Baronscourt, Newtownstewart, 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. 32. “(Hamilton, Abercornm D/PB) A large and complex two storey Georgian house, of which the nucleus is a block seven bays long and externally of ca 1780, when 8th Earl of Abercorn employed as his architect George Steuart; with a three bay pedimented breakfront, urns along the roof parapet and on the pediment, and plain entablatures over the ground-floor windows. In 1791-2, 1st Marquess of Abercorn employed John Soane to remodel the house, which was further enlarged and given a rich neo-Classical interior early in C19 to the design of William Vitruvius Morrison. Robert Woodgate also worked here at some stage. The original block now forms the centre of a long garden front, having been prolonged on either side by two storey four bay wings, of the same height and in the same style, but set back, so that the original block stands out from the front by the depth of four bays. Originally, the entrance was on this side of the house; it was then moved to the present entrance front, where there is a pedimented porte-cochere of four giant Ionic columns with wreaths on the entablature, enabling the original entrance hall and the rooms on either side of it to be thrown together into a great gallery, which is divided by screens of fluted Corinthian columns; and has a ceiling of elaborate plasterwork. The rest of the interior is no less sumptuous. There is a rotunda lit by an oculus in a coffered dome, supported by Ionic columns. The staircase hall had a ceiling of rectangular coffering with a rich acanthus frieze, supported by fluted half-columns; the stair itself has a balustrade of delicate ironwork. The library has a circular ceiling on pendatives; other rooms have plastework ceilings of varying designs and walls lined with Corinthian half-columns and pilasters. A modern “living space” has recently been created in the interior by the present Duke. (see supplement)
p. 291. [supplement] The main C19 remodelling of the house was carried out between 1836 and 1840 by 2nd Marquess (afterwards 1st Duke) of Abercorn; Sir Richard Morrison was involved in the work as well as William Vitruvius Morrison, who died 1838 while it was in progress. The projecting wings flanking the entrance porte-cochere were foreshortened and other alterations carried out 1946-7, to the design of Sir Albert Richardson, 3rd Duke of Abercorn, who was Gov of Northern Ireland 1922-45, was a great-grandfather of HRH The Princess of Wales.”
The Rotunda is a circular dining room with a Pantheon dome and Ionic columns in green scagliola, by William Vitruvius Morrison, Baronscourt, Copyright Christopher Simon Sykes/The Interior Archive Ltd, CS_GI4_25
The Library at Baronscourt was boldly redecorated by David Hicks using the reds, purples and yellows of the original stained glass design of the skylight above the staircase, Copyright Christopher Simon Sykes/The Interior Archive Ltd, CS_GI4_27
Baronscourt Estate, Newtownstewart, Omagh, County Tyrone € for one week
Situated in a sheltered valley in the foothills of the Sperrin mountains in Ireland’s County Tyrone, you come across an oasis of peace and tranquillity. Baronscourt, the home of the Duke of Abercorn’s family since 1612, is among that handful of old family Estates in the British Isles which combine great historical and architectural interest with a landscape of outstanding natural beauty.
This private Estate is vibrant working farm, rural business, and spreads over the valley floor at Baronscourt, and throughout its history each generation of the family has continued to ensure a programme of constant planting and landscaping of the park and gardens. It is not open to the public for walking except on the specific dates advertised on social media to raise funds for local charities.
Baronscourt is a multi-award winning food producer for its Wild Sika Venison. Between 2014 and 2023 the Estate has achieved a total of 45 gold stars from the Great Taste Awards for Venison French Rack, Venison Loin, and Handmade Venison Burgers and Sausages. In both 2014 and 2015 we were nominated as one of the Top 50 Foods out of thousands of entries , and we are incredibly proud of our prestigious Golden Fork Award for Northern Ireland 2015 and 2022.
During the shooting season, both Venison and oven ready Pheasants are sold. The management of the Estate’s wild herd of Japanese Sika deer has been recognised with the Laurent Perrier Award for Wild Game Conservation. While the forestry enterprise, an integral part of the Estate, won the Royal Forestry Society’s ‘Duke of Cornwall’s Award’ in 2003.
Guests staying on the Estate can enjoy the beautiful rolling countryside and spectacular walks, enhanced in spring and early summer by the magnificent displays of bluebells, rhododendrons and azaleas. The carefully tended woods frame wonderful vistas that together with the lakes create a truly enchanted location in which to relax away from the pressures of modern living.
Guided tours of Barons Court are available by prior appointment and are approx. 90 minutes.
