In 1981 the Society published The Diamond as Big as a Square for use in schools where teachers or pupils wanted to know more about local architecture in order to interpret their own town. The following sample pages from it act as a simple glossary of local architectural terms:
BALLYLYNN HIGH STREET
These four houses are all quite different yet fit well together
and form a satisfying group. They take up the shape of the hill
in a natural way, and though each is quite different in shape
and size, there is no sense of conflict between them.
The first house is plastered with stucco and has elaborate plaster
mouldings round the windows and a rather impressive porch. It
is what is known as a double-pile building, since it has a double
roof with a valley gutter between them. At the front it has a
secret gutter behind a balustraded parapet. On the corner gable
it has an oriel window (a bay window suspended in mid-air!), and
the first floor windows are topped with 'pediments', triangular
to the outside windows, and semicircular to the central one.
The second house is a shop with a Victorian front and the second
door alongside the shop gives access to the house above. The sash
windows have 'segmental' or curved tops, and the small skylight
lights an attic bedroom.
The three storey house probably dates from about 1850; there is
a strong emphasis on the ground floor, and small second-floor
windows. Notice the decorative quoinstones and the arched fanlight.
The last house has a carriage entrance through its ground floor
to a yard behind, and it was probably a larger house at one time,
with more usable ground floor.
This typical parish church probably dates from about 1800, though there are likely to be earlier gravestones nearby. Many such churches have lost their tall spires and have only towers; in other cases the money for the spire was never raised. This church may not originally have had transepts, as the appearance of these transepts suggests they were built about 1880, and the crested ridge probably dates from about that time. Traditionally churches are entered from the west front (see plan above), though this is certainly not always the case. Look for interesting monuments and stained glass (probably Victorian) inside the church.
Banks tend to be classical in style, though the ornament is frequently quite free in detail. An elaborate bank like this would be High Victorian and it provides a useful illustration of the main classical terms, borrowing elements as it does from both Greek and Roman architecture. The pediment above the central portion of the facade, with the sculpted figures squeezed uncomfortably into its triangle. and the entablature below (consisting of the three portions - cornice, frieze and architrave), rests on giant order (that is, rising through more than one floor height) columns. At the sides of the building are pilasters (or columns that are flattened out and joined to the wall), and they are of different 'order' from the central columns, which is to say that their capitals or tops are of a different design, among other less obvious differences. Notice that the first floor windows are much more important than those on the second floor.- The central statue is either Queen Victoria or the bank's founder, and the heads above other windows are Red Indians, Chinamen and so on, symbolic of the vast trade the Bank of Ballylynn carries on with the Empire.
This is a typical brick-built mid or late Victorian terrace
house of the 'two up, two down' type with a return at the back
(that is, two rooms upstairs and two downstairs, with extra rooms
behind the main portion of the house), which is very common in
Belfast and other large towns.
The parlour and hall usually had timber floors, while the kitchen
and scullery were tiled. Every room had its own fireplace since
there was neither electricity nor central heating when these houses
were built, and they were lit at night by gas. The parlour was
reserved for Sunday use and the family normally congregated in
the kitchen, where eating and cooking took place. The sink and
food preparation areas were in the scullery in the return. There
was no bathroom in many of these houses, but only an outside WC
in the yard.
Over the years these have been converted into more modern dwellings
by converting the third bedroom into a bathroom and the scullery
and WC into a kitchen in the modern sense, with sink and cooker.
The old kitchen range has often gone, and the wall between the
kitchen and parlour is frequently removed to form a large living
room.
This is a late Victorian house, probably built about 1890. It is built with 9-inch brick walls and has timber ground floors except in the kitchen area at the back. The roof is slate, laid both in ordinary and in fishscale styles, and there are elaborate bargeboards to the gable and dormers. The bay windows provide light but are also decorative, and the porch and conservatory are also decorative as well as functional. The yard at the back enables clothes to be dried outside. Note the prominence of the chimneys and elaborate chimney pots. The roof is almost more important than the ground floor.
This gentleman's house in the country was built by a well-to-do farmer in the early 18th century and has Georgian style without the sophisticated formality of a true 'country house'. Notice how the front looks symmetrical at first, but in fact has three windows on one side balanced-by two on the other. The porch was probably not part of the original design but added to protect visitors from the persistent wind and rain so prevalent in Ireland. The formal front hides a courtyard and the varied activities of a country home. On the lower right of the picture is the kitchen wing (notice the chimney near the carriage entrance) which would have included laundry rooms and possibly servants' quarters, and the carriage entrance into the yard. The other wings are stables and stores, with a conservatory added on the upper left in Victorian times. Nearby could have been a kitchen garden screened by bushes or a wall, and possibly an orchard. In front of the house would have been a rolling open landscape casually planted with a few trees in the 18th century or with monkey puzzles and clumps of rhodedendrons in the 19th century.
The 1930s were the great age of 'stockbroker's Tudor', comfortable and modern homes hidden behind fake medieval half timbering, picturesque overhanging roofs and 'battered' (sloping) chimney stacks. This detached house also boasts a quaint water-butt, and terracotta finials to its ridges, but more modest houses after this manner were also built in semi-detached and terrace forms. Some other features peculiar to the period are the continuously glazed bow window, the door set assymetrically behind its built in porch, the corner window at the back which defies one's natural expectation of a strong corner, and the stained glass upper panes in the windows at the front. A 'motor house' is now built along with the house since the car has become part of most families, but it is built to match the house as far as possible and usually set back slightly from the front. The use of rendering on the first floor above a brick ground floor is another common picturesque feature.
