Steeped in Resonance and Nuance
It’s the most architecturally appealing aesthetically appetising crossroads in County Tyrone. To the northeast, a coffeeshop. To the southeast, a church. To the southwest, a school. To the northwest, a country house. All oozing rural charm. Welcome to Gortin. The ‘t’ is pronounced “ch”. The main approach to the crossroads could hardly be more dramatic. An inland corniche snakes through the purple heather topped Sperrin Mountains in a downward spiral (Gortin Lakes on one side, Gortin Forest on the other) before plummeting into the valley of the Owenkillew River to arrive at the crossroads. It’s time to go for a wee dander. If the crossroads is considered the western end and St Patrick’s Catholic Church accessed off Chapel Lane the eastern end, that means Gortin High Street is the princely length of 585 metres long.
There’s been a small drop in population (the 2011 Census states 412 inhabitants) and a forest planted since Samuel Lewis’s 1837 Topographical Dictionary of Ireland was published, “Gortin, a village in the Parish of Lower Badony, Barony of Strabane, County of Tyrone, and Province of Ulster, five miles east of Newtownstewart on the road to Cookstown; containing 441 inhabitants. This place is situated in a deep watered valley, and in the district of the Mounterloney Mountains, of which it may be considered the chief town. It consists of one irregular street containing 82 houses indifferently built; the surrounding scenery, though boldly picturesque, is destitute of embellishment from the want of wood, which is found only in the demesne of Beltrim, the handsome residence of Arthur Hamilton, which is surrounded by young and thriving plantations. The parish church, a neat small edifice, is situated here, also the parochial school and a dispensary.” Diarist John McEvoy went even further on highlighting its significance in 1802, “The village of Gortin may be considered the capital of this immense region.”
The Auld Bank Coffeeshop is a single storey dropping to two storeys to the rear three bay building facing the high street. “Auld” meaning “old” is pronounced “owl”. Its rough cut stone and brick quoined exterior is more associated with east of the River Bann villages such as Hillsborough and Moira. Ulster Bank closed its branch in 2015 and the building owner, Blakiston-Houston Estates Company, converted it into a coffeeshop. A very popular one at that, serving the best panini west of the Bann. The bank was built in 1845 with a gabled porch added in 1980. In true late 20th century style, the fanlight and sidelights surrounding the entrance door have a postmodern feel to them. The interior has been opened up; simple ceiling mouldings provide an unpretentious backdrop to the café. On the other side of Main Street, The Auld Forge, a shop selling country clothing brands such as Hartwell, Laksen and Dubarry of Ireland, has opened in a former warehouse next to St Patrick’s Church of Ireland.
Alistair Rowan sums up St Patrick’s Church of Ireland in his 1979 Buildings of North West Ulster (sponsored by Lord Dunleath’s Charitable Trust), “1856 by Joseph Welland, replaced the first Lower Badoney church of 1730. A standard stone built hall with short sanctuary, end porch, and bellcote. Short paired lancets, seven down each side, with quarry glass, and a nice braced truss roof inside, high and a little richer than usual.” A sprawling underdeveloped graveyard drapes a green apron around the south front.
Professor Rowan goes on to explain the church architect’s credentials, “The Church of Ireland had from 1843 one architect, Joseph Welland, who catered for all its needs. His qualifications were impeccable. Welland, a relative of the Bishop of Down, had trained in Dublin in the office of John Bowden, through whom in 1826 he obtained the appointment of architect to the Board of First Fruits in the Tuam Division. In 1839, when the Irish Ecclesiastical Commission replaced the old Board of First Fruits, Welland was appointed one of its four architects (although the older William Farrell seems to have retained responsibility for the North), and in 1843 on the reorganisation of the Commission he became the sole architect.”
Beltrim National School is a long single storey white rendered with slate roof building looking over the road to the cemetery. A juxtaposed case of early life meets eternal life. To either extremity of the façade is an entrance (one for boys, one for girls) separated by six tall windows. Both entrance doors are painted farm shed red with a school name plus date plaque (1899). Completely symmetrical, the former school turned holiday let portrays provincial architectural perfection. So contained, so uncontrived. Higher up the brow of the hill – in fact the last and most southerly building on Glenpark Road, the serpentine leading out of Gortin towards the forest and lakes – is Lower Badoney Parochial Hall, another single storey modest building. Again a name and date plaque gives away its use and age (1884). A gleaming Victorian