Situated in a sheltered valley in the foothills of the Sperrin mountains in Ireland’s County Tyrone, Barons Court is the home of the Duke of Abercorn and was built between 1779 and 1782, before being subsequently extensively remodelled by John Soane (1791), William and Richard Morrison (1819-1841), Sir Albert Richardson (1947-49) and David Hicks (1975-76). Barons Court sits at the heart of the Baronscourt Estate which has been home to the Duke of Abercorn’s family since 1612, and is among that handful of old family Estates in the British Isles which combine great historical and architectural interest with a landscape of outstanding natural beauty.
This private Estate is a vibrant working farm, rural business, and spreads over the valley floor at Baronscourt, and throughout its history each generation of the family has continued to ensure a programme of constant planting and landscaping of the park and gardens.
OPENING TIMES
By prior appointment only – please contact the Estate Office on (028) 8166 1683 or email info@barons-court.com
ADMISSION
Tour of the House and/or Gardens – £19 per person (£24 including tea/coffee/scones!).
GROUP VISITS
Groups are welcome on an appointment only basis – group size 12 – 25.
https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2015/06/barons-court-tour.html
Our tour of Barons Court House began in the front hall, where Lord Anthony Hamilton, the Duke of Abercorn’sbrother, greeted us.
The House dates as far back as 1790 and has adapted itself admirably throughout many generations of the family.
When you enter this large hall, the splendid ceiling catches the eye with its elaborate Italian plasterwork.
It was used by the 4th Duke and Duchess, the present Duke’s parents, as a living-room.
This hall has six doors leading from it into other reception rooms.
There is an exquisite portrait of Emma Hamilton (no relation) by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
THENCE we moved in to the rotunda with its glorious coffered ceiling.
I gather that this was once a music-room; though today it is used for formal dinners or even meetings.
Yesterday there were four sizeable portfolios of drawings by Sir Edwin Landseer laid on the table.
THE LONG GALLERY is about thirty yards in length.
It faces what is now the garden front of the House; however this was originally the entrance to Barons Court.
This is a bright and spacious room.
Its considerable size makes it ideal for family celebrations, parties and even christenings.
This room contains fine furnishings and paintings, including a commode with the cipher of Marie Antionette.
THE BROWN LIBRARY, leading from the long gallery, is a family room which makes skilful use of subdued and quiet red and brown colours.
OUR next part of the tour took us to the lofty and spacious staircase hall.
It’s not hard to miss the massive painting by Jordaens, quite aptly entitled Soldiers Carousing (!).
I’ve been told that this room can be used for shooting parties and children’s parties.
An antique pianola sits directly under the staircase.
THE last room we visited was what is today known as the Family Room.
It used to be the large dining-room, though, with the sage advice of the celebrated interior designer, David Hicks, the room has been “compartmentalised” into different areas and dark green free-standing units.
At one end there is a kitchen; while there is a space at the other end with drinks cabinet and CD player and so on.
BARONS COURT remains essentially a family home and it is delightful that the Duke and Duchess open its doors occasionally for everyone to enjoy and admire.
see https://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.com/2015/06/baronscourt-fete.html
https://apps.communities-ni.gov.uk/Buildings/buildview.aspx?id=1435&js=false
Exterior Description And Setting
A two-storey multi-bay Neo-classical country house, built c.1780, to designs by George Steuart, remodelled and extended c.1790 by Sir John Soane, further remodelled c.1835 by William Morrison; further remodelled and reduced in size by Sir Albert Richardson c.1945. The house is set in an extensive demesne located to the west of Newtownstewart village (HB10/04/001A-R) It is generally double-fronted square on plan (entrance elevation to north, garden elevation to south) with east and west wings and two-storey projecting pavilions to either end at north; the garden elevation breaks forward at centre and is pedimented. Roofs are hipped Welsh slate with lead-capped ridges and hips; several tall ashlar sandstone chimneystacks with corniced caps and decorative pots. Tapered parapet gutters to base of roofslopes; cast-iron box gutters elsewhere; moulded hopper heads. Walling is ashlar sandstone with parapet and cornice (except where stated), platband and stringcourse at first floor level, slightly projecting plinth. Parapet supports a number of decorative urns. Windows are timber sliding sash, 6/9 6/6 and 3/6; opening are detailed with each elevation. The entrance elevation is asymmetrical and faces north. It is dominated by a triple-height prostyle tetrasyle Ionic