman form of the Old French le Povre (= the poor man). In the eighteenth century the Beresfords started to re-use the old form, adding a
‘de’ which is still in use today. In 1717, at the age of sixteen, Catherine married Marcus Beresford and they had seven sons and eight daughters. The names of three of the
sons and six of the daughters are known and they are probably the children represented in the Astley portrait. George (the fourth son) inherited the title; John (the fifth son)
became the father of the Beresford who is commemorated by the obelisk; the youngest surviving son William was created lst Baron Decies, Co. Waterford, in 1812. After
Marcus died Catherine successfully claimed a title for herself in 1767 as Baron La Poer.
2.
3.
Eliza (Betty) married Thomas Cobbe in 1751 and the couple became important art collectors. Their paintings were displayed at their home in Newbridge House, Co.
Fingal, where many of them are still to be seen.
Barbara Montgomery and her sisters Elizabeth and Anne were three beauties known as the Irish Graces. In 1773 Luke Gardiner, then the fiancé of Elizabeth, commissioned
Sir Joshua Reynolds to paint a portrait of the sisters, a picture entitled Three Ladies adorning a Term of Venus. The painting is now in Tate Britain. Barbara is the figure on
the left.
4.
5.
Henry Barré Beresford is described on his monument as the ‘seventh son’ of the Honourable John. John had four sons by his first marriage and two by his second. It is not
known which marriage produced the other son, whose name is not recorded and who probably died in infancy.
John Astley, Portrait of the Tyrone family, oil on canvas, c.1756-9 (Private Collection). Photograph by Dara McGrath
Group portrait, here reproduced in colour for the first time, of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone, with his wife Catherine Power and their children. They
were reputed to have had seven sons and eight daughters, six of whom are untraced and presumably died in infancy. The names of three of the sons and six
of the daughters are known and these are probably the nine children represented in the portrait. The three sons here are George (the fourth surviving son)
who inherited the title and was subsequently created 1st Marquess of Waterford; John who married Barbara Montgomery and became the father of Henry
Barré Beresford, the man commemorated by the obelisk; William, the youngest surviving son, who was created lst Baron Decies, Co. Waterford, in 1812.
John and William are probably the two young men portrayed in Van Dyck costume.
Of the daughters, the young woman standing next to the earl is Elizabeth or Eliza, known as Betty. She is identifiable by the very similar half-length portrait
of her by the same artist which is now in Newbridge House, Co. Fingal. She married Thomas Cobbe in 1751 and the couple became important art collectors.
The paintings they acquired were displayed at their home in Newbridge House, where many of them are still to be seen.
The portrait was painted by John Astley (1724-1787) who had studied under Thomas Hudson at the same time as Joshua Reynolds. He travelled to Italy
between 1748 and 1752 and in about 1756 came over to Ireland. In three years he was believed to have earned £3000. His large group portrait of the
Molyneux family of Castle Dillon (now in the collection of the Ulster Museum) is signed and dated 1758. The Beresford portrait was thus very probably
executed at some time between 1756 and 1759.
Astley painted very little after that because, on his return from Ireland to England, he married a rich widow, Lady Dunkinfield Daniel, who died soon after,
leaving him a wealthy widower with no need to work. Most of what is known about him is derived from the hostile account of him given in An Authentic
History of Painting in Ireland published in 1796 by Anthony Pasquin (pseudonym of John Williams). See also Irish Portraits 1660-1860. Exhibition catalogue
by Anne Crookshank and the Knight of Glin. Paul Mellon Foundation for British Art, 1970, pp. 46-47; Clerics and Connoisseurs: an Irish art collection
through three centuries. Ed. Alistair Laing. London: English Heritage and Azimuth Editions, 2001.
24
25
HENRY BARRÉ BERESFORD
(1784-1837)
AND THE BERESFORD FAMILY
Raymond Blair
A most unusual monument, dating from the early 19th century, is to be
found just off the Ballyquin Road, outside the town of Limavady, in County
Londonderry. Known as the ‘Ballyquin Obelisk’, or the ‘Beresford Monument’,
it stands as a testimony to the remarkable life of Henry Barré Beresford in
whose honour it was erected in 1840. In order to understand the reasons for
the erection of this obelisk, it is necessary to know about the powerful family
to which Henry Barré belonged, the political campaigns in which he had been
involved, and the popularity as a land agent which he had enjoyed.
The Beresford family
The origins of the Beresford family in Ireland can be traced back to Tristram
Beresford who came from Kent to Co. Londonderry early in the 17th
century. He came to Londonderry as an agent for the London Companies
which played such a central role in the Plantation of Ulster.
His eldest son, also called Tristram, advanced the family fortunes still further.
He became a member of the Irish House of Commons for the constituency
of Londonderry. In 1665 he was created a baronet of Coleraine and went
on to become Mayor of Coleraine. His great-grandson, Marcus Beresford,
eventually obtained the prestigious title of Earl of Tyrone in 1746.
Henry Barré Beresford (1784-1837) (Private Collection)
Colonel Isaac Barré, Gilbert Stuart
In 1789, his son, the 2nd earl, became the 1st Marquess of Waterford. Several
other members of the Beresford family circle had distinguished careers in
Church and State. One of them became Archbishop of Tuam, and another
was elevated to the archbishopric of Armagh. William Carr Beresford, an
illegitimate son of the 1st Marquess of Waterford, served on the battlefield
alongside the Duke of Wellington and went on become Governor of the Royal
Military Academy.1
26
R a y m o nd Bl a i r
The Right Honourable John Beresford (1737-1805)
(Private Collection)
Barbara Montgomery. Detail from Three Ladies
adorning a Term of Hymen by Sir Joshua Reynolds
© Tate Britain
R aymond Bl air
27
However, by far the most notable member of this powerful family was the
Right Honourable John Beresford (1737-1805). He was the second son of
the 1st Earl of Tyrone, and became so influential that he was referred to in
Irish political circles as ‘the uncrowned king of Ireland.’ His position as First
Commissioner of the Revenue placed him in a position of great power and he
played a key role in having the Act of Union passed in 1800. Not everyone,
of course, admired the Beresford family; one critic of 1830 referred to ‘the
Beresford clan of whom it is said that their little finger pressed more heavily upon
Ireland than all the feet of all her tyrants.’ 2
Henry Barré, the political activist
John Beresford’s estate was centred upon the Manor of Walworth at Ballykelly,
near Limavady, and he was therefore well placed to oversee the management
of the massive Londonderry estates of his relative, the absentee Marquess of
Waterford. He was also, in co-operation with Frederick Hervey, the famous
Earl-Bishop of Derry, responsible for the building of the beautiful parish
church of Tamlaght Finlagan at Ballykelly.3
Given the fact that the Beresford family had long held political sway over the
Borough of Coleraine, it comes as no surprise to find that Henry Barré held
for a time the office of Chamberlain of Coleraine Corporation. Indeed, as a
consequence of having held this office, he was later called upon to give evidence
to an enquiry investigating charges of corruption in the administration of that
borough. No evidence of corrupt activities on his part came to the surface.6
John Beresford married twice. His first marriage was to the daughter of a
French nobleman. The second marriage was to a celebrated beauty named
Barbara Montgomery, and it was through her that the Learmount estate, near
Dungiven, came into the possession of the family. The second son of this
second marriage was Henry Barré Beresford, in whose honour the Ballyquin
obelisk was later erected, and who will now become the main focus of our
attention. The French name came from his godfather, Colonel Isaac Barré-,
a Dubliner of Huguenot family. It should be evident from the foregoing,
however, that Henry Barré Beresford had the privilege of being born into a
most powerful and influential family. And it was this family connection which
enabled Henry Barré to be appointed agent over the Londonderry estate of
the Marquess of Waterford; he was nephew to the 1st marquess (d.1800),
cousin to the 2nd marquess (d.1826), and first cousin once removed to the 3rd
marquess (d.1859).4 Before looking at the popularity he gained in his role as
land agent, however, we need to consider the influential role which he fulfilled
in the political life of County Londonderry.
Although Henry Barré never became a member of parliament himself, he
played a key role behind the scenes, and in public debate, in promoting the
political views and influence of the Beresford family. In the early years of the
19th century, he had been active in the local yeomanry corps and there still
exists a sword with an inscription bearing testimony to the high esteem in
which he was held by those who served alongside him.5 On the national level,
he held office for a time as a deputy vice-treasurer of Ireland.
John Barré Beresford (Private Collection)
Eliza Beresford, née Baily (Private Collection)
Henry Barré undoubtedly came to public attention because of the prominent
role which he played in opposing the campaign for Catholic emancipation. On
one occasion, he made some very controversial allegations about the manner
in which funds were being raised for the emancipation campaign. He claimed
that this ‘catholic rent’, as it was known, was in some instances collected on
the basis of threats and intimidation. He claimed that some of his own tenants
had been subjected to such intimidation. It should be added that a local priest
wrote a letter vociferously denying these allegations.7
In a similar vein, Henry Barré is known to have been very active behind the
scenes in orchestrating the withdrawal from the election of 1830 of George
Robert Dawson, the sitting M P for Co. Londonderry, because the latter had
compromised on the emancipation issue.8 Moreover, Henry Barré played a
key role in promoting the establishment in his region of the anti-emancipation
Brunswick clubs in the years 1828-9. For example, the Dublin Evening Mail
reported in December of 1828 that he had been requested to accept the office
of President of the Maghera Brunswick Club. Another report of this event
described his arrival in Maghera on this occasion in the following terms:
28
R aymond Bl air
29
Long before the hour of meeting had arrived a vast concourse of people thronged the
streets and the avenues leading to the Court-House. At a few minutes before one
o’clock, Barré Beresford Esq. was recognised making his way through the myriads
who surrounded him – his appearance was greeted with the most enthusiastic and
deafening shouts of welcome.9
Sword presented to Henry Barré Beresford with
the inscription:
This sword was Presented by the Officers, Non
Commissioned Officers and Privates of the Walworth
Infantry to their Captain Barry [sic] Beresford Esq as a
token of their Gratitude and Respect.
