Top 10 Interesting Facts about Downhill House


 

Downhill House. Photo by Tony Bowden. Wikimedia

Downhill House was a mansion in Downhill, County Londonderry, built in the late 18th century for Frederick, 4th Earl of Bristol and Lord Bishop of Derry (popularly known as ‘the Earl-Bishop’).

Much of the structure was destroyed by fire in 1851 and rebuilt in the 1870s. Following World War II, it fell into disrepair. 

The Earl Bishop spent very little time in Ireland in his later years. His Irish estates were managed by a distant cousin, Henry Hervey Aston Bruce, who took over after his death in 1803.

Downhill was made a baronet in 1804 and remained in the Bruce family until at least 1948, though the family rarely lived there after around 1920.

The house was only occupied once before, during WWII, when it was requisitioned by the RAF. After the war, the house was dismantled, and the roof was removed in 1950.

1. Downhill House was a three-story building

Downhill House. Photo by Enrique Íñiguez Rodríguez. Wikimedia

Downhill is distinguished by a three-story front facing south and two long wings at the back. These wings were originally terminated in domes topped with ornamental chimney-pots. The wings were continued in ranges of outbuildings, forming inner and outer yards and culminating in two massive curving bastions of basalt facing the sea.

The main house block was faced with freestone quarried in Dungiven, about 30 miles away. The basement is rusticated, and the storeys above are adorned with pairs of Corinthian pilasters, a cornice, and a parapet.

2. Downhill House and the Mussenden Temple

Mussenden Temple. Photo by Enrique Íñiguez Rodríguez. Wikimedia

The “temple” was built by Lord Bristol, also known as “the Earl-Bishop.” It was built as a library and is dedicated to the memory of Bishop Lord Bristol’s cousin Frideswide Mussenden. It is modeled after the Temple of Vesta in Rome’s Forum Romanum.

The erosion of the cliff face at Downhill has brought Mussenden Temple ever closer to the edge over the years, and in 1997 The National Trust carried out cliff stabilization work to prevent the building from falling.

This was the Bishop’s library, which he admired because of Mrs. Frideswide Mussenden’s beauty. It used to have bookcases on the walls. In the basement, a fire was constantly burning. Because of this, and the enclosed flue, the books remained dry even in this extremely exposed location.

The grounds surrounding Mussenden Temple and its manor house (Downhill Castle) are open to the public from dawn to dusk all year. From the “Temple,” you can see Downhill Strand, Magilligan Point, and Inishowen in County Donegal to the west, and Castlerock beach, Portstewart, Portrush, and Fair Head to the east.

In 2007, the temple was granted permission to hold civil wedding ceremonies.

3. The architects of Downhill House were professionals

According to a local legend, the owner, Frederick Hervey (also known as Earl Bishop), designed his own house. Despite his eccentricity and highly developed aesthetic sense, the architects of Downhill House were professionals.

Michael Shanahan designed the original structure, and James McBlain carved the decorative carvings on the stone. Placido Columbani, a Milanese architect, also hired Italian plasterers.

Earl Bishop, on the other hand, had an impact on them, and they made his wishes a reality.

4. Downhill House was inherited by Henry Bruce

While Earl Bishop was away in Ireland, his cousin Henry Bruce looked after the property. Earl Bishop died in 1803, and the property was inherited by his cousin. He was made a baronet in 1804, and the entire estate remained in the Bruce family until 1948, despite the fact that they had not visited it since 1920.

5. Downhill House was used to house officers during WWII

 

Downhill House. Photo by Tony Bowden. Wikimedia

During WWII, the house was used to house Royal Air Force (RAF) servicemen and women. The Bruce family owned the house until 1946. The officers of the RAF were the last permanent occupants of the house and property.

6. A fire damaged Downhill House

A fire that broke out on May 16, 1851, severely damaged Downhill House.

The fire started on an upper floor of the ’round room’ at the far end of the western wing, which also housed the library and picture gallery.

It destroyed the building, partly due to the inability to obtain water to extinguish the flames and to protect the contents from looting.

The valuable library and some statuary were completely destroyed, but the majority of the paintings were saved.

The servants’ apartments remained undamaged, but the mansion house itself was reduced to blackened walls.

7. Downhill House was restored by Sir Henry

Sir Henry began restoration work on the house in the early 1870s, which was overseen by John Lanyon. The renovations were supposed to be finished by 1876.

Lanyon’s main change was the installation of a new doorway on the building’s western façade. It became the main entrance and led into vaulted chambers beneath the former gallery, which were transformed into glass-roofed winter gardens.

A glass panel was installed between the boudoir and the winter garden, which could be closed at any time. The former library in the west wing was converted into a billiards room. The former morning room in the center of the south front was converted into a library.

8. Modernized Downhill House

The house had 15 bedrooms, three bathrooms, twelve servants’ bedrooms, a dining room, a drawing room, a library, a boudoir, a billiards room, a gallery, a study, a smoking room, a crypt hall entrance, a servants’ hall, pantries, kitchens, and laundry in 1934.

The house had its own power plant, as well as central heating.

Water was supplied by roof-mounted tanks, and there was stabling for approximately 16 horses.

9. Downhill House was sold to Frederick W.Smyth

Downhill Demesne and Hezlett House. Photo by Enrique Íñiguez Rodríguez. Wikimedia

Following the war, the Bruce family sold the entire property. It was sold to Frederick W Smyth. He applied to the Central Planning Authority and the Local Authority for permission to demolish the building. W Smyth did this to avoid a large rates bill.

Consent was refused because the castle was of general local interest. The valuation office was requested to lower the valuation because the house was deemed un-lettable.

10. Downhill House, last tenant was Mrs F.M Belgrave

Mrs F M Belgrave, the house’s last tenant in 1948, was found before the reduction could be implemented.

Her tenancy was brief, and by October 1949, the entire property had been gutted, with the windows and roof removed, and the building had been removed from valuation lists.

The National Trust purchased the property in 1980 and has worked tirelessly to preserve the remaining fabric.

 

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