portico with pediment bearing a carved stone coat-of-arms; the frieze is detailed with laurel wreaths; responding piers have decorative capitals. The portico is flanked by lower two-storey two-bay projecting bays fronting recessed two-storey east and west wings (that to west sits further back), each terminated by a lower two-storey pavilion (the east wing has no parapet; east pavilion is deeper). A plainly detailed granite colonnade of square-arches spans each ground floor between the pavilions and projecting bays; each has an ashlar infil panel to right arch. The pavilions are plainly detailed, each having a blind semi-circular arch to its main face. The entrance consists of a double-leaf half-glazed timber door with brass furniture, lugged architrave and pediment, flanked by a 6/6 window having moulded lugged architrave and pediment on foliated console brackets to either side. There is an additional secondary entrance door accessed by stone steps to right of portico; it has a beaded muntin, brass furniture and large 6-light transom. Ground floor windows are generally 6/6 have lugged architraves and moulded cills with panelled stops; 3/6 and no lugs to first floor. The east elevation consists of the east end of the main east wing, which is has two blind openings at first floor over two similar diminished openings (all separated by platbands), and the east elevation of the pavilion, which is four windows wide at each floor over exposed rubble-stone basement. Elliptical-arch-headed basement entrance comprises a four-panelled door surmounted by plain entablature on plain baseless columns. Basement windows are 3/3 and have plain reveals. Remainder are 6/6 with the exception of a single 3/3 to first floor. Main block is abutted at left (basement level) by a monopitched garage extension (screened by false front to south elevation – see later). The south (garden) elevation is symmetrical and consists of the central section (seven windows wide and four windows deep) with central pedimented breakfront, flanked by wings (four windows wide). Ground floor windows are 6/9 with full-height architraves to ground level enclosing a panelled apron. First floor windows are 6/6 with platband at cill level and lugged architraves. The west elevation consists of the west elevation of the west wing, and the lower west elevation of the pavilion; both are two windows wide. The west wing has an eight-panelled door at left with large 9-light transom, and a window above, all framed by full-height lesene strips. At right is a projecting bowed ground floor bay with three windows (9-light upper sash over large plain glazed lower sash), surmounted by a balcony with panelled parapet. A double-leaf half-glazed timber door with large transom leads to the balcony at upper floor; all openings have lugged architraves with the exception of those to the bowed bay, which are framed by pilasters. Pavilion openings are 6/6 to ground floor and 3/6 to first floor. The garage block forms a false front to south, detailed as main house and with parapet cornice to south concealing monopitched natural slate roof behind. It is read as two parts: left section is three windows 6/6 windows wide to each floor, right section breaks forward and has two double height round-headed 15/15 sash windows. North elevation consists of an arcade of eight elliptical-headed openings set in a timber sheeted wall; the two at left are open, remainder have double timber-sheeted doors with multi-light elliptical transoms. There is a tennis court directly at north. To the east of the garage block is a square stone faced store, partly ashlar and partly randomly coursed, built in to rising ground with 2 hopper openings that may have been for the delivery of coal. The roof is supported on steel beams and a series of brick jack arches. The house is set on the floor of a declivity in an extensive demesne, with Late formal gardens to south and an expansive lawn and gravel forecourt to north. One of a series of lakes is accessed by a set of steps descending down a steep terrace to west. The estate offices and stableyard (HB10/04/001B) are set on a steep rise to east. The formal gardens comprise a series of shallow terraces with a linear network of gravel paths and manicured beds; the garden is furnished with a number of sets of bull-nosed stone steps and a number of balustraded plinth walls define the immediate curtilege. Beyond to boundary of the garden at south is pasture and grazing land. At the south-west corner is a sandstone and cast-iron gate screen leading from a gravel estate road at south to a grass avenue running up the west side of the house. It comprises two sets of piers supporting an ornate cast-iron gate with matching screens to either side divided by square open-latticework piers with pointed finials; terminated at either side by square ashlar sandstone piers with cornices caps and shallow filleted urn finials on pedestal blocks. Roof: Hipped Welsh slate, leaded hipsand ridges Walling: Ashlar sandstone Windows: Timber sashes (various configurations), stone cills and moulded architraves. RWG: Tapered parapet gutters, cast-iron box gutters, decorative hopper heads