Reproduced by kind permission of Brian Brown
The following year he wrote a letter to Sir George Hill in which he commended
the idea of Protestant colonisation and warned against the dangers posed by
the emigration of Protestants.10 It comes as no surprise therefore to find him
being praised by the local Orangemen for his loyalty and dedication to the
political interests of the Protestant establishment. At a meeting of the County
Londonderry Orangemen in May of 1832, the following toast was proposed:
Our firm friends, Barré Beresford and Alex Alexander, Esqrs. – may the rest of our
gentry become wise enough to follow their example, in protecting Protestants, and
animating their spirit.11
Not only did Henry Barré have the approval of local Orangemen, he seems
to have been well in with the Freemasons as well. A report of the gathering
of two lodges of Freemasons at his residence at Brook Hall in June of 1834,
describes how
That gentleman soon made his appearance and thanked them for the compliment
they paid him in visiting his residence. He mentioned that for nearly thirty years he
had had the honour of being of a member of their Society; that he was proud to see
such order and good feeling exist among them, and dwelt with peculiar emphasis
on the merits of the system which recognised the brotherhood between the King and
the mechanic, and in which religious dissensions were unknown.12
Freemasonry, it should be realised, was a widespread movement in Ulster in
the early 19th century (and for a considerable period thereafter) and Henry
Barré’s involvement with it would have extended his circle of friendship and
influence well beyond his own rank in society.
30
R a y m o nd Bl a i r
R aymond Bl air
Henry Barré continued his political activities right up to the eve of his death in
1837. He is known to have played key roles in stirring up support for the Tory
candidates in elections for both Londonderry County and Coleraine Borough.
For example, in August of 1837 we find him making an impassioned speech in
support of Edward Litton during the electoral contest for Coleraine Borough.
Therefore, there can be no doubting the fact that Henry Barré was a most
important and popular local political activist in those early decades of the
19th century.
Henry Barré, his popularity with his tenants
Page from a book owned by Henry Barré Beresford
with his signature and date of February 1809
(Private Collection)
While his political leadership certainly contributed to his popularity (at least
within the Protestant community!), there can be no doubt either about his
popularity as a land agent and a landowner. Various sources testify to the
agricultural improvements which he brought about. For instance, the
Ordnance Survey Memoirs credit him with introducing a new and improved
breed of pigs into the locality. These memoirs also commend him for lowering
the rents on the estate of the Marquess of Waterford thereby relieving tenants
who had been considerably oppressed by the exactions of the previous agent.
In addition, G.V. Sampson, in his famous Survey of County Londonderry
(1814), observed that at Walworth
Mr Barré Beresford is paying great attention to husbandry, and has much improved
the demesne.15
It should be noted, however, that Henry Barré actually lost control of the estate
at Walworth in the early 1820s when the Fishmongers’ Company, from whom
it had been leased, refused to renew his tenure. This must have been a setback
for him but does not seem to have dissuaded him from further agricultural
improvements elsewhere.
Another feature of his progressive agricultural outlook had to do with his
patronage of several Farming Societies. There is, for example, an impressive
account of the ploughing match which he sponsored at the Brookhall
demesne, near Londonderry, in 1834.16 There is also evidence of sympathy for
31
the tenants on his own estate of Learmont in the speech which he made at the
laying of the foundation stone for the castle there in 1836. The Londonderry
Sentinel reported that he
addressed his numerous tenantry, stating his determination to reside amongst them,
promoting their comfort and respectability by every means in his power, seeking in
return, industry, morality and good order.17
It would appear that he was very skilled in charming the tenants of the vicinity
with fine speeches. On one occasion, in addressing the Farming Society of the
Barony of Kennaught, he eulogised the farmers of the locality in the following
manner:
Where was there to be found a better peasantry than the tenantry of the Barony of
Kennaught? He know none; and they deserved to be encouraged and cherished, for a
brave, industrious, loyal and peaceable peasantry are the strength of a nation…” 18
As regards his role as land agent over the estate of the Marquess of Waterford,
only a couple of minor incidents of disturbance or outrage can be traced
during his tenure. In fact, in 1836, there was a large and impressive gathering
of his tenants to protest against an outrage that had been committed on the
estate and to express their hearty support for the Marquess and his agent.19
Further evidence of the high regard in which Henry Barré was held can be
found in the obituary notice that appeared following his sudden death in
London in December of 1837, in the 54th year of his age. The following
extract speaks for itself:
For many years past, Mr Beresford occupied a conspicuous place in this county;
and in the varied characters of Grand Juror, Magistrate, Agent and Landlord, no
individual could have given more satisfaction, while in the social and domestic
circle, he was loved and respected. He was a counsellor of those in perplexity, to
whom his advice almost invariably proved serviceable, and a generous benefactor
to the poor.20
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R aymond Bl air
The fact that the Sentinel tended to be pro-landlord in its outlook might detract
somewhat from the evidential weight of the above extract but confirmation
of Henry Barré’s popularity can be seen from the fact that the pro-tenant
Londonderry Standard expressed equal admiration for him.
Contrary to family tradition, which held that Henry Barré had been interred
in the family mausoleum at Christchurch in Limavady, the obituary notice
reveals that he was ‘interred according to his own desire, in Marylebone [in
London] by the side of a favourite daughter.’ Not long after his death, his son,
John Barré Beresford, succeeded him as agent over the Londonderry estate
of the Marquess of Waterford. Therefore, it would have been during his son’s
agency that the remarkable tribute was paid to Henry Barré by the tenants of
the estate when in June of 1840 the foundation stone of the Ballyquin obelisk
was laid down. It was reported that
Monument to Henry Barré Beresford in St Marylebone
Parish Church, London
Plaque before restoration. Inscription reads-:
H.B. Beresford Esqr
Seventh son of the Rt. Hon. John Beresford
was born 25th Septr 1784
at Walworth House in this County
Died in London
on the 15th of December 1837.
the first stone of the monument was laid on Monday last, the 29th ult., by Mr John
Canning of Ballynaheary, in the presence of the committee of management, in the
name of the whole tenantry. A scroll of which the following is a copy, was deposited
in the foundation stone on this interesting occasion:‘On the 29th day of June, in the year of our Lord, 1840, being the 3rd year of
the reign of our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, BE IT REMEMBERED, this
obelisk was erected by the Tenantry of the Most Noble the Marquess of Waterford’s
Londonderry Estates, in grateful commemoration of the virtues and talents that
distinguished and adorned their late agent, Henry Barré Beresford Esq, of Learmount
Castle, in this county, who died in London the 21st day of December, 1837…’
The newspaper went on to recount the interesting fact that the above
inscription engrossed on parchment and enclosing a silver coin was placed
in a bottle, sealed up, and embedded in the foundation stone of the obelisk.
It added that the monument was to be of cut freestone, furnished by local
quarries, and that the entire height of it was to be 50 feet.21 It was therefore
intended as a very impressive testimonial to Henry Barré Beresford, and it is
great that it has survived relatively intact for over 170 years.
33
Concluding comments
Despite his prominence in Londonderry politics and society in the early 19th
century, Henry Barré Beresford has until recently been a largely forgotten
figure. However, the existence of the fine obelisk at Ballyquin testifies to the
great popularity which he enjoyed in his lifetime. This popularity was owing
to a number of factors. Belonging to the powerful Beresford family was of
importance. His own political activism also played a significant role, not least
the high regard in which he was held by the Orangemen and Freemasons of
the county. The fact that his son succeeded him as agent over the Marquess
of Waterford’s estates may have added momentum to the campaign to erect
an obelisk in his honour. Primarily, however, he earned his popularity by
being a considerate and progressive land agent and landlord and, as such, fully
deserves to have his good name perpetuated through the restoration of the
remarkable monument at Ballyquin.
Notes
1.
The Beresford Family: A History, unpublished account by Aaron Callan of Limavady. Marcus
Beresford, the present Baron Decies, is currently engaged on a biography of Willian Carr Beresford.
2.
Freeman’s Journal, 3 Sept. 1830
3.
Timlaght Finlagan Parish Website
4.
I am indebted to Dr Anthony Malcomson for interpreting the complex Beresford family tree for
me and for identifying how Henry Barré was related to the Marquess of Waterford.
5.
Information supplied by Mr Daniel Calley and Mr Aaron Callan
6.
Londonderry Sentinel, 26 Oct. 1833
7.
London Standard, 8 Sept. 1828
8.
History of Parliament Online, Londonderry County Constituency
9.
Dublin Evening Mail, 3 Dec., 1828 & Belfast News-Letter, 25 Nov., 1828
10.
Papers of Sir George Hill; PRONI D.642/221, accessed via Irish Emigration Database
11.
Londonderry Sentinel, 5 May, 1832
12.
ibid., 28 June, 1834
13.
Freeman’s Journal, 13 July, 1837
14.
Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Londonderry County, Vol.11, p.13
15.
Survey of County Londonderry, by G.V. Sampson (1814), p.307
16.
