Benburb Manor House, County Tyrone

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. 40. (Bruce;LGI1912) A large late-Victorian house with gables, high-pitched roofs and rectangular plate-glass windows, built 1887 to the design of William Henry Lynn. Of red brick, with bands of stone to give structural polychromy. Now a Servite Priorty. Nearby, on a cliff above the River Blackwater, is an early C17 fort, built by Sir Richard Wingfield.” 

see https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2014/01/benburb-manor.html 

This is a scion of the Bruces of Stenhouse, a suburb of Edinburgh, springing from 

 
SIR ALEXANDER BRUCE, of Airth, Stirlingshire, who wedded Janet, daughter of Alexander, 5th Lord Livingston, and had issue, 
 

WILLIAM, his heir; 
Robert, of Kinnaird; 
John (Sir), of Kincavil; 
Alexander (Sir), of Bangour; 
Robert, of Garvel; 
Marion; another daughter. 

Sir Alexander died in 1600, and was succeeded by his eldest son, 
 
WILLIAM BRUCE, who wedded Jean, daughter of John, 5th Lord Fleming, and sister to John, Earl of Wigtown, and had issue, 
 

John, his heir, male line extinct; 
William (Sir), of Stenhouse; cr a baronet; 
Alexander; 
Robert; 
Alexander; 
PATRICK, of whom we treat. 

The youngest and third surviving son, 
 
PATRICK BRUCE, had the estate of Newton and Bothkenner, and espoused, in 1627, Janet, daughter of John Jackson, a merchant in Edinburgh, and had issue, 
 

Patrick, dsp; 
William, his heir; 
MICHAEL, of whom we treat. 

The youngest son, 
 
THE REV MICHAEL BRUCE (1635-93), settled as a presbyterian minister at Killinchy, County Down, but was driven, with other ministers, thence into Scotland by Colonel Venables and the parliamentarians, for his fidelity to the King. 

 
He returned to Killinchy, however, in 1669, after undergoing great hardships, and a long imprisonment in England and Scotland. 
 
The Rev Michael Bruce married Jean, daughter of Robert Bruce, of Kinnaird (and sister of Colonel Robert Bruce, of Kinnaird, and of the Life Guards of CHARLES I, who died of wounds received at Worcester); he suffered much persecution of religious grounds; and had issue, 

JAMES, his heir; 
Robert; 
Michael; 
Anna. 

He was succeeded by his eldest son, 

THE REV JAMES BRUCE (c1660-1730), Minister of Killyleagh, County Down, who espoused, in 1685, Margaret, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Traill, of Tolychin, County Down, and had issue, 
 

MICHAEL, his heir; 
Patrick (Rev), Minister of Killyleagh; ancestor of THE BRUCE BARONETS; 
William; 
Hans; 
Mary; Eleanor; Magdalen. 

The eldest son, 
 
THE REV MICHAEL BRUCE (1686-1735), Minister of Holywood, County Down, married, in 1716, Mary Ker, and had issue, 
 

James; 
SAMUEL; 
William; 
Eleanor. 

The second, but eldest surviving son, 
 
THE REV SAMUEL BRUCE (1722-67), Minister of Wood Street Presbyterian Church, Dublin, married, in 1751, Rose, daughter of Robert Rainey, of Magherafelt, County Londonderry, and had issue, 

Michael, drowned at Carrickfergus, 1779; 
WILLIAM, of whom presently; 
Robert; 
Samuel; 
Elizabeth; Mary; Eleanor. 

The eldest surviving son, 
 
THE REV WILLIAM BRUCE (1757-1841), Minister of First Presbyterian Church, Belfast (whose portrait hangs in the Linenhall Library, Belfast), wedded Susannah, daughter of Robert Hutton, and had issue, 

SAMUEL, his heir; 
William (Rev), Minister of 1st Presbyterian Church, Belfast; 
Haliday; 
Henry; 
Eliza; Emily; Maria; Susannah. 