Architects
Richardson, Sir A Morrison, Richard & William Vitruvius Stewart, G Soane, Sir J
Historical Information
During the plantation, extensive lands in County Tyrone were granted to the first Earl of Abercorn in 1611 by King James I. Baronscourt was included and was part of the manor of Derrygoon (also known as Derrywoon and Dirrywoon). Baronscourt Demesne lies in the townland of Barons Court within the parish of Ardstraw approximately 4km south-west of Newtownstewart. The present mansion was originally constructed c.1780, remodelled and extended c.1790, and again c.1835 and c.1945. The Abercorns originally had their Baronscourt residence in what is now the Agent’s house (HB10/04/001C). Rowan states that Baronscourt House (HB 10/04/001A) was built on its present site between 1779 and 1781 and Bence-Jones dates it to c.1780. The house is shown on a 1777 map of the demesne (D623/D/1/16/72), possibly moving the date back a few years, although this could be a proposed layout. Correspondence shows that the building was certainly complete by 1781 and plans were already underway to convert the earlier house and to carry out other improvements in the demesne. James Hamilton, eighth Earl of Abercorn (1712-1789) employed George Steuart as his architect. According to Rowan (p 131), Steuart’s house cost £8,015 8s. 7½d. John (later Sir) Soane was employed by the first Marquis of Abercorn (1756-1818) to remodel the house during 1791-92. Changes included enlarging and remodelling the house and reorienting, to create a north-facing front. Building accounts show these changes cost the Marquis at least £14,500. In July 1793 James Hamilton described the change as ‘completely metamorphosed, both as to house and grounds, as scarcely to bear a single trace of resemblance to the former appearance of either.’ (Proudfoot, p 534). In 1796 an accidental fire at the house, gutted the main block of Soane’s building causing the loss of distinctive features. Robert Woodgate, already at Baronscourt overseeing work for Soane, was put in charge of reconstruction between 1797-98. Additional changes were subsequently made in 1810 by Mr Turner. According to agent John James Burgoyne, Turner was ‘idle’ and would ‘do anything to get a drink’ (Gebbie p 388-9). OS Memoirs describe in the 1830s (p 10) that considerable improvements and alterations are about to be made to the house immediately. Around this time, the second Marquess of Abercorn called upon William Farrell and William Vitruvius Morrison to produce plans for remodelling, Morrison’s plans were chosen. His father, Richard Morrison, took over after his death in 1838. Remodelling cost almost £20,000. The house was further enlarged and a pedimented port-cochere added. The house was given a rich Ne-oclassical interior and a formal garden was added at this time. The Morrisons contributed largely to the interior of Baronscourt. Greek Ionic columns, the Rotunda and a large dining room with scagliola pilasters, were amongst the additions. Richard Morrison’s individual contribution is the Palladian revival ceiling in the library, designed 1839 (Rowan p 132). The house was subject to another fire c.1940. O’Brien states Sir Albert Richardson made some changes for the late third Duke c.1945 after this, including the demolition of two substantial wings (O’Brien, p 204). In 1970, Raymond Firth was responsible for building a garage on the site of one of these wings (Reeves-Smith in the Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest, Northern Ireland). Rowan states that work was undertaken to reinstate some internal changes made by Richardson c. 1975 (p 133). This was most likely the work of David Hicks, who, according to Reeves-Smith, was commissioned to remodel the interior between 1975-6. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI D/623/D/1/16/72 -Map of Baronscourt Park (1777) 2. PRONI OS/6/6/17/1 -First Edition OS Map (1833) 3. PRONI OS/6/6/17/2 -Second Edition OS Map (1854) 4. PRONI OS/6/6/17/3 -Third Edition OS Map (1907) 5. PRONI D/623/D/5/43 -Late 19th Century map of Baronscourt 6. PRONI VAL/1B/637A &D -Townland Valuation (1828-40) 7. PRONI VAL/2/A/6/17A -Griffith’s Valuation Map (1856-64) 8. PRONI VAL/2/B/6/17 -Griffith’s Valuation (1856-1925) 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/42/7A-F -Annual Revision Records (1860-1925) Secondary Sources 1. Bence-Jones, M. “A Guide to Irish Country Houses.” Second Revised Edition. London: Constable and Robinson, 1990. 2. Day, A. and P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Tyrone I, 1821, 1823, 1833-36, Vol. 5.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1990. 3. Dean, J. A. K. “The Gate Lodges of Ulster.” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994. 4. Lewis, S. “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Vol. I.” London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837. 5. O’Brien, J. and D. Guinness. “Great Irish Houses and Castles.” London: George Weidenfield & Nicolson Ltd., 1992. 