Londonderry Sentinel, 1 Mar., 1834
17.
ibid., 23 April, 1836
18.
ibid.,3 Mar.,1835
19.
ibid., 30 April, 1836
20.
ibid., 23 Dec., 1837
21.
ibid., 4 July, 1840
Daniel Calley
34
of extensive property holdings and commensurate political power. With the
arrival of Tristram Beresford at the start of the 17th century, the Beresford
family had become one of the prime forces of the Londonderry Plantation.
They came to own or lease much property in the county including the Manor
of Walworth. This estate was centred on Ballykelly and here the family built
Walworth House, set amongst extensive plantations and looking across the
Lough to Inishowen. Though, in 1820, the Fishmongers’ Company refused to
renew the lease of the manor, Barré Beresford subsequently managed to obtain
for himself a lease of Walworth House and its demesne.8
THE HOUSES OF
HENRY BARRÉ BERESFORD
Daniel Calley
Tyrone House. (Georgian Society Records,
III, 1969)
Throughout his life Henry Barré Beresford had the privilege of living in some
of the most striking houses in Ireland. Three of those houses were in County
Londonderry. From his birth at Walworth House near Ballykelly, through his
youth in Dublin, later residence in Brook Hall, near the city of Londonderry
and final years concentrating on the building of Learmount Castle at Park,
12 miles southwest of the city, he was surrounded by his family’s architectural
legacy which he both absorbed and complemented.1
Barré2 Beresford’s peregrinations began with his birth at his father’s County
Londonderry seat, Walworth House, on the shores of Lough Foyle. At the time
(1784) the family’s affairs were very much centred in Dublin, where his father
sat in the Irish Parliament for County Waterford, was First Commissioner of
the Revenue, Chief Commissioner of the Dublin Wide Streets Commission
and Taster of Wine for the Port of Dublin. These positions made the Right
Honourable John Beresford an enormously powerful figure in Ireland, earning
him the sobriquet ‘king of Ireland’3 and giving him great influence over the
architectural composition of the capital city. He was responsible for the Dublin
Custom House and Carlisle Bridge (later renamed O’Connell Bridge). The
family’s Dublin seat was Tyrone House on Marlborough Street, a Palladian
masterpiece by Richard Castle.4 It was built between 1740 and 1745 for John’s
father, the then Viscount Tyrone. From 1789 until 1802 the family had a set of
rooms in the new Custom House which was said to contain “one of the finest
private staircases in the city”.5 Their country seat, Abbeville6, just to the north
of the city, was another Georgian house of great elegance which John had
James Gandon, his architectural protégé, re-work in the 1790s. Young Barré
Beresford did not directly take up the family business of politics, which was
ultimately headed by his cousin the Marquess of Waterford,7 but went north
to look after his father’s interests in County Londonderry: the management
35
Abbeville, Co.Dublin © David Davison
With the loss of the lease of the Manor of Walworth Barré Beresford lost his
position as agent for the trustees of the estate. This setback was soon rectified
when his cousin Lord Waterford made him agent for his own extensive County
Londonderry estates which Barré Beresford could manage from Walworth House.
Walworth (private property)
Stables at Abbeville © David Davison
Nothing remains of the first Walworth House. Where it once stood is a single
stumpy Irish Yew tree within Ballykelly Forest, which had originally been
planted by the Beresford family. Nevertheless, the Beresfords’ chosen setting
remains very fine with its extensive view over Lough Foyle to Moville and
Inishowen. In John Beresford’s day it was described as ‘a most superb and
elegant seat with ample and beautiful demesnes’.9 Under Henry Barré ‘The
dwelling was highly improved by the late owner; the gardens, though old, are
in good order and the orchards productive. When the tide is full, and the sun
setting over Magilligan ranges, the promontory of Beyevenagh [sic] is seen to
great advantage through the thick woods of Walworth.” 10
The date of the house that did stand here is uncertain, with references ranging
between 170511 and the 1770s12. As good a date as any is the 1730s, soon
after Barré Beresford’s grandfather, then Lord Tyrone,13 had the entire estate
mapped in 1732.14 This is also the probable date of the nearby New Walworth,
still extant, built at the original Fishmongers’ bawn. If the two houses were
contemporaneous it would most likely be that Walworth House was built for
the Beresford family’s own use when in residence and New Walworth was for
their agent.
36
Daniel Calley
Daniel Calley
During Barré Beresford’s tenure, due to a severe case of dry rot,15 the house
was rebuilt on his behalf by the Fishmongers’ Company although it retained
a crisply classical character that was very much 18th-century in appearance.16
It was an austerely elegant structure, ten bays long by three in depth of two
storeys under a hipped roof sitting on a fine cornice. An off-centre bow
contained three of the bays including the doorway. The irregular disposition
of the three chimneys also suggests that the house evolved over time. There was
little ornamentation other than the robust pedimented doorcase, segmental
arched window bays and chamfered quoins. It has been suggested that James
Gandon did some minor work here for John Beresford.17 The house was
oriented on a north-south axis with the entrance front looking into the forest
whilst the garden front looked towards the old bawn and due east to the spire
of Tamlaght Finlagan church, which had been built in collaboration between
John Beresford and Frederick Hervey, the Earl Bishop. Hervey’s words give
the flavour of what the Beresfords achieved at Walworth House: ‘I would fain
make the county of Derry look like a gentleman, though so few condescend
to live in it; and nothing can give it that air better than a strutting steeple and
spire, with its arms akimbo, like our church of Ballykelly.’18
The present house was built by the Wray family in the late 18th century before
being improved by Barré Beresford’s predecessors, Sir George and his father,
Sir Hugh Hill, the first baronet. In the popular Palladian manner of the day
it consisted of a central two-storey-over-basement block with two forward
pavilions on the north-west entrance front which formed a deep court to the
front of the house. It was not a large house but was comfortably proportioned,
of five bays on the principal fronts and three bays to the sides. Above was a
hipped roof and symmetrically placed central chimneys. To the north-east was
a number of straggling service rooms. It was this house that Barré Beresford
took over from Sir George.
Beresford Mausoleum, Limavady
Brook Hall (private property)
Brook Hall 25th May, 1934.
(Seeds Collection, Monuments & Buildings Record & and
Built Heritage)
Brook Hall side view of garden front
(Terence Reeves-Smyth)
At the start of the 1830s Barré Beresford took a lease of Brook Hall. It was
the property of his brother-in-law Sir George Fitzgerald Hill, Bt. In 1830,
Hill, severely embarrassed financially, had departed for the Caribbean where
he was subsequently appointed Governor of St Vincent’s.19 Brook Hall is in a
charming situation. It sits on a hillside above the north bank of the river Foyle
surrounded by an arboretum with fields running down to the shore and views
across to the county beyond the river. In 1837 it was noted as ‘remarkable for
the beauty of its grounds’.20 The house is a Georgian box wrapped in Regency
fancy work. It is also one of the earliest peripheral demesnes of the 17thcentury walled city of Londonderry. Below the house near the river is a set of
walled gardens which at the time of the Siege of Derry in 1689 were already
well laid out and were the location of the original Brook Hall.21
37
Acroterion detail on Beresford Mausoleum
As much local political business was transacted in the city, Brook Hall
made a convenient political and personal base.22 In December 1831, Barré
Beresford’s wife Eliza died and it was from Brook Hall he set out to Christ
Church, Limavady, for her funeral.23 There in 1832 he had constructed a
fine pedimented neo-classical mausoleum, now known as the Beresford
Mausoleum, of cut stone with extraordinarily elegant anthemion-decorated
corner acroteria and the arms of the Beresfords carved into its tympana.24
On 30 May 1834 disaster struck at Brook Hall when a fire, originating in the
butler’s pantry, destroyed most of the service areas of the house, taking with
it the Beresford collection of silver, china and glass.25 The fire necessitated
significant changes to the house, but also afforded the opportunity to make
them. This was when the house gained much of its present Regency air which
overlays the original 18th-century design.26 The house lost its Palladian
appearance when the forecourt was later filled in to create a new single-storey
top-lit entrance hall and further reception and service rooms.27 Behind these
single-storey additions, the older part of the house rose up at first-storey level,
displaying its fine bowed central section. The low roofline of the new rooms
was given a parapet of large, linked open-work circles which gave a lightness of
touch to what was otherwise an incongruous addition to the classical Georgian
house. The incongruity was further masked by the addition of a long portico
supported by eight paired Ionic columns, flanked by tripartite windows and at
each end recessed round-headed niches.
38
Daniel Calley
Daniel Calley
What distinguishes the house is a series of bows on three fronts. The garden
front and the upper floor of the entrance front have central bows, whilst the
entire west elevation is gently curved. The addition of a cast-iron veranda to
the garden and side elevations gives a delightful frivolity to the house which
contrasts with the soberness of the entrance front. This combination of a late
Georgian house, distinguished by elegant bowed fronts, wrapped in a Regencystyled overlay is reminiscent of another house, albeit on a larger scale, Caledon
House, in County Tyrone. This may also point to the architect of the original
house being Thomas Cooley who was the architect of the core of Caledon. The
Alexander family, builders of Caledon, already owned the next door demesne
to Brook Hall, Boom Hall. For Barré Beresford, who liked to entertain, often
in pursuit of his family’s ambitions, Brook Hall was an ideal situation both in
location and prestige commensurate to his and his family’s position.
did much work at Learmount but he was also a spendthrift whose financial
embarrassments nearly lost Learmount to the family. In the 1820s several of
his former business associates, being under the false impression that he owned
Learmount, proceded through the courts to attempt to pry it from him. The
property appears to have suffered during those uncertain times.36 By the 1830s
these legal matters had been settled, with John Claudius Beresford in control
of Elizabeth Montgomery’s portion and with Barré Beresford in control of the
rest, having either inherited or bought out his siblings’ interests.