There is no typical traditional Ulster house, but this shows a type that might be found in Co Antrim and elsewhere. It has been altered over the years in a number of respects. The chimney on the left for instance has been rebuilt in brick - originally it would have had an open flue without a chimney pot, and indeed it may not originally have been at the gable at all but rising from a more central partition between a bedroom on the left and a central living room. The roof is fairly traditional, being thatch held in position by sallies on turf scraws laid over timber rafters. The rafters span from the top of the wall to a ridge pole, probably a stout tree trunk, and are also supported by purlins. The floor inside was possibly mud originally, but probably now has clay 'quarry tiles' laid over it. The half door is an unusual survival now, but is still to be found occasionally. Often the lintels over the tops of doors and windows are timber rather than stone, and sometimes the walls of part of a house are mud rather than stone or brick. The stone slabs along the front of the house carry water from the roof away from the walls in order to keep the house dry. Notice how small the windows are compared with modern houses, and how the roof wraps over the house so that the building looks very compact and low.
YOUR OWN HOUSE:
You may live in a house which you are proud of and want to find
out more about it. We hope that you will have learnt something
about how it was built, and why it was designed in a particular
style. You may also now be aware that certain features you had
taken for granted are actually later alterations, and you may
want to restore your house to its original state. Even a very
ordinary terrace house looks the better for being carefully maintained
and thoughtfully treated, and for those who want to apply the
foregoing ideas practically, here are some brief hints.
Don't replace a feature simply because it is old - if it is
not actually defective and damaging the rest of the building,
consider what a coat of paint may do for it, or even whether the
patina of age is attractive in itself.
Equally, don't replace a feature simply because it is not original
- consider it carefully; it may be a unique and very individual
feature which is part of the character of your house, and should
be retained.
If you are getting an improvement grant for the work, don't let
the inspector bully you into an 'improvement' that you think is
out of character with the house. He may not be able to grant aid
every alteration you consider desirable, but provided you bring
the house into good repair with the standard amenities, he cannot
usually insist on other works being done.
Don't be put off by building regulations. Their requirements can
be very stringent, but as with improvement grants, relaxations
can be made. If you cannot think of a way round particular requirements,
consult an architect specialising in restoration.
If you live in a terrace, look carefully at your neighbours' houses
before doing any alterations. One will almost always have an original
door, someone else original windows and a third person may have
original ironwork or chimney details to act as a guide.
Think of the setting of your house, and don't destroy long established
trees and creepers if it can be avoided and they are not damaging
the building. The attractiveness of an old house is greatly enhanced
by a mellow and well established garden.
If you have to replace doors, windows and gutters, try to find
suitable ones. Consider whether the existing ones are original,
and if not, whether they contribute positively to the design of
the building. If you cannot find a suitable replacement 'off the
peg', it is often surprising how little more a 'one-off' replacement
of a door or window will cost, and it is worth contacting a sympathetic
local builder.
If you're replacing windows, don't forget to consider the width
of the glazing bars, which tend to be very thick in modern 'georgian'
windows, but were surprisingly narrow in classical eighteenth
century houses.
Avoid frosted glass, and keep original glass if possible.
Do keep old door furniture - and painted cast iron is often more
correct than brass fittings. But avoid fake 'medieval' strap-hinges
and the like. Also avoid modern 'wrought iron' made from stock
metal sections - it is no replacement for cast iron or earlier
wrought iron.
Don't think that the roof and chimney don't matter - they are
a very prominent feature of the house. Even if you don't use the
flues, do leave the chimney stack and provide pots for it. If
you have to re-roof, reuse existing slates where possible.
Be very careful about dormer windows. It is tempting to put long
ones in to make the greatest use of the roof space, but it can
ruin the appearance of a house. Large rooflights, inserted at
the back of the roof if possible, provide very generous lighting
and are the best alternative if traditional dormers prove impractical.
Don't paint or render stonework or brickwork if it has been exposed
hitherto, unless it is absolutely essential to protect against
damp penetration. Get the advice of an architect specialising
in restoration if you are in doubt.
Be very careful about repointing. Modern mortars tend to look
very white and will not weather down for a long time, although
proprietary colouring agents or even soot, can be added to tone
them down. If re-pointing stonework, make sure that the pointing
is recessed between the stones, not projecting prominently.
Don't think that you can do what you like at the back of the house
because no one ever sees it - you do, and the next owner of the
house will, and so do your visitors and neighbours.
Don't be afraid to use bold colours (pace the planning authorities!)
Strong colours are often quite traditional in Ulster and in any
case will have to be repainted (and can easily be changed) in
a fairly short time. But in general, keep railings black, and
if gold is needed use gold leaf, not gold paint which tarnishes
very rapidly. And brash colours will certainly not look right
on a formal classical design.
Don't think these rules only apply to old houses - the character
of twentieth century houses is just as distinctive, and it is
as wrong to put georgian sashes in a 1950 bungalow as to put a
picture window into a thatched cottage. Respect the character
of your house as you respect the integrity of your friends. If
you don't like it, you can always move!
If your building is listed, grant aid may be available from
the Environment & Heritage Service of the DoE, 5-33 Hill Street,
Belfast, who will be pleased to advise you. If your building is
not listed, and you think it should be, they will be glad to consider
it for listing. No matter what sort of house you live in, the
Ulster Architectural Heritage Society will be happy to advise
you on its restoration or put you in touch with someone else who
can help.
The Society publishes a Directory of Traditional Building Skills, which gives more details of building techniques, and lists architects and craftsmen who may be able to help you in restoring a building.
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