6. Proudfoot, L. Place and Mentalité: The ‘big house’ and its locality in County Tyrone, Ch. 16. In “Tyrone History and Society.” Dillon, C. and Henry A. Jefferies, eds. Geography Publications, 2000. 7. Rowan, A. “North WestUlster: Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.” Dublin: Penguin Books, 1979. 8. The Irish Architectural Archive Dublin. “The Architecture of Richard Morrison (1767 – (1849) and William Vitruvius Morrison (1794 – 1838).” Dublin: The Irish Architectural Archive Dublin, 1989. 9. The Irish Architectural Archive Dublin. [Internet source]. Available from: Accessed 22nd Apr 2009 10. Young, R.M. “Belfast and the Province of Ulster in the Twentieth Century.” Brighton” W. T. Pike, 1909 11. “Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest, Northern Ireland.” Northern Ireland Environment Agency [Internet Source]. Available from: Accessed 22nd Apr 2009
Criteria for Listing
Architectural Interest
A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form E. Spatial Organisation H+. Alterations enhancing the building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value
Historic Interest
V. Authorship W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Z. Rarity
Evaluation
Baronscourt is one of the largest and most significant country houses in Northern Ireland and the wider island of Ireland. It has been in continuous use as the family seat of the Earls of Abercorn since 1780 and retains a wealth of the highest quality detailing and craftsmanship. The house has been associated with a number of distinguished architects and has undergone at least three periods of extensive remodelling since its construction, having been originally designed by George Steuart, subsequently enlarged by Sir John Soane in 1790, and again by William Vitruvius Morrison in c.1830, taking on its current appearance only in c.1945 when the house was reduced in size by Sir Albert Richardson. As a result, the house has a somewhat complicated plan, particularly at the north side, where rooms are on a number of levels. It is neo-classical in style, faced in ashlar sandstone, generally two storey over an extensive basement, with formal garden front to south and entrance elevation with portico and asymmetrical pavilions to north. Internal refurbishment by David Hicks c.1970 is also worthy of note. The main house is complemented by the lower level garage block, a detatched store and an ornate gate screen to the south. The house is beautifully situated in an extensive demesne with formal gardens, parkland, woodland and three loughs. It is overlooked by the stableyard (HB10/04/001B) to east and has a wealth of ancillary structures including a two earlier ducal residences, an eighteenth century classical villa (HB10/04/001C) and a seventeenth century plantation house. The house and wider demesne are of considerable architectural, historical and significance.
General Comments
This record has been renumbered it was previously HB10/04/001.It is part of a group which includes previous HB/10/04/051 and HB10/04/052.
Date of Survey
08 April 2009
www.nihgt.org/resources/pdf/Register_of_Parks_Gardens_Demesnes-NOV20.pdf
BARONS COURT, County Tyrone AP DERRY AND STRABANE 06) T/004
REGISTERED GRADE A*
Ireland’s only surviving ducal seat and one of the grandest houses and demesnes in Ireland. The
unwalled demesne laid out as a landscape park from the mid-18th century (1.488 acres/600ha) lies
2 miles (3.3km) south-west of Newtownstewart and 7.7 miles (12km) north-west of Omagh in a
valley on the west side of Bessy Bell (1387ft) incorporating three lakes, Loughs Catherine, Fanny
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020
and Mary. The development of the demesne is well documented and it is one of the few at which
named landscapers were employed. The Hamilton family have lived here since 1612; the
presence of the important O’Neill crannog of Island McHugh (Schedued/TYR17:033) in Lough
Catherine means that this area was of considerable importance in late medieval times and the
presence of this site was probably an important consideration in Sir George Hamilton building his
Scottish-style plantation strong house here in 1612. The grant of lands hereabouts – the ‘Manor
of Derrygoon’ (or Derrywoon/Dirrywoon), had been made by King James I to George Hamilton of
Binning and later purchased by Sir George Hamilton of Greeenlaw (d.1654), a younger brother of
James Hamilton (1575-1618), 1st Earl of Abercorn. By 1622 Sir George, who unlike his brother was
a Roman Catholic, had ‘begun to build a fair stone house, 4 storeys high, which is almost finished’
this being the Scottish-style plantation castle and bawn at Derrywoone (scheduled/TYR017:034),
which lies about half a mile north of the present house within the demesne; it has recently (2005)
been stabilised and conserved. There is no evidence that the Derrywoone residence was
destroyed in the 1641 Rebellion, but appears to have been abandoned to ruin by 1667 when the
manor here was granted to Sir George Hamilton of Dunnalong (d.1679). This eventually passed to