John Claudius Beresford (William Cuming)
Learmount Castle (private property)
Learmount Castle
Learmount Castle
Barré Beresford’s family had an interest in another property: Learmount in the
south of the county near the border with County Tyrone. Learmount had been
the property of Alexander Tomkins, of Prehen, whose 1739 will gave his interest
to his daughter Hannah. In 1750 Hannah married William Montgomery
who eventually took over her interest in Learmount. Montgomery was an
adventurer who supplied the army, eventually becoming an Irish MP and a
baronet.28 Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a group portrait of his three daughters,
known as the Three Irish Graces.29 The youngest daughter, Barbara,30 married
John Beresford as his second wife and was the mother of Barré Beresford. Sir
William died in 1788 and left Learmount to his three daughters.31 Soon after,
John and Barbara Beresford agreed to buy out the other sisters’ interests in
the property.32 Upon Barbara Beresford’s death in 1794 she left her interest in
Learmount to her seven children.
By the time John Beresford died in 1805, his eldest surviving son, by his
first marriage,33 John Claudius Beresford, was in control of the property.34
John Claudius was a significant and controversial figure in Irish history who
succeeded his father as MP for Waterford in the London parliament.35 He
39
The Three Irish Graces (Tate)
If Walworth House and Brook Hall encapsulated the gentle and lush bucolic
richness of County Londonderry, then Learmount was the apotheosis of the
sublimely picturesque as the house is perched on a precipice high above the raging
torrent of the Faughan River within a demesne swathed in thick woodlands,
looking out to the desolate hills stretching deep into the heart of Ulster.
There had been a house at Learmount dating well back into the 18th century,
probably used as a hunting lodge.37 Even as such it was considered a gentleman’s
seat, for in 1777 it was listed as the residence of Sir William Montgomery, Bt.38
The first substantial addition that the Beresfords made was by John Claudius
who had the then local Londonderry architect Richard Elsam draw up plans
(never executed) for a large house in 1808.39 John Claudius did build a goodsized squarish house with corner turrets incorporating the earlier low lodge.40
The large stable block may also date from this time. In all, John Claudius was
said to have spent at least £12,000 on improvements to the estate.41 Following
his bankruptcy in 1811, it would appear that no further major work was
undertaken and the estate entered a period of decline.42
By the mid-1830s, under Barré’s direction, the estate was in good order with
the ‘extensive demesne, containing large and valuable timber, and ornamented
with baths and groups of statues.’43 To cap these achievements Barré Beresford
undertook to build a new house. On Wednesday 20 April 1836 he, along with
his son and heir John Barré Beresford, laid the foundation stone of the house.
It was the son’s 21st birthday and thus the date of his majority.44 The design
was of an ‘Elizabethan style’. The house has an overlay of Tudor Gothic details
although it is actually a rather conventional Georgian box, two storeys over a
Daniel Calley
40
Beresford family arms
Daniel Calley
41
raised basement of five bays with an over-scaled projecting porch reached via
vertiginous steps. Although now lost, a significant portion of the earlier house
was retained and acted as a three-storey, three-bay service wing to the east of
the main block.
work at Tullynally Castle, County Westmeath. Keane had been Morrison’s
pupil, and Morrison had been a pupil of Gandon, John Beresford’s protégé.
All this, in a rather typical Irish manner, demonstrates the closely related
nature of such milieus.
What raises the house above a simple example of transitional architecture is
the fine quality of the details used throughout. The upper storeys are of ashlar
Dungiven sandstone whilst the raised basement is of rough, coursed Derry
schist thus emphasising the slightly untamed nature of the land upon which
the house stands. Above the doorway are the Beresford family arms carved in
stone. Above each window is a sharply-pointed gable given emphasis with a
moulded string course. The central bay breaks forward slightly, surmounted by
an ogee gable. The big casement windows have label mouldings. Perhaps the
finest feature is the beautiful stone finials on each pointed gables. They are on
square bases, with spherical knobs topped with vertically emphasised pyramids,
and are of such delicacy that they impart lightness to the entire edifice. The
interior, now almost completely lost, has a combination of robustness with a
crispness of detail which was the hallmark of the William IV period and was
often lost on later Victorian structures. The entrance hall has vigorous groin
vaulting whilst the other principal rooms have segmental ceilings of rich plaster
work. The imperial staircase, rising to a large perpendicular tracery window,
has foliate cast-iron balustrades. There were finely carved chimney pieces: one,
of white marble had horse heads which, given the family’s predilection for the
turf, 45 was most appropriate.
When Barré Beresford died unexpectedly in December 183749 the house was
only just begun and it was his son John Barré who saw through the building,
completed in 1842.50 The work was overseen by one R. Stevenson. There were
a large number of tradesmen involved in the building, whose participation
gives an insight of the sums, and the diversity of trades, involved. The
tradesmen came principally from the city of Londonderry and, to a lesser
extent, from Coleraine. The construction, including out- and farm buildings,
cost over £4122, which was rather more than an earlier £3000 estimate. Large
sums were paid to John Stirling, stone cutter (£769), Wm. Peyton, carpenter
(£666), John Cooke, timber merchant (£628), John and Henry Morrison,
plasterers (£314) and Thos. Boyle, plasterer (£298). These and the many other
local tradesmen attest that such houses were not alien corn sown upon native
soil but the collaborative efforts of owner, designers and builders. Learmount
Castle is a culmination of Irish craftsmanship and as such the quintessence of
a collective family-related history.
On the day of the laying of the foundation stone the plans of the house were
presented, but these have disappeared.46 On stylistic grounds the architect
John Benjamin Keane has been suggested.47 Certainly Keane’s Belleek
Castle in County Mayo, Irvinestown and Magheramena Castles in County
Fermanagh and Camlin Castle in County Donegal, all of which are from the
1830s, bear strong resemblances to Learmount Castle but to date there is no
documentary evidence that Keane was the architect. Alistair Rowan noted
that Learmount’s towers and turrets are reminiscent of the Morrison family’s
repertoire of architectural motifs48 and they certainly recall Richard Morrison’s
In death Henry Barré Beresford returned to the classicism of his earlier life.
He died in London, and his memorial is in Thomas Hardwick’s stunning St
Marylebone Parish Church.51 Here, behind a Portland stone Corinthian portico
and under a three-stage steeple, Barré Beresford is at home in the architectural
language which his father helped to make the lingua franca of Ireland.
St Marylebone Parish Church, London
The vestiges of Barré Beresford’s architectural legacy are mixed: Walworth is
gone, Brook Hall a glorious survivor, the Beresford mausoleum is in delicate
condition and Learmount is teetering on the precipice of total collapse.
However that is not the end of the tale, for his descendants are still present in
the county. Through the judicious second marriage of his son John Barré to
Caroline Hamilton Ash, the family came into possession of Ashbrook where
the Beresford-Ash family remain, preserving the family’s architectural legacy
of over 400 years in the county.
42
Daniel Calley
Daniel Calley
Endnotes
1.
I wish to thank the following for their kind assistance: Mrs John Beresford-Ash, Mr and Mrs
Nelson Bell, Reverend Raymond Blair, Mr Rohan Boyle, the late Mr Brian Brown, Mrs Brian
Brown, Mrs Charles Cunningham-Ash, Professor James Stevens Curl, Mr and Mrs David
Gilliland, Rosie Ford-Hutchinson, Miss Eily Miller, Mr Colin Peck, Mr Peter Rankin, Dr
William Roulston and Ann Martha Rowan.
2.
Henry Barré Beresford in all informal correspondence was known as Barré Beresford.
3.
P. J. Jupp, ‘Beresford, John (1738–1805)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford
University Press, 2004.
4.
Richard Cassels, 1690-1751. He was born in Germany and later anglicised his name to Richard
Castle.
5.
These rooms were lost when the Custom House was burnt in 1921. E. McParland, James
Gandon: Vitruvius Hibernicus (London, 1985), 66.
6.
The Hon. John Beresford used the spelling Abbyville in the 1770s. More recently it was the
home of the politician Charles Haughey. Mary R Doorly, A Family Home: Charles J Haughey
and the Story of Abbeville (Dublin, 1996) 19-27.
7.
Whilst the Marquess of Waterford may have been the head of the family, their political power
to a great degree emanated from the skills and offices of John Beresford.
8.
James Stevens Curl, The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914 (Chichester, Sussex, 1986) 257.
9.
The Post-Chaise Companion (Dublin, 1786) 468. Rev. Matthew Sleater, Introductory essay to a
new system of civil and ecclesiastical topography, and itinerary of counties of Ireland (Dublin, 1806)
184. Sleator notes Beresford’s death and calls Walworth House, “most superb”.
10.
Reverend George Sampson, Survey of County Londonderry (London, 1814) 261.
11.
Samuel Lewis, Counties Londonderry and Donegal (London, 1837) Vol. 1, 140.
12.
Samuel Lewis, Counties Londonderry and Donegal (London, 1837) Vol. 1, 140; Reverend
George Sampson, Survey of County Londonderry (London, 1814) 261; Robert Slade, Narrative of
a journey to the north of Ireland in the year 1802, (London, 1803
13.
Marcus Beresford and his wife Catherine Power are the most probable builders of Walworth
House.
14.
William Starrat, Map of Manor of Walworth, Co. Londonderry (1732). Public Record Office
for Northern Ireland D519/1.
15.
James Stevens Curl, The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914 (Chichester, Sussex, 1986) 248.
16.
James Stevens Curl, The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914 (Chichester, Sussex, 1986) 257.
17.
