The Waterfoot, County Fermanagh

Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.

p. 282. “(Barton/IFR; Loane/IFR) Two plain two storey late-Georgian ranges with eaved roofs, at right angles to each other. Built by Lt-Gen Charles Barton, completed by his son, H.W. Barton. Passed to Mr r.B. Loane, whose mother was a daughter of Capt C R. Barton, of the Waterfoot.” 

http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2019/10/barton-of-waterfoot.html

THE BARTONS OF THE WATERFOOT OWNED 1,591 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY FERMANAGH 

This family was established in Ulster by 
 
THOMAS BARTON, of Norwich, Norfolk, who is said to have accompanied the Earl of Essex’s army into Ireland. 
 
Mr Barton was one of the first burgesses of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. 
 
In 1610 he obtained a grant of land comprising a district called Druminshin and Necarne, County Fermanagh. 
 

Thomas Barton was an applicant for a “small proportion” of 1,000 acres, and obtained a grant of Druminshin, which included the island of Inishclare, also in Lurg, in 1610; and he parted with Lettermore in 1613 to Mr Christopher Irvine, Rossfad to Mr Lancelot Carleton in the same year.  

The Manor of Bannaghmore (Bannagh Mor) , extending from the river Bannagh to beyond the Waterfoot was purchased and controlled by the Barton family. 

Some of these lands were exchanged by him for others in the neighbourhood still in the possession of the elder branch of the family. 
 
He married Margaret Lloyd, and had a son, 
 
ANTHONY BARTON, father of 
 
WILLIAM BARTON (c1630-93), of Boa Island and Curraghmore, who wedded Jane Hannah Forster, and had issue, 
 

Edward, his heir; ancestor of BARTON of Greenfort; 
WILLIAM, of whom we treat. 

The younger son, 
 
WILLIAM BARTON, of Curraghmore, County Fermanagh, espoused Elizabeth, daughter of John Dickson, of Ballyshannon, and had issue, 
 

THOMAS, his heir; 
George, died unmarried; 
James; 
Elizabeth; Everina. 

Mr Barton died in 1695, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
THOMAS BARTON (1694-1780), of Curraghmore, who established the house of business at Bordeaux, France, 1725, and acquired a considerable fortune. 
 
He purchased the estate of Grove, County Tipperary, in 1752. 
 
Mr Barton married, in 1722, his cousin Margaret, youngest daughter of Robert Delap, of Ballyshannon, County Donegal, and had issue, an only child, 
 
WILLIAM BARTON (1723-92), of The Grove, County Tipperary, who wedded, in 1754, Grace, eldest daughter of the Very Rev Charles Massy, Dean of Limerick, and sister of Sir Hugh Dillon Massy, 1st Baronet, of Donass, County Clare, and had issue, 
 

Thomas, his heir; 
William, of Clonelly, County Fermanagh; 
CHARLES, of whom hereafter; 
Hugh, of Straffan; 
Robert (Sir), KCH, Lieutenant-General in the Army; 
Dunbar, of Rochestown; 
Grace; Elizabeth; Margaret. 

The third son, 
 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL CHARLES BARTON (1760-1821), espoused, in 1800, Susannah, daughter of Nathaniel Weld Johnston, of Bordeaux, France, and had issue, 
 

HUGH WILLIAM, his heir; 
Nathaniel Dunbar, Lt-Col Bengal Cavalry; 
Thomas Charles, of Bonn, Germany; 
Robert, of Sydney, Australia; 
Albert Evelyn; 
Susannah; Anna Eleanor. 

His eldest son, 
 
HUGH WILLIAM BARTON JP DL (1800-70), of The Waterfoot, County Fermanagh, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1837, Lieutenant-Colonel, 2nd Life Guards, married, in 1832, Mary Caroline, eldest daughter of Robert Johnston, of Kinlough House, County Leitrim, and had issue, 
 

CHARLES ROBERT, his heir; 
James, Captain, Royal Artillery; 
Folliott; 
Hugh St George, Captain, 60th Rifles; 
Robert, Royal Navy; 
Thomas Lloyd; 
Nathaniel Albert Delap, Major, 88th Regiment; 
Florence Anna; Mary Everina. 

The eldest son, 
 
CHARLES ROBERT BARTON JP DL (1832-1918), of The Waterfoot, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1863, Captain, Fermanagh Militia, wedded, in 1872, Henrietta Martha Mervyn, daughter of Henry Mervyn Richardson DL, of Rossfad, County Fermanagh, and had issue, 
 

WILLIAM HUGH, his heir; 
Henry Charles Johnston; 
Charles Nathaniel; 
Bertram James Richardson; 
Mary Jane Florence; Everina Margaret; Caroline Angel Charlotte; Henrietta Emily Violet; 
MILDRED PENELOPE MATILDA, of whom hereafter; 
Susanna Cecil Grace. 