Sir George’s grandson, James Hamilton (c.1661-1734), who succeeded as the 6th Earl of Abercorn
in 1701, and with whose descendants – Marquesses of Abercorn from 1790 and Dukes of
Abercorn from 1868 – it has remained to this day, the present owner being James Hamilton
(b.1934), the 5th Duke. The 6th Earl was an absentee landowner who ran his Irish estate through
agents with the Cloghogall and Derrywoon manors being managed by John Colhoun; when the
earl came to Ulster he would stay at his father’s house in Strabane. His son, James Hamilton
(1686-1734) succeeded in 1734 as 7th Earl of Abercorn with 70,000 acres in five manors in north-
west Ulster. The 7th earl was very English orientated and devoted much time to scientific study,
becoming a fellow of the Royal Society. He rarely came to Ireland, but must have had an interest
in his Irish holdings as on one of those rare visits, the 7th earl selected Derrywoon as the most
suitable location for a country residence, initially looking at renovating the small medieval castle
on Island McHugh, but in early 1740 opting to build on high ground above the east side of Lough
Fanny just north of the present house. Consequently work began in 1741 on a small ‘rustic
Palladian’ villa, part of which survives as the ‘Agent’s House’ (Listed HB 10/04/044). The architect
and builder was James Martin (d.1745) who was also responsible for Clogher Cathedral; when the
7th earl died in 1744, the building had to be finished by his son James Hamilton, the 8th Earl
(1712-89). The building of the ‘Agent’s House’, which originally had an upper floor, involved brick-
making and making stone windows frames by a mason called McDonagh. It was also accompanied
by landscape changes to what was now being called ‘Baronscourt’; at that time the eastern of the
demesne was delimited by a road running between 1000ft (305m) and 1,200ft (365m) inside the
present road, which in fact remained the boundary for another century until the present
Baronscourt Road was built (B 84). Inside this former road was a ditch which must have been
present by the 1740s as there is a reference to ‘repairing’ the ditch and there were plans to build
a demesne wall, which never came to pass. The new villa was entered from this road via what
became known as Johnstown gate (which later had gate lodges) leading onto what was originally
a straight tree-lined avenue, typical of the era. The present avenue of trees, 600ft (185m) long,
were planted by the 3rd Duke in the late 1940s; however, the original avenue was chopped down
before the 1830s, presumably because they conflicted with the naturalised landscape. Two oaks
in the circular lawn in front of the ‘Agent’s House’ are likely to be two survivors of this original
avenue. The anchor between them apparently comes from the French frigate Lausun on which
King James II left Ireland after the Battle of the Boyne; it was presented to the 1st Duke by the
Waterford Harbour Commissioners. Flanking the avenue is the walled garden (3.53 acres/1.43ha)
laid out in a square with high stone walls and brick-lining inside; while there is a reference to the
building of a ‘garden wall’ in the 1745, though this garden seen rather grand for this size of house.
From the late 19th century lean-to glasshouses lined the full length of the south-facing wall; there
is a record of the Scottish company MacKenzie & Moncur providing glasshouses for Baronscourt
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020
in the early 20th century, which presumably included rebuilding some or all of these houses (all
now demolished). North of the north wall were the lean-to potting sheds, now demolished. and
the frame yard, which is still used and delimited from the park to the north by a hedge. The
walled garden was used for ‘Baronscourt Nurseries’ in the 1990s; it remains fully cultivated,
covered with polytunnels for nursery purposes. Just south of the ‘Agent’s House’ a large granary
building was erected in 1740-44, later converted into stables. With building work completed,
work focussed on he greater landscape. The canal was widened between the two lower loughs
and tree planting the vicinity of the house; a head gardener, James Broomfield, was engaged early
in 1745 to oversee the planting but only last until 1748 before leaving. Much of the planting was
in fact overseen by William Doyle (fl. 1745-56) who early in 1745 was given ‘1,100 and ½
chestnutt, 1,400 beech, 500 laburnums, 2,000 ash trees all fit for planting out, and also 100,000
ash of one year old only fit to transplant into a nursery’. The 8th earl’s instructions seem to be in
advance of their day, without the stress on formalism as he was demanding that: ‘I will have ten
clups of trees planted in the park where you think proper, at a distance from the house, about
100 or 150 in each clump, and the trees above five feet from each other. These must be mixed,
half chestnuts and the rest birch and “liburnums”‘. Also in February 1745 the 4th earl was
instructing that Doyle to ‘get the glasses of the hotbeds mended…and plant the 100 firs from Mr.