This appears to have been limited to the design of a cornice and advice on moving a fireplace in
an enlarged drawing room. E. McParland, James Gandon: Vitruvius Hibernicus (London, 1985),
197 n54, 207.
18.
The Correspondence of the Right Hon. John Beresford, Volume 2 (London, 1854) 17-18.
19.
Stephen Farrell, ‘Sir George Fitzgerald Hill’ in ed. D.R. Fisher, The History of Parliament: the
House of Commons 1820-1832 (Cambridge, 2009) historyofparliamentonline.org.
20.
Samuel Lewis, Counties Londonderry and Donegal (London, 1837) Vol. 2, 608.
43
Francis Neville map of 1689.
Stephen Farrell, ‘County Londonderry Constituency’ in ed. D.R. Fisher, The History of Parliament:
the House of Commons 1820-1832 (Cambridge, 2009); historyofparliamentonline.org.
23.
Londonderry Sentinel (Londonderry, 31 December 1831).
24.
This was one of three similar mausolea in the neighbourhood all bearing a great similarity to John
Hargreaves’ triumphal entrance to the Seaforde demesne, County Down. James Stevens Curl, The
Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914 (Chichester, Sussex, 1986) 236, 245.
25.
Londonderry Sentinel (Londonderry, 31 May 1834).
26.
Seán O’Reilly, Irish Houses and Gardens (London, 1998) 100 – 107.
27.
A comparison of the Ordnance Survey Maps from the early 1830s and 1849 give a notion of the
changes to the building’s outline.
28.
Edith Mary Johnston-Liik, History of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800 Vol. 3 (Belfast, 2002) 288-289.
29.
The painting, ‘Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen’ was painted in 1773. It was commissioned
by Luke Gardiner, then the fiancé of the second daughter Elizabeth.
30.
The Correspondence of the Right Hon. John Beresford, Vol. 1 (London, 1854) 15. She was known
affectionately within the family as ‘the Barb’ which may have also been a reference to the sharp wit
of her tongue.
31.
In the case of Elizabeth, she pre-deceased her father with her interest being inherited by her son
Charles John who was to become the Earl of Blessington.
32.
Eventually when Elizabeth’s son came of age his portion was sold to John Claudius Beresford and
hence was separated from the rest of the estate.
33.
To a Frenchwoman, Anne Constantia de Ligondes, a relation of Elizabeth, first Countess of Moira.
34.
This entire episode was very murky. See In The House of Lords. Appeal from the Court of Chancery In
Ireland: Between Benjamin Ball [et alia] Appellants; and Henry Barre Beresford [et alia] Respondents,
Case for the Respondents. [and] The Appellants’ Case. (London, 1824).
35.
Upon the dissolution of the Irish Parliament John Beresford gained the Waterford seat in the
Imperial Parliament.
36.
A. Day & P. McWilliams, op.cit, Vol. 28, 5.
37.
Built by [sic] Col. Montgomery in 1710, Angélique Day & Patrick McWilliams, Ordnance
Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Vol. 28, 8-9.
38.
Taylor and Skinner. Maps of the Roads of Ireland, London, Dublin, 1778, 32.
39.
Knight of Glin, Irish Architectural Archive, Richard Elsam Castellated villa for John Claudius
Beresford. Unexecuted. Almost identical to design for ‘chateau’ for Henry Blake, signed ‘Rd Elsam
25 Old Sackville Street Dublin’, whereabouts unknown, photo. in IAA (71/97 R1) Refs: R. Elsam,
Practical Builder’s Perpetual Price-Book (1825), fp.,160.(2 views of Learmount from SW and SW
exhibited by Gaspare Gabrielli at Society of Artists of Ireland, 1810, nos. 172,197) .
40.
A.Day & P.McWilliams,op.cit. Vol. 28. Parishes of County Londonderry IX (Belfast 1995) 8-9.
41.
Williams, Brooks and Powell, In The House of Lords. Appeal from the Court of Chancery In Ireland:
21.
22.
44
Daniel Calley
45
Between Benjamin Ball [et alia] Appellants; and Henry Barre Beresford [et alia]Respondents, The
Appellants’ Case. (London, 1821), 9.
See note 39.
Samuel Lewis, Counties Londonderry and Donegal (London, 1837) Vol. 2, 248.
44.
Londonderry Sentinel (Londonderry, 23 April 1836). His birth date was 20 April 1815,
elsewhere it is given as 19 October 1815.
45.
Belfast News-Letter (Belfast, 23 August 1831). Barré Beresford’s descendants, the Beresford-Ash
family, still possess the racing ‘Beresford Cup’.
46.
Londonderry Sentinel (Londonderry, 23 April 1836).
47.
J. A. K. Dean, The Gate Lodges of Ulster: A Gazetteer (Belfast, 1994) 117-118; NIEA listing
entry Historic Building Details HB Ref No: HB01/01/010.
48.
Alistair Rowan, North West Ulster (London, 1979) 450.
49.
Londonderry Standard (Londonderry, 20 December 1837).
50.
Learmount Tradesmen Account Book 1838 – 1842; Private Account Book of John Barré
Beresford 1838 – 1841. Private collection.
51.
Joseph Jackson Howard, Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica Volume V (1904, reprint 2013)
22. The memorial is above the west Gallery.
42.
43.
Bookplate from Barré Beresford’s library at
Learmount. (By kind permission of
John Stewart.)
Reproduced by kind permission of Brian Brown
Prof essor James Stevens Cu rl
46
although there may be some confusion with Maistre, an old form of Master or
Mastery, indicating professional skills.
THE FISHMONGERS’
AND HABERDASHERS’
COMPANIES
Professor James Stevens Curl
47
The Livery Companies of the City of London
The ancient London Livery Companies have a central place in British history:
they get their name from the wearing of a Livery, a badge of membership
of a particular Company. These organisations were similar to mediæval
European Guilds, concerned with trade, with support for charities, and with
standards of skills. When craftsmen, dealers, and merchants obtained charters
for managing their callings, they formed Fraternities, contributing money
to a common stock, and making laws by licence of the Crown: trades/crafts
were overseen by inspection of work or products and by carefully controlled
training of Apprentices; money was raised by letting corporate estates and by
‘fining’ members; and charity was dispensed.
During the Middle Ages Thirteen Great Companies emerged as the most
influential, paying the highest annual sums (fermes) to the Crown, and
providing members for the governance of the City of London: from these the
Lord Mayors were chosen. With the development of firearms, The Armourers’
Company declined, leaving Twelve Great Companies (Mercers, Grocers, Drapers,
Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Merchant Taylors, Haberdashers, Salters,
Ironmongers, Vintners, and Clothworkers) bearing the brunt of levies on the
City: they were the Kingdom’s ‘chief commercial staple and manufacturing
interests’.1 Of pre-Reformation origins, they retained their ancient titles: the
Mistery of Fishmongers was under the patronage of St Peter, the Fisher of Men,
and the Haberdashers were incorporated as the Fraternity of St Catherine the
Virgin. Some fantasists see ‘Mystery’ as indicative of quasi-Masonic junketings:
such notions are absurd, for the word (also Mistery) derives from mediæval
Latin misterius or ministerium, meaning occupation, craft, trade, or calling,
An important aspect of a Company was the material and spiritual welfare of
members, not least the fate of souls after death. The Mysteries/Guilds endowed
almshouses, attended regular church-services, and often maintained a priest to
say Masses for the repose of the souls of departed brethren and sisters. Thus
Chantries (endowments for the saying or singing of daily Masses for the souls
of the departed) were established, but these were expensive for individuals, so
were often only possible if associations were formed for the purpose. So the
Companies, far from being a sort of department-store selling goods, owe their
origins in part to religious beliefs of Roman Catholic England prior to the
16th century. Given those origins, it is odd that, during the 19th and 20th
centuries many publications in Ireland attacked the Livery Companies from
positions remote from historical truths.2
The City and the Ulster Plantation
When the City of London was leant on to take part in the Plantation of Ulster
(and it was leant on heavily as nobody wanted to get involved in an ‘exceading
chargeable’ venture), the Livery Companies protested (55 had to contribute),
but in vain, as after the Flight of the Earls (1607) filling the void was in the
interests of national security. Pressure was brought to bear, and a Deputation
went over to Ulster to inspect County Coleraine. Mindful of requirements
relating to defence, and aware of the shortage of timber in England, the
Londoners asked for land for Coleraine, Londonderry, and their Liberties in
the Counties of Antrim and Donegal respectively, as well as a large wooded
chunk of County Tyrone, so these areas were detached and added to County
Coleraine to form County Londonderry, specifically created for the City of
London. There never was, at any time, a ‘County Derry’.
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Prof essor Ja m e s St e ve ns Cu rl
Prof essor James Stevens Cu rl
49
of forfeiture; churches (many of which were roofless) had to be repaired by the
Companies; many benefices were now held by the City of London, and advowsons
were bestowed on such ministers approved by the Bishop of Derry and the City of
London’s Agent; Irish were to be removed from Company lands and resettled on
the estates of Irish gentry, on Church lands, or anywhere NOT owned by the City
of London; and infrastructure was to be created or repaired.
The Fishmongers’ Estate
Fig.1 ‘A Generall Plat of the lands Belonginge to the Cittie of
London as they are devided and let out to the 12 Companies
& as they doe Butt and Bound each upon other the perticuler
platts where of doe followe more at large Described’ (1622) by
Thomas Raven (c.1572-1640) (reproduced from Curl [2000] 85).