The eldest son, 
 
SAMUEL BRUCE (1789-1845), of Thorndale, County Antrim, wedded Annette, daughter of James Ferguson, of White Park, County Antrim, and had issue, 

William Robert, of Rockford, County Dublin; 
JAMES, of whom we treat; 
Samuel, of Norton Hall, Campden, Gloucestershire. 

The second son, 
 
JAMES BRUCE JP DL (1835-1917), of Benburb, County Tyrone, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1886, married, in 1877, Mary, daughter of Dr William Thompson, of Lisburn, and widow of George Mitchell, though the marriage was without issue. 
 
Mrs Bruce dsp 1893. 

The Manor House, Benburb, Benburb, lies between Armagh and Dungannon in County Tyrone. 
 
It was built in 1888-90, to the designs of the architect William Henry Lynn, for James Bruce, a Belfast businessman who had bought the Benburb estate from the Viscount Powerscourt a few years previously. 
 
Lord Powerscourt owned 9,230 acres of land in County Tyrone. 
 
In order to make way for the new house Bruce had to demolish many of the dwellings on the south side of the village’s Main Street, including Benburb House, a large residence previously occupied by a Mr Brush, Lord Powerscourt’s agent. 
 
The new dwelling (which is generally similar in style to other Lynn compositions of this period, such as Riddel Hall and Campbell College), was constructed by the Belfast firm of James Henry & Sons. 

James Bruce died childless in 1917 and the manor house and remaining lands (307 acres in all) were sold to a consortium of three men, Robert Pollock and James Cooper of Enniskillen and James Smith of Liverpool. 
 
Soon Cooper sold out to Pollock and Smith to William Todd, who was in partnership with Robert Boyd. 
 
They then bought out Pollock’s share and planned to turn the house into a hotel, but by 1935 Todd was declared bankrupt and much of the outlying, remaining lands were sold. 
 
The building appears to have remained vacant until the beginning of the 2nd World War, when it was requisitioned by the War Office for use as a military hospital. 
 
When the war ended Boyd put the estate up for sale, and in 1946 it was acquired for by the Catholic Parish of Clonfeacle for £12,000. 
 
Local clergy originally intended the building to be used as an orphanage or a collegiate, but in 1949 they sold it (for £26,000) to an American branch of The Servite Fathers. 
 
The Order retains the property to this day. 
 
In the 1950s the large great hall extension was added to the west end of the house, on the site of a large conservatory or greenhouse. 
 
The south wing of the stable yard was rebuilt at this time, too.

James Bruce built a new police station in the village, the Post Office and a number of houses, one of which is the present Church of Ireland rectory. 

***** 

 
In the 1980s the Servites decided to release the buildings, which had been used by the students, for use by the wider community. 
 
A new community group, the Benburb Centre, was established in 1985. 
 
The Benburb Centre is a registered charity and has become a company limited by guarantee. 
 
It is managed by a voluntary Board, composed of representatives of both communities. 
 
Benburb was originally a Plantation period demesne incorporating a 17th century bawn set on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Blackwater River. 
 
It had been built from 1611 on the site of an earlier castle by Sir Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt. 

***** 

 
William Haldane (1858-1929) was the head gardener at the Manor for about thirty years. 
 
While waiting for a house to be prepared for him in the village, he lived for a short while in the cottage within the walls of the manor-house. 
 
The village house was a substantial three-storey affair, now demolished, more in keeping with the landscape gardener/architect that he was, though the term was not in common parlance at  the time. 
 
William’s youngest son was born in Benburb in 1910 (the last of eleven children) and remembers walking with Mr Bruce in the greenhouses and being given a peach to eat. 
 
His trademark was golden yew, which he is said to have planted in prominent positions in every garden he developed, with one over the family grave in St Mark’s parish church, Armagh. 

***** 

 
The main estates of the Wingfields, Viscounts Powerscourt, were based on the lands granted to Richard, 1st Viscount of the 1st creation. 
 
