Back from the brink
Country Life UK|June 17, 2020
Ormiston House, Belfast, Northern Ireland After the police moved out in 1995, Ormiston was abandoned, its grounds reduced to a mess of razor wire and overgrown sycamores. Christopher Stocks applauds a remarkable renaissance
Christopher Stocks
Back from the brink

BELFAST may have, for many, melancholy associations with RMS Titanic and The Troubles, but for much of its modern history it was a money-making town. In the 19th century, it was the centre of global linen production and had the biggest shipyard in the world, Harland and Wolff, employing 35,000 men. Large fortunes were created and its captains of industry built fine houses for themselves. As were many of the city’s most successful businessmen, James Combe was a Scot, who moved to Belfast in 1845 and opened a foundry off the Falls Road, making equipment for the rapidly expanding railways and inventing a flax-carding machine.

By 1866, he was rich enough to commission Scotland’s leading architect, David Bryce, to design a large house for him on a 62-acre estate near the city’s eastern edge. Named after the Scottish village in which Combe was born, Ormiston House is in an architectural style that might be called Belfast Baronial, with a central three-storey tower house flanked by two-storey wings on either side, all faced in imported Giffnock sandstone.

A few years after Combe’s death in 1875, the house was acquired by Sir Edward Harland of Harland & Wolff, followed 10 years later by Harland’s business partner, William Pirrie, who became Mayor of Belfast in 1896 —although he’s best-remembered today for leading the design of RMS Titanic.

Pirrie spent most of his time at his London house in Belgrave Square or at Witley Park in Surrey, but Ormiston provided a perfect venue for corporate and corporation entertainment, as well as a grace-and-favour home for company directors. A ballroom was built in the grounds and the entrance drive illuminated by ornate gas lamps (which were installed at the city’s expense, even as the surrounding streets remained unlit).

この記事は Country Life UK の June 17, 2020 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Country Life UK の June 17, 2020 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

COUNTRY LIFE UKのその他の記事すべて表示
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
Country Life UK

Kitchen garden cook - Apples

'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'

time-read
2 分  |
October 23, 2024
The original Mr Rochester
Country Life UK

The original Mr Rochester

Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024
Get it write
Country Life UK

Get it write

Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution

time-read
6 分  |
October 23, 2024
'Sloes hath ben my food'
Country Life UK

'Sloes hath ben my food'

A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright

time-read
3 分  |
October 23, 2024
Souvenirs of greatness
Country Life UK

Souvenirs of greatness

FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.

time-read
3 分  |
October 23, 2024
Plants for plants' sake
Country Life UK

Plants for plants' sake

The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
7 分  |
October 23, 2024
Capturing the castle
Country Life UK

Capturing the castle

Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker

time-read
6 分  |
October 23, 2024
Nature's own cathedral
Country Life UK

Nature's own cathedral

Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024
All that money could buy
Country Life UK

All that money could buy

A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages

time-read
8 分  |
October 23, 2024
In with the old
Country Life UK

In with the old

Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery

time-read
5 分  |
October 23, 2024