The lands (or Proportions) of the Companies
were allocated by lot in 1613 (Figs. 1&2). The
Fishmongers, associated with the Leathersellers,
Plaisterers, Musicians, Basket Makers, and
Glaziers, were granted some 24,100 acres, the
chief settlement of the ‘Manor of Walworth’
being at Ballykelly. It should be emphasised
that the Companies held the lands purchased
from the Crown absolutely.3 Requirements were
onerous. Apart from having to settle British
loyal to the Crown, each Company had to build
a stone house and bawn on its Proportion; to
erect superior ‘English’ houses (in contrast to
Irish ‘cabbons’) for British tenants; to provide
and keep supplies of weapons and to hold
regular musters; all ‘undertakers’ and tenants
were to take the Oath of Supremacy; no land
was to be alienated to native Irish under pain
Fig.2 The County of Londonderry showing the distribution of property following the parcelling
of the Lots to the City Companies. The extremely fragmented nature of Proportions 7
(Ironmongers) and 12 (Skinners) should be noted. The location of Lots 3 (Fishmongers) and
4 (Haberdashers) in proximity to the sea and in relation to Coleraine and Londonderry was
favourable, although the Fishmongers had a large slice deep inland (JSC from Curl [2000] 88).
Fig.3 ‘The Fishmongers Lands’ by Raven (1622)
showing the Proportion in relation to the Grocers’
and Skinners’ Proportions, the lands of Sir Thomas
Phillips centred on Limavady, and Lough Foyle. The
vagueness with which the mountainous areas are
mapped should be noted. ‘Ba: Kelle’ (Ballykelly) is
located beside an improbably large river (reproduced
from Chart [ed.] [1928] collection JSC).
From the start, the Fishmongers were fortunate in obtaining one of the most
attractive of the Proportions (Lot 3 comprising about 5% of the County’s area),
situated on the southern shore of Lough Foyle (Figs.3&4), and containing some
of the best land in County Londonderry. The Survey (1622) of Thomas Raven
(c.1572-1640) showed (Fig.5) ‘English’ houses, a bawn (with elaborate gateway,
four flankers, and a substantial three-gabled manor-house in the middle), a church,
several Irish ‘cabbons’, and a mill. Ominously, though, freeholders had not been
established inland: there were only 23 ‘Brittish men’ on the Proportion according
Fig.4 View from the Village of Ballykelly,
Londonderry, looking towards the outlet of Lough
Foyle. Binevenagh in Magilligan is on the right, and
Inishowen, Donegal, is on the left. Tamlaghtfinlagan
parish church is shown without its later chancel,
and with somewhat elongated tower and spire.
The pyramidal and ridged peat-stacks should be
noted. The large house is the old Charter School
that became redundant in 1820. Drawn by James
Duffield Harding (1798-1863) and lithographed by
Charles Joseph Hullmandel (1789-1850), probably
c.1820-3 (reproduced from Curl [1986] 246).
Fig.5 ‘The Fishmongers Buildinge at Balle Kelle’ by Raven (1622). The note
states that with 23 British men and 245 ‘Natives’ the balance was fraught
with danger, and there were ‘many robberies and stealths daily committed by
the Irish, to the great terror of the few poor British already planted, many of
them having lost all that they had’. The bawn with flankers (three of which
survived in 2014) and ornamental gate is shown with a substantial Jacobean
house within, and the church (now in ruins), English houses, and Irish
‘cabbons’ are also depicted (reproduced from Chart [ed.] [1928] collection JSC).
50
Prof essor Ja m e s St e ve ns Cu rl
Prof essor James Stevens Cu rl
to the 1622 Survey, but 245 ‘natives’ (who should have been removed to nonCompany lands, but were not, because the agricultural economy could not
have functioned without them).4
Fig.6 Monument to Mrs Jane Hamilton (16721716), as reset in Tamlaght Finlagan parish
church. Photograph 2014 (JSC).
When the original leases fell in, the Fishmongers re-let their Proportion
to the Hamilton and Beresford families. This was in accordance with the
practice of other Companies, and heralded a period of disengagement from
direct management. During the 18th century it would be fair to say that the
Companies, burdened as they were with huge financial problems following
the Star Chamber Trial (1635 — which turned the City against the King,
contributing to the loss of his Throne and head), the Civil Wars (1642-52),
the 1641 Irish Rebellion and subsequent uproar (only ending in 1653), the
Restoration of the Monarchy (1660), the Plague (1665), the Great Fire of
London (1666), and the Jacobite/Williamite War (1689-91), did not give
priority to their Irish estates, and raised as much money as possible by charging
large ‘fines’ and rents to restore depleted capital, a situation made worse by the
South Sea Bubble disaster (1720). An architectural survival of the HamiltonBeresford early period is the monument (Fig.6) of Mrs Jane Hamilton (16721716) in Tamlaght Finlagan parish church: it is the best Baroque monument
in North-West Ulster, although two marble swags intended to be draped from
the urn have been ludicrously reset upside-down to fit the pointed recess. The
ensemble seems to have been based on a monument by Grinling Gibbons
(1648-1721) commemorating Mary Beaufoy (d.1705).
The Proportion had been let for Three Lives in the 18th century: one of those
Lives was the King’s, who did not die until 1820, and when the Company once
more gained direct control of its estates, it set about making improvements
with evangelical zeal. The Act of Union had aroused new interest in Ireland,
and many persons wished to effect improvements to raise the sister-Kingdom
to embrace better standards of education, civic responsibility, and selfsufficiency. A key figure at the time was the Revd. George Vaughan Sampson
(1763-1827), Rector of Aghanloo (1794-1807) and then of Errigal (1807-27),
who made a series of recommendations: these included reclamation of bog
and slob lands; comprehensive reafforestation and planting of thorn-quicks for
Fig.7 Banagher Presbyterian church of 1825 near
Feeny, designed by Richard Suter, photographed in
2014 (JSC).
Fig.8 Ballykelly Presbyterian church of 1826-7 by
Richard Suter, photographed in 2014 (JSC).
Fig.9 Former Model Farm at Ballykelly, designed
by Richard Suter in 1823, photographed in 1981.
The end-pavilions were altered by having their walls
raised some time later, and the porch was added to
designs by Turnbull of 1832 (JSC).
51
hedgerows to prevent soil-erosion; amalgamation of smallholdings rather than
their continuing subdivision into ever-smaller parcels; planting of oilseed rape;
the end of absentees/rackrenting middlemen and resumption of direct control
by landlords; reduction of rural over-population by assisted emigration;
provision of education; proper use of existing natural resources; and much
else. He saw the dangers of dependence on one crop, because if anything went
wrong, the whole system would collapse (as was the case when Potato Blight
struck in the 1840s), so advocated diversity on larger holdings; he argued that
landlords were morally obliged to consider the welfare of their tenants and
that when tenants carried out enhancements they should not be penalised by
having their rents increased; and he set about persuading the Companies to set
in motion huge programmes of improvement.5
The results were impressive: the Fishmongers regained direct control for the
first time since the 17th century, and building activities included numerous
designs by Richard Suter (1797-1883), including two Presbyterian churches
(Banagher [1825] [Fig.7] and Ballykelly [1826-7] [Fig.8]); the Agent’s House
(now mutilated and with unsympathetic additions forming the Drummond
Hotel); the Model Farm (1824 [Fig.9]); the Lancasterian Schools (1828-30);
and the Dispensary (1829 – embellished with the Company’s Arms in artificial
stone by James George Bubb [c.1781-1853] of London [Fig.10 – now in the
hotel at Ballykelly]). Other schools (e.g. at Tirglassan and Greysteel [1830s],
were designed by James Turnbull [fl.1820s-40s]), and many small houses and
other structures were built. The Company also paid for St Finlough’s Roman
Catholic church (1849-51), Oghill, designed by George Given (1815-83) in
the Gothic style.
Fig.10 Arms of The Fishmongers’ Company, modelled
in artificial stone (1829) by James George Bubb
(c.1781-1853), formerly erected over the door of the
Ballykelly Dispensary, and now (2014) in Drummond
Hotel, Ballykelly. Photograph of 2014 (JSC).
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Prof esso r Ja m e s St e ve ns Cu rl
Prof essor James Stevens Cu rl
Sampson was Agent of the Company (1820-24), and his influence on the
County was considerable: it included the genesis of the Templemoyle
Agricultural Seminary as well as the North-West of Ireland Agricultural Society.
Thanks to him, the Londoners’ lands escaped the worst effects of the Famine
caused by Potato Blight, though the County was flooded with destitute poor
fleeing from Donegal and other areas. Sampson was succeeded as Agent by his
son, Arthur Sampson (c.1795-1859), under whose ægis massive reforms were
implemented. However, under the Beresfords, before the Company regained
control of its estates in 1820, many changes had already been instituted,
especially under Henry Barré Beresford (1781-1837), who caused schools to
be erected at Ballykelly (1812) and Sistrakeel (1818), a flax-mill at Ballykelly
(1819), and numerous other works. It was Barré Beresford who not only
entertained the Fishmongers’ Deputations at Walworth House (which he
leased), but acted as cicerone to the Londoners on their tours of inspection.
He became Agent to the Most Noble the Marquess of Waterford’s estates in
Co. Londonderry following the surrender of the lease of the Fishmongers’
Proportion.
Fig.11 Sampson’s vandalised tower in 2014 (compare
with photograph in Curl [1986] 275) (JSC).
The Fishmongers’ Company in the first half of the 19th century was closely
associated with reform, education, universal literacy, the revival of devout
Christian observances, temperance, eradication of poverty, improvements
in hygiene and health, promotion of improvements in agriculture and
manufacture, and civilising of the lower orders. It is therefore not surprising so
much effort was expended on school-building, on the exemplary Model Farm,
and on the Dispensary to provide medicine and help for tenants, a sort of
early health-service. So the Beresford-Sampson connections were significant in
making massive improvements in the estates. Sampson’s Tower at Farlow near
Ballykelly commemorates the Agency of Arthur Sampson, and was erected by
public subscription in the 1860s (Fig.11).