As part of the plantation of Ulster he received 2,000 acres in County Tyrone, including the Benburb estate. 
 
The demesne features mature trees and lawns; a hermitage; pinetum; walled garden and glasshouses disused across the road. 
 
Gate lodges: east lodge, 1887, also by Lynn; and West Lodge. 
 
First published in January, 2012. 

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

THE MANOR HOUSE, BENBURB, County Tyrone (AP MID ULSTER 10) T/006 
REGISTERED GRADE A 
Late Victorian park (48 acres/19.5ha) with ‘manor house’ of 1887 (HB 13/11/016) on south side of 
the Benburb village, located 5.6 miles (9km) north-west of Armagh and 3.27 (5.3km) south-west 
of Moy. Within the park lies an early 17th century bawn (Scheduled TYR 61:002) set on the edge 
of a cliff overlooking the Blackwater River to the south, close to the site of a late 16th century 
stronghold belonging to Shane O’Neill. Under the Plantation settlement ‘the castle and town of 
Benburbe’ became part of the ‘Manor of Benburbe’ and was granted to (Sir) Richard Wingfield 
(1550-1634), Lord Powerscourt from 1618. Work on bawn probably began around 1615; Pynnar’s 
1619 survey recorded ‘a bawne of lyme and stone 120 feet square, 14 feet high, with two 
flankers, in which there is built in each a good house, three stories high, and is inhabited with an 
English gentleman, with his wife and family. There is also a church in building, 70 feet long and 24 
broad, with 8 large windows, and now is ready to have the roof set up’. The bawn, often now 
referred to as ‘Wingfield’s Castle’ or ‘Benburb Castle’, survives with well-preserved flankers, many 
gun loops and a postern gate giving access to the river. To the south-east of it, on the summit of a 
spur, but lower than the rock outcrop, is an oval mound (TYR61:024), possibly the site of Shane 
O’Neil’s castle. The Wingfields themselves were never interested in living here, with the estate 
being administered by agents, some of whom might have occupied the bawn. It was probably 
attacked in 1641 (no documentary evidence), and its subsequent history is not clear, as there is no 
record of its being occupied in the later 17th and 18th centuries. The present single-storey 
dwelling within the enclosure was built some time before 1835, by which time the bawn itself was 
simply serving as a private property. The Wingfield family continued to hold Benburb until 1877 
when Mervyn Wingfield (1836-1904), 7th Viscount Powerscourt, sold the estate to James Bruce. 
At that time the south side of the street of Benburb was taken up with a number of dwellings with 
long garden plots stretching southwards to just north of the river, where there was a small 
plantation. Sometime around 1840 some were cleared away to build a large residence known as 
‘Benburb House’ for the Wingfield’s agent. After Bruce acquired the property in 1877 this was all 
swept away save the picturesque stone building fronting on to the main street just north-west of 
the demesne (the old estate office) which survived demolition. James Bruce (1835-1917), who 
built the present Manor House in 1889-90, was a partner in the Belfast distillers Dunville and Co. 
His house, built to designs of William Henry Lynn, is a large, robust, and somewhat austere red 
brick ‘free’ Tudor Style building, with an institutional appearance. It is set roughly on a east-west 
axis parallel with the main street and has an irregular plan, mainly two and a half-stories in height 
with multiple gables and dormers, and is devoid of conspicuous decoration save for a balustrade 
above the entrance porch. A large conservatory added to the eastern end in 1897-98, survived 
until the 1950s when it was demolished to make way for the present large hall extension. Since 
then the most significant external change to the building has been the replacement of the original 
window frames. Bruce’s stable yard (HB 13/11/018) is located to the immediate north of the 
1950s hall extension at the eastern side of the Manor House. It comprises a neat two-storey 
quadrangle of brick-built ranges with steeply-pitched slated roofs, which are fronted to the 
eastern side by a double-pile barbican style entrance, whose front (eastern) pile has a faux close- 
stud timber frame upper level, with a large gable over with decorative bargeboards and finial over 
the carriage entrance itself and a tall square cupola with steeply-pitched pyramidal roof and clock 
face. The associated parkland for Bruce’s house was made up by removing the houses and their 
long garden strips extending steeply down towards the river in the south. A wall was built along 
the road with a narrow tree belt planted on the inside. South of the manor itself verdant parkland 
– the ‘lawn’, was created down slope with a scatter isolated trees, some now fine mature trees 
notably horse chestnut. A perimeter belt around the graveyard and along the road to the east 

Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020 
was planted, together with a thickening of plantation on the sides of the river to the south and 
south-west of the house. This is now dense woodland on both sides of the river, with many fine 
mature beech and chestnuts, but also cypress and cedars trees, occupying the whole of the slope 
down to the river in which there are woodland walks. Both the bawn and church became eye 
catchers from the front ‘lawn’ (meadow), while the area west of the walled garden towards 
Rockwood, more parkland meadow was created, which likewise is fringed by shelter belts on all 
sides and with a clump of mature conifers. The walled garden and kennels to the north-west 
were screened also by trees. There is a terraced broadwalk which flanks the south side of the 
mansion running east-west into the lower section of the walled garden on the west side, thus 
closely integrating the walled garden into the rest of the ornamental grounds. This walled kitchen 
garden (0.68 acres/0.28ha) is rectangular and walled on the west and north with stone; there is a 
hedge along the east. Internally, the ground slopes to the south and is terraced while the wall is 
stepped. The full length of the north wall supported glasshouses; save for one section these have 
now gone, though their bases remain. The original access through some of the glass houses to the 
range of potting sheds and boiler house appear to be still extant. The potting sheds are in good 
order and used by craft workers. The glasshouses faced down onto a central north-south path 
which met the broadwalk in the lower section. South of this the lower, southern, part of the 
garden is grassed, until the 1990s it had geometric beds. There is a wagon gateway in the west 
wall. There is some ornamental planting near the house, mainly beds flanking the broadwalk. 
South-west of the house there is laurel, Portuguese laurel and rhododendron, and also an area of 
bamboo. There are two main entrances into the park; the main gate to the north-east has a pair 
of square sandstone piers with a vaguely Renaissance feel, having arched panels to their shafts. 
The wrought-iron gates are original and have Bruce’s crest thereon. To the east of the gateway a 
brick wall with stone coping leads eastwards (with an additional smaller pier to this side), whilst to 
the immediate north-west of the gate is the lodge. Built in 1888-89, and similar in style to the 
Manor House, it is also undoubtedly the work of W.H. Lynn. It is a rectangular one and a half- 
storey dwelling with red brick and sandstone walls with a steeply-pitched overhanging slate roof 
and a large open gabled porch which is tied in with the walling and acts as a pedestrian gate. The 
second entrance and gate lodge into the park pre-dates the manor and originally gave access to 
the mill on the river; it is located just north of the Maydown Bridge on the south-east corner of 
the park; the lodge here (Listed HB 13/11/046) appears to date to early 1830s and is a small three 
bay building, one-storey high. The builder of the manor James Bruce died childless in 1917 and 
the house, grounds and the wider estate were sold to a consortium who planned to convert the 
house into a hotel, but nothing came of this and much of the outlying lands sold in 1935. The 
building appears to have remained vacant until the beginning of WWII when it was requisitioned 
by the War Office for use as a military hospital. When the war ended the estate was put up for 
sale and in 1946 it was acquired for by the RC Parish of Clonfeacle. Local clergy originally intended 
the building to be used as an orphanage or a collegiate, but in 1949 they sold to an American 
branch of The Servites, a Catholic order who had been looking to establish a priory in Ireland for 
some years up to this. The property is still in their possession. SMR: TYR 61:2 bawn, Benburb 
Castle, 61:24 mound and 61:25 enclosure. The priory and the house in the bawn are private. The 
grounds are open to the public.