Stewart of Killemoon [Killymoon], not too near the house’. In 1750-1 a partly walled deer park
was made on the west side of Lough Fanny, known as the ‘Lough Fanny Deer Park’ to distinguish it
from the later deer park on Bessie Bell. It was 120 acres (48ha) in its original form, but in the
1840s was enlarged (295 acres/119ha) when the park was extended west to the Drumlegagh-road
North. Deer were first introduced into the park in April 1751, the first animals being two bucks
and nine does transported from London. Fifteen years later in 1766 there were 300 deer in the
park of which 200 were does. It was later decided by 8th earl to build a new house on a different
site closer to the lake and work on foundations began in July 1776. Some cellars were dug, stone
arrived, but all sorts of problems emerged, not least bad weather and weather was halted until
the Scottish architect George Steuart arrived on site until June 1779 with a team of 17 masons, 6
carpenters and 2 plasterers from London to take over the operation. Later his team increased in
size Steuart’s house was completed in 1782, at a cost of £8,015.8s0d, its entrance facing south,
and while there is nothing left of this house, it is recognisably the basis of the present garden
facade. The 4th earl came for the last time to see his finished house in 1782, but died in 1789.
Ever conscious of the importance of creating good designed landscaping, no doubt inspired by his
uncle the Hon Charles H. Hamilton (1704-86), the creator of Painshill, the 4th earl undertook
large-scale planting to compliment the new house, both before and after it was built. In March
1778 he appointed Thomas Hudson as head gardener to oversee the tree planting; in April 1785
Hudson planted 1,000 oaks and 230 ash with aid of 118 labourers and 49 horses’. When Daniel
Beauford came here in 1786 he was able to wax lyrical upon the ‘magnificent seat’ and ‘the great
number of fine oaks and three long narrow lakes which ornament this place and give it an air of
great grandeur’, while the Earl-Bishop of Derry thought it ‘impossible to see the demesne at
Baronscourt and not wish to emulate its elegance and I fear it is equally impossible to succeed in
the attempt without the assistance of Mr. Hudson…who ‘has given proof of his ability so far
beyond what Mr. Shanley or King, or any of the common manufacturers of lawns and plantations
can rise to’. Hudson was discharged from his post at Baronscourt in early July 1790 for reasons
unknown. By this stage the 4th earl had died leaving no heir, the property and title passing to his
nephew John James (1755-1814), who become the 9th earl and was raised to be 1st Marquis of
Abercorn. He was very politically active, a close friend of all the leading statesmen of the day, but
also had time for his Irish estates and it was he who brought (Sir) John Soane to Ireland in May
1791 to see how the Steuart house could be made more suitable to the Marquis’s larger family
and more expansive style of living. Soane came to Baronscourt in May 1791 and produced a
reworking of the existing house by reversing it from back to front. Robert Woodgate, Soane’s
assistant was sent to Baronscourt in September 1791 and he directed the work on the new house
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020
over the next four years. Unfortunately, the new house had hardly been completed when in
December 1796 it was very seriously damaged by a fire, so bad in fact that the earl decided not to
rebuild as Ireland was experiencing unsettled times. In 1803 creepers were planted over the burnt
out part of the building and in 1810 a mason from Derry called Turner engaged to build these
walls up by eight feet to the top of Steuart’s first floor and re-roofed it. In 1818 the 1st Marquess’s
grandson, James Hamilton (1811-1885) succeeded to the estate and titles, being later raised to 1st
Duke of Abercorn in 1868. At first the Marquis did not indicate his intention of making
Baronscourt his permanent home, but then in 1835 engaged the architect William Farrell to
prepare some drawings to rebuild Baronscourt. In the end, in April 1835, he engaged Sir Richard
and his son William Vitruvius Morrison to remodel house in 1836-41. They entirely rebuilt the
west wing and while they kept the plan Soane’s entrance vestibule, and his idea of a rotunda, the
house was pretty-much rebuilt, so that much of what we see today is the product of the
Morrison’s work. Their building work was accompanied by a major enlargement of the parkland;
on the west side the deer park was extended back to the Drumlegagh-road North and on the east
side the old road was re-aligned to its present line (Baronscourt Coach Road/B 84). This
enlargement involved a considerable amount of landscaping and tree-planting, much of which
was overseen by Edmund Murphy (c.1800-1866), a landscape designer, later one of the editors of
the Irish Farmer’s and Gardener’s Magazine and referred to by Loudon in his Encyclopaedia of
Gardening, as one of the principal ‘rural artists’ in Ireland of the day (Loudon himself came to
Baronscourt but not on commission). Expansion of the park was accompanied by new gate
lodges; Richard Morrison c. 1837 in fact drew plans for three entrances and accompanying lodges,
but none were executed. Those lodge that were built included the Newtownstewart gate lodge
(Listed HB 10/04/001K) which is adaption of Design 4 from P.F. Robinson’s Design for Lodges and
Park Entrances and may be the work of Robinson himself or more likely the Morrisons; the
associated screen (Listed HB10/04/001H) is in contrasting Classical style. At the western entrance
off Drumlegagh Road North is Rock Cottage (Listed HB 10/04/001H), an unusual rustic lodge
rebuilt in the late 1830s or 1840s on the site of an earlier lodge. Dean believed it to be by P.F.