On Sampson’s death, William Charles Gage (1810-82) was appointed Agent.
His reign lasted more than 20 years during difficult times when the politics of
Home Rule were coming to the fore, and legislation was passed increasingly
unfavourable to landowners. The Fishmongers adopted a policy of gradual
Fig.12 ‘The Plat of the Lands belonging to the
Company of Haberdashers’ in 1622 drawn by Raven.
The lands lay between those of the Clothworkers’
Company, Ironmongers’ Company, and Sir Thomas
Phillips. The church at Aghanloo (Athlow) is shown,
near the fortified house at Balle Caslan (Ballycastle)
and the mouth of the River Roe (reproduced from
Chart [ed.] [1928] collection JSC).
53
withdrawal of grants to educational, charitable, religious, and other bodies
(which caused howls of protest from the very people who were no friends
of the Companies), and the advisability of selling the estate was discussed
from the 1870s. The Fishmongers had been more than benevolent nineteenthcentury landlords, yet their involvement in Ulster, like that of the other
Companies, became a political issue, and tenants exploited the situation,
refusing to pay rents. ‘They are an awful lot of ungrateful blackguards, to
say the least of them’, wrote the exasperated Gage.6 The Company did not
manage to disengage itself painlessly from a venture with which it had never
wished to be concerned.
The Haberdashers’ Estate
The Haberdashers (associated with the Wax-Chandlers, Founders, and
Turners) received 23,100 acres (Lot 4 [Fig.12]), but so reluctant was the
Company to contribute precious cash to the venture that it cast around for
any other parties who would take over responsibility for the ‘busynesse’: in
1611 two Haberdashers, Adrian Moore (Alderman of the City of London)
and William Freeman, came forward and agreed to pay future levies, while
the Company relinquished all interests and monies already paid into the joint
stock. The Manor of ‘Freemore’ was let to Sir Robert McClelland of Bombie
(1560-1639), from Kirkcudbright in Scotland, in 1616 for 51 years, who
also acquired the Clothworkers’ Proportion of 13,450 acres in 1618. Yet the
Manor of ‘Freemore’ was duly conveyed to the Company (rather than to the
two major contributors) in 1617: this curious decision caused endless legal
problems in the future. Moore and Freeman took Tristram Beresford (15741647/9) into partnership (1614), and Beresford was to act as Agent as well as
joint proprietor.
By 1622 there were about a hundred armed British on the Proportion against
125 natives, a balance that looked more secure than on some other Proportions.
This achievement was McClelland’s work, for he, as first ‘farmer’, was acutely
aware of the need to protect his holdings (some of the best agricultural land
in the County). He brought Scots from Galloway, and at Aghanloo near the
54
Prof essor James Stevens Cu rl
Prof esso r Ja m e s St e ve ns Cu rl
Fig.13 ‘The Haberdashers Buildinge at Ballecaslan’
shown with ‘The Haberdashers Buildinge at
Ardakillin: a Mile from ye Former’ by Raven (1622).
Note the Jacobean gabled house with bawn and
flankers set on an eminence (probably artificial,
perhaps the foundations of the Anglo-Norman
fortifications there), and the rudimentary settlement
of Artikelly with a mixture of Irish ‘cabbons’ and
rather poor (presumably Scots) houses (reproduced
from Chart [ed.] [1928] collection JSC).
Fig.14 Aghanloo parish church (1823-6) in 2014
from the south (JSC).
mouth of the River Roe he completed the Haberdashers’ castle and bawn of
Ballycastle (the name suggests a possible Anglo-Norman foundation) which he
used as his own residence (Fig.13): there was an old church at Aghanloo near by,
and he founded a small settlement at Artikelly. It should also be remembered
that the river has changed course since the 17th century, but in McClelland’s
day the castle commanded the River Roe at that spot. The Proportion suffered
in 1641, and the vicissitudes over the centuries have left virtually nothing of
the 17th-century endeavours visible above ground. The present parish church
at Aghanloo dates from 1823-6, and is a standard Board of First Fruits design
by John Bowden (fl.1790-1822) (Fig.14). On the opposite side of the road,
not far from the church, is the old burial-ground, a mound capped by the
Sampsons’ grave: it is a place of rare beauty, commanding excellent views of
the old grange lands.
By 1657 Randal Beresford (c.1636-81), Tristram’s son, had the major share
in the Haberdashers’ Proportion, and succeeded his father as second Baronet
in 1673. The final sale of the estate in perpetuity to the Beresfords was made
in 1674 for £1,200, and from that time the Beresfords became the chief
landlords, acquiring further interests in 1686. Thus the descendants of Tristram
Beresford had become Baronets and were prosperous landed gentry; it was a
remarkable story of success, consolidated by advantageous intermarriage with
other Planter families.
The Haberdashers’ Company, then, was the first to disengage from the
Plantation project by transferring its interests to two of its freemen. By the
time The Irish Society sent its 1836 Deputation to Ulster, the Proportion was
vested almost entirely in the ownership of the Marquesses of Waterford (as
the Beresfords had become), and by then other holdings in the vicinity had
also been acquired. The then Marquess, Henry de la Poer Beresford (181159 – third Marquess from 1826), was a reformed reprobate after his marriage
(1842) to Louisa Anne Stuart (1818-91 – artist and philanthropist), and took
a great interest in the welfare of his estates from that time on. Management of
the County Londonderry estates had been exemplary under Barré Beresford,
a fact confirmed in the Reports of Deputations of the Fishmongers’ Company
and The Irish Society, and celebrated in the handsome obelisk commemorating
55
his benevolent régime at Ballyquin (Fig.15), the foundation-stone of which
was laid in 1840. Barré Beresford was appointed the Waterford Agent from
the 1820s when he ceased to have any interest in the Fishmongers’ Proportion.
Under his ægis the inhabitants enjoyed a state of comfort unknown before.
New roads were laid out, and building-materials were made available to tenants
free of charge; thatched roofs were superseded by slate coverings; plantings of
hedgerows and trees (prompted by Sampson’s ideas) were carried out on a
considerable scale; churches and schools were built at the expense of the estate;
teachers were supported by the Marquess; and The Irish Society noted, rather
sniffily, that His Lordship’s expenditure was directed more towards ‘promoting
domestic comforts of the tenantry’ than to encouraging ‘public institutions’.7
A farm now occupies the site of the Haberdashers’ castle and bawn. To the
west the land drops, something clear from the Raven drawing: it was there
that the waters lapped the shore in McClelland’s day, and it is not difficult
to imagine how the site must have looked with its raised platform, bawn,
flankers, and substantial house commanding the lower reaches of the River
Roe and the rich lands that stretch from Artikelly to Magilligan sheltered by
the massive rocky hills that terminate at Binevenagh. It is a hauntingly lovely
part of the County.
Obelisk erected from 1840 at Ballyquin
(originally on Sir Thomas Phillips’s lands)
in 2014 (JSC).
Endnotes
1.
Herbert, William: The History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London
(London, 1834-7), iii-iv, I, 36-38.
2.
See, e.g., L.L.D. (1883): The Irish Society and the London Companies of Ireland: Should they be
abolished? (Belfast, 1883).
3.
Curl, James Stevens: The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914 (Chichester, 1986); Curl, James
Stevens: The Honourable the Irish Society and the Plantation of Ulster, 1608- 2000 (Chichester,
2000); Moody, Theodore William: The Londonderry Plantation 1619-41 (Belfast,1939).
4.
Chart D.A. (ed.): Londonderry and the London Companies 1609-29 (Belfast, 1928);
Simington, Robert C. (ed.) The Civil Survey A.D.1654-6 iii Counties of Donegal, Londonderry
and Tyrone (Dublin, 1937).
5.
Sampson, George Vaughan: Statistical Survey of the County of Londonderry (Dublin, 1802);
Sampson, George Vaughan: A Memoir, Explanatory of the Chart and Survey of the County of
London-Derry, Ireland (London, 1814).
6.
Fishmongers’ papers, London Metropolitan Archives, loose letter MS 7273.
7.
Irish Society, The: Report of the Deputation…to the City of London’s Plantation in Ireland
(London, 1836) 68-9.
Pr imrose Wil son
56
Church of Ireland, Ballyquin Road
This church is in an idyllic location on the banks of the river Roe. Built of
Derry schist with Dungiven sandstone dressings, it was erected in 1846. It
has tall windows with pointed arches and hood mould surrounds. The porch
has a Tudor arched doorway with octagonal buttresses and a belfry behind.
The pinnacles give a spiky effect to this Gothic Revival church.
ARCHITECTURAL
LANDMARKS
IN THE ROE VALLEY
Primrose Wilson
Dog Leap Bridge, Limavady © Welch Collection,
Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, National Museums
of Northern Ireland
Roe Valley Park & O’Cahan’s rock
The seat of the O’Cahan clan was here in the 16th and early 17th centuries. They
chose a good location for their castle and early town — on the river with the
rock above which dominates its surroundings still. The castle lay to the south of
O’Cahan’s rock and the town clustered around it. Thomas Phillipps, the overseer
of the London Companies estates, was granted the surrounding land in 1612 and
built his dwelling which included a pleasure garden, orchard and dovecote near
the ruins of O’Cahan’s former castle. The mill-race which can still be seen is said
to date from the 17th century though there is no trace of the mill which it served.