Captain Barton was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
WILLIAM HUGH BARTON DSO JP DL (1874-1945), of The Waterfoot, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1924, Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Army Service Corps, who married, in 1917, Ardyn Marion, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Tyrwhitt Stanniforth Patteson, and had issue, 

JOHN CHARLES; 
Ruth Ardyn (1921-51). 

The only son, 
 
CAPTAIN JOHN CHARLES BARTON (1918-43), Royal Artillery, died in 1943, aged 25, at north Africa, from wounds received in action, unmarried. 
 
Captain Barton’s cousin, 
 
MISS MILDRED PENELOPE MATILDA BARTON (1885-1971), married, in 1918, Simon Christopher, son of Robert Loane, of Kesh, County Fermanagh, and had issue, four sons. 

THE WATERFOOT, Letter, near Pettigo, County Fermanagh, is a late Georgian house with two simple, two-storey ranges with eaved roofs at right angles to each other.

It was built by Lieutenant-General Charles Barton and completed by his son, Hugh William Barton.

The demesne was established in the 17th century, bounded by the river Waterfoot and Lower Lough Erne.

The house dated from the late 18th century with mature parkland, shelter trees, pleasure ground and a walled garden with an orchard.

The Waterfoot subsequently passed to Mr R B Loane, whose mother, Mildred Penelope Matilda Loane, née Barton, was a daughter of Captain Charles Robert Barton, of The Waterfoot.

www.nihgt.org/resources/pdf/Register_of_Parks_Gardens_Demesnes-NOV20.pdf

THE WATERFOOT, County Fermanagh (AP FERMANAGH AND OMAGH 07) F/011 
REGISTERED GRADE B 
Established in the early Victorian era on the north shore of Lower Lough Erne, this demesne, 
which boasts fine mature trees and parkland, takes its name from the confluence of two rivers, 
the Waterfoot and the Termon. It lies directly on the Donegal border bordering the Letter Road 
(B136) and Termon River, 1.3 miles (2.1km) south-west of Pettigo. The well-known 17th century 
tower house, Termon McGrath, stands a few hundred metres north-east. The present house, 
which faces south towards the north shore of Boa Island, is an irregular two-storey manor with 
hipped roof, (Listed HB 12/07/046). According to the Ordnance Survey Memoirs it was built in 
1830-2, but was substantially remodelled/enlarged in the 1850s by Col. Hugh William Barton 
(1800-1870) of the Lifeguards, grandson of Thomas, founder (1725) of the well-known wine- 
business in Bordeaux; his descendants have retained ownership to the present day. The architect 
John B. Keane is known to have designed a kitchen and block at the west end in 1831. Contrary to 
some speculation, there is no evidence for an earlier house here and it is likely this spot (townland 
of Gubnaguinie) was chosen for its scenic location. By 1835 some of the plantations had been put 
down, notably those in the immediate area of the house; by 1860 the park layout, which covers 
94 acres (38ha), was much as it remain today. This included plantations north of the house and 
along the north boundary with the River Termon; there are apparently references in a letter to 
sacks of acorns and beech trees being imported from Germany for the parkland trees. A small 
area of open parkland or lawn (2.5 acres/1ha) was made south and south-west of the house 
permitting views over the lough; this area is edged with some exotic trees, some coniferous, with 
carr woodland along the loughshore, while the woods here have some particularly fine beech, 
horse chestnut and oak trees, and also yews, Scots pines and several other firs. The house is 
approached down a long carriage drive that begins at Letter Bridge; there is a single-story 
Italianate style gate lodge c.1870 (roofless and not listed) on rising ground to the south of the 
main drive, just east of a bridge; the latter formerly carried the line belonging to the Enniskillen, 
Bundoran and Sligo Railway (which operated between 1866 and 1957); it has been suggested the 
lodge was designed by architect Robert Williams Armstrong—a founding partner in the Belleek 
Pottery. Immediately north the house is the stable range accessed from the east through a tall, 
semicircular-headed arch dressed in cut-stone. North-west lie the farm yard offices, c.1850, now 
dominated by large, late 20th century barns, with another barn just north of the yard to the rear of 
the house. Just east of the farm yard is the walled garden (1.1 acres/0.4ha) delimited by a stone 
wall built c.1840-50 in a low sheltered position and no longer used. It has an irregular plan to 
accommodate the contours with round-ended north side; there is a cart entrance in the south- 
west wall and a trabulated pedestrian entrance in south-east section. In the early 1990s its paths 
were edged with Lonicera nitida and there was a small, rectangular free-standing glass house near 
the wall at the north-west; some apple trees remain in this garden. South-east of the walled 
garden and immediately north-east of the house is the former pleasure garden, originally (in the 
1830s) the kitchen garden which had an early ‘greenhouse’, possibly erected in the 1830s. This 
area now contains laurel and rhododendron with winding paths edged with stones, one leading to 
a pump house. A path lined with clipped hedge on the west leads from east of the house down to 
the shore, where are two boat houses south-east of the house. Private.