Robinson and was a variation on his ‘Design No 2’. Other lodges have gone, namely the Church
Lodge or ‘Devine’s Gate’ of c1835 in the picturesque manner. In the decades following the
Morrison improvements a number of garden embellishments were added near the house itself. In
the late 1840s or early 1850s an enormous ramped Italian parterre terraced garden was added to
the lake or west front by the celebrated garden designer William Broderick Thomas (1811-98).
Thomas, who was the grandson of Viscount Midleton in Cork, was one of the most fashionable
garden designers of the day, having been engaged by the Queen at Buckingham Palace and by the
Prince of Wales at Sandringham. His work at Baronscourt, which was his earliest Irish commission,
involved making the terraced garden overlooked by the ‘Duchesses’ bow window at the base of
formal grass terraces, consisting of four rectangular parterre divisions, each made up of a
geometrical arrangement of beds, many circular, with surrounds of red brick and white quartz
chippings and incorporating ornamental urns, chain beds, upright yews and a grand central
fountain. It is believed that thirteen gardeners alone were needed to tend this parterre, which
was cleared in 1913 and replaced for many years with rather unsatisfactory island beds;
eventually these too were removed and now only some stone balustrading survives. The Marquis
was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (July 1866-December 1868) and again as Duke (March
1874-December 1876) and one of the result of this appointment was that he became familiar with
the gardening work of Ninian Niven (1799-1879) who laid out the viceregal parterre and had been
engaged as gardener at the Chief Secretary’s Lodge. In 1876, when still the Lord Lieutenant, and
now Duke, he engaged Niven to create a terraced garden to the south of the south. His plan,
which is in the house, shows four ornamental terraces with a pattern pf various beds and
parterres and incorporating trees such as cedar, monkey puzzle, clipped yews and thuja. At the
far end of the bottom terrace two symmetrical fountains are depicted flanking a group of statuary
with surrounding semi-circular yew hedge. His planting scheme has long changed but the basic
Register of Parks, Gardens and Demesnes of Special Historic Interest (NI) – November 2020
framework of his design remains to this day. It was here on the lowest terrace that the pale
peachy orange Potentilla ‘Sophie’s Blush’ was discovered. In the early 1990s this garden was
restored and herbaceous borders replanted in the middle terrace. North-west of the house an
avenue of alternating Monkey Puzzles and Lawson Cypress ‘Erecta viridis’ was planted in the
1860s; some reached over 100 feet tall when they were removed in the 1980s. To the west of this
was a woodland garden with a shelter of Scots Pine. The area was planted with Japanese maples
and later; in the 1920s and 1930s, rhododendrons were placed here. In the 1890s James, the 2nd
Duke (1838-1913), created a bog garden for his wife Mary Anna, Duchess of Abercorn. It was
made astride a small stream between Lough Fanny and Lough Mary; bamboo inevitably took over
much of this area in later years. The 2nd Duke also added the stable block in 1889-90 to a design
of the Belfast architect Joseph Bell. Around this time a second deer park was made at
Baronscourt on the hills east of the demesne; it was created in imitation of Scottish Deer Parks of
the time and was used mainly to stock Red Deer. It remained in use until the 1920s. The whole of
Baronscourt is a fully maintained domestic and working demesne. Farmland and acres of mixed
woods are managed. There are large traces of commercial forest, composed mainly of larch,
white fir, western hemlock, Scots Pine and some popular, much of which was the product of the
extensive planting by the 4th Duke (1904-1979) who had a passion for forestry and introduced
Nothofagus as a crop, using seed from Chile. Lying in unexpected places within some of the
plantations are found old magnolias and walnuts, planted by the 3rd Duke as ‘surprise trees’. The
demesne church lying above Lough Mary was consecrated in 1858; its grounds contain a large
Celtic cross, 1885, designed by Dublin architect Walter Glynn Doolin (1819-1900) and restored in
2005. A log-built Russian style house, the ‘Pushkin House’, designed by Richard Pierce, was built as
a retreat in the park south of the house for the late Duchess of Abercorn in c.2005. SMR: TYR
17:31 and 31 enclosure, 17:33 Island McHugh Castle and Crannog, 17:34 ruined Derrywoone
Castle, 17:38 enclosure and tree ring, 17:64 field system, 25:14 cairn, 25:15 and 25 megalith,
25:30 settlement and 25:31 enclosure. Private.
Irish Historic Houses 