Dog Leap Bridge is a fine lofty single-span bridge over the river Roe rebuilt in
1828 at a cost of £4,000. The bridge is so called as a dog with a message in its
collar is said to have leapt across at this point to get help when the castle was
attacked.
Church of Ireland, Ballyquin Road
Footbridge
The Beresford Obelisk
The foundation stone for this elegant obelisk was laid in 1840. It is unusual, to say
the least, to find such a fine monument erected by the tenants to their landlord
in nineteenth-century Ireland. Close to Limavady there are two such structures
— the Beresford obelisk and Sampson’s tower — so relations must have been
harmonious in the area.
Beresford Obelisk
57
The monument, while it commemorates an individual, was intended to act
as a focus and a foil to the natural beauty of its setting. It can be more fully
appreciated as a gift to the people of Limavady to beautify the landscape and
to bring pleasure to the viewer. The obelisk continues to fulfil this function to
the present day adding surprise and delight to the historic landscape for the
enjoyment of locals, travellers and tourists.
Footbridge
Once you have walked down the steep path to the side of the church this
delightful footbridge spans the river Roe and carries the walker across to the
Roe Valley Country Park.
Watch Houses, Roe Valley Country Park
These two watch houses once housed the men guarding the linen spread out
on the Roe Bleach Green. Until the advent of more sophisticated technology,
the bleaching of linen was a long-drawn-out process, requiring the rolls
of cloth to be repeatedly treated with bleaching agents and ‘grassing’, the
exposure of the material to daylight out in the bleach fields adjacent to
the mills. This practice continued into the 1950s. Linen was a valuable
commodity and when spread out on the fields to bleach it needed to be
guarded against theft and damage by animals. These small watch houses
provided basic shelter for the watch men; there was no door, just a small bench
and a small square window for viewing the bleach green.
They are stone built, 2 metres in diameter with a domed corbelled roof rising
to a height of 2.2 metres. Only a few of these small structures survive—see
www.follies-trust.org
Watch Houses, Roe Valley Country Park
Roe Valley hospital
This former Roe Valley workhouse was built in 1841 and designed by George
Wilkinson, the architect to the Poor Law Commissioners. Built to house the
needy and destitute, workhouses were based on a standard plan. The small
front block was an admission area and warden’s accommodation. In behind,
in an H formation, were the main buildings which housed the occupants in
58
Pr imrose Wil son
Pri m ro se Wi l so n
segregated blocks, also communal facilities. Further behind were the infirmary and
accommodation for the sick. A series of yards were created by the disposition of
the buildings which provided outdoor recreational space. The building has now
been restored and converted to a variety of new uses.
Roe Valley Hospital © Heritage Lottery Fund
BALLYKELLY
In 1613 James 1 granted the area on which Ballykelly stands to the Fishmongers’
Company and they built a castle at Walworth. A government inspector, Nicholas
Pynnar, reported in 1619 that ‘on this proportion is built a strong bawn of stone
and lime, 125 feet square and 12 feet high and a good house within it, being 50
feet square, all finished and inhabited by the agent and furnished with a good
store of arms. There were near to the castle fifteen houses, whereof three are of
stone and lime, the rest timber, and are roughcast with lime and slate.’ There was
also a church and ‘a good preacher to teach the people’. The houses referred to
above have disappeared but three of the flankers survive within the grounds of
Walworth house. The estate was leased by the Beresfords and Hamiltons until the
Fishmongers’ Company regained possession in 1820.
Roe Park (now hotel)
William Conolly of Castletown, Co. Kildare purchased the land in this area from
Thomas Philipps and built what was then called Daisy Hill c.1700. This forms the
core of the house and later additions have extended it significantly.
The former stable court of the building was erected c.1740 though is now much
altered.
Roe Park c.1900
Christ Church, Limavady
Sampson’s Tower
59
Christ Church, Limavady
This church has a complex architectural history. An earlier church was rebuilt
c.1750; in 1765 a steeple and belfry were added and in 1824-5 the N transept. In
1881 most of the church was reconstructed; an S transept and chancel were added
and the windows redesigned. In 1913 a chancel arch was inserted. The present
church is cruciform with roughcast walls. The tower at the west end is four-storey
and crowned with battlements, each storey is set back from the one below and
each recedes at a different angle. In the churchyard is the Beresford mausoleum
erected in 1832. Built in a Late Greek Revival style it has a plaque bearing the
family arms and motto and fine embellishments. It is stylistically similar to the
Cather mausoleum at Walworth Old Church.
The Company immediately embarked on a plan to improve the village and
replace smaller dwellings with public buildings; they employed David McBlain,
a local architect, to draw up plans. His designs include an inn, market house,
Lancasterian schools and an agent’s house but they were never executed. Instead
the Company used their surveyor, Richard Sutor, who designed the Presbyterian
church, a dispensary, model farm, in fact most of the fine buildings still in
Ballykelly today; he also provided simplified drawings for the schools.
All the following buildings are in Ballykelly.
Tamlaght Finlagan Parish Church
The funds for the building of the church in 1795 were provided by the Earl
Bishop of Derry and the Hon. John Beresford. Its design is believed to be by
Michael Shanahan, the architect used by the Bishop at Downhill and elsewhere,
and John Mitchell who supervised its construction.
Sampson’s Tower (private property)
A square battlemented tower, with a circular staircase attached, built of rubble
stone with sandstone quoins. There are arrow slits and dog-tooth machicolations
in both the tower and staircase. The plaque on the tower says that it was ‘erected
by public subscription in memory of Arthur Sampson, for nearly forty years
J.P. for the counties of Londonderry and Tyrone and Agent of the Worshipful
Company of Fishmongers. He died on 22 January 1859 in the 64th year of his age.’
The impact that the building could have is obscured as it is surrounded by trees.
Tamlaght Finlagan Parish Church
The church is Gothic in style, built of rubble stone with sandstone dressings. The
nave is three-bay with buttresses between each bay; each buttress has a pinnacle on
top. In 1851 the chancel, vestry and gallery were added. The three-stage tower is
topped by a fine ashlar stone spire; the tower, nave and chancel are all castellated.
The windows have pointed heads with Y tracery and hood mouldings except in
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Pr imrose Wil son
Pri m ro se Wi l so n
the belfry where they are circular. The windows contain insets with the armorial
bearings of the Fishmongers’ Company, Irish Society and the Beresford family.
This handsome church on an elevated site surrounded by mature trees is a strong
focal point in Ballykelly. The Earl Bishop liked spires and this is one of the finest
built by him in his diocese. In the churchyard there is a mausoleum to the Gage
family and inside the church there are several interesting monuments.
Monuments to Jane Hamilton,
Arthur Sampson and James
David Beresford
Model Farm, Ballykelly c.1900 (Private Collection)
The finest and most elaborate early eighteenth century monument in NW Ulster
was moved from the earlier church and is to Jane Hamilton (née Beresford) who
died in 1716. She kneels on a hassock in classical drapery in a gesture of resignation
while two cherubs hold a crown over her head. Below on either side two putti
mourn her passing. This monument is a copy of one by Grinling Gibbons to Mrs
Mary Beaufoy (obit 1705) in Westminster Abbey.
Bridge House
This was built in 1820 to serve the community as a Dispensary and also housed a
resident surgeon (there was a separate entrance to his house). The coat of arms of
the Fishmongers’ Company which was originally on the wall above the entrance to
the Dispensary is now in the entrance hall of the Drummond House Hotel.
Dispensary, Ballykelly c.1900 (Private Collection)
Presbyterian Church
This striking building occupies a prominent site in the town, like its Anglican
counterpart, and its massive form is one of the important incidents in the
streetscape. The architect of this church, built in 1827, was Richard Sutor and
the builder James Turnbull; the Presbyterian Church in Banagher, another
Fishmongers’ Company property, is almost identical. Erected of Dungiven
sandstone at a cost of £4000 it is three bays wide and six bays long with an
enormous pediment containing the date-stone.
Ballykelly Presbyterian Church (JSC)
The interior has a gallery around three sides and a tablet recording the gratitude of
the Congregation to the Fishmongers’ Company for ‘their liberality in Erecting,
completing and presenting them with this Meeting house’.
Former Lancasterian Schools
An interesting composition which consisted of a master and mistress’s house in the
centre with single-storey boys’ and girls’ schoolrooms attached on either side by low
corridors. It was designed by Richard Sutor of local red brick with sandstone corner
pilasters. The original fenestration of the arched window openings enhanced the
composition. This building has been much altered.
There is a monument to Arthur Sampson, agent of the Fishmongers’ Company,
on the south wall, in whose honour Sampson’s tower was built. James David
Beresford’s monument features an anchor and rope; he was a Midshipman on
H.M.S. Phoenix and drowned in1807 ‘by falling from the Main Yard into the sea
in a Violent Gale of Wind’ aged 17 years. The inscription states that this memorial
was erected by ‘his Affectionate Brother H.B. Beresford’ in whose memory the
obelisk at Ballyquin was erected.
Church Hill (model farm)
This building was erected in 1824 by Richard Sutor as a model farm for the
Fishmongers’ estates. It has a central, three-bay, two-storey house of Dungiven
sandstone with flanking walls connecting to single-storey pavilions. One served
as stables, the other as stores; to the rear was a walled farmyard, now occupied by
modern buildings.
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Lancasterian School c.1900’
Arms of the Fishmongers’ Company
Drummond House Hotel
This building was designed by Richard Sutor and erected in 1828 as a residence
for the agent of the Fishmongers’ Company. The porch was added in 1832 and
the building has been much altered since. In the entrance hall is the arms of the
Fishmongers’ Company removed from the exterior of the original Dispensary (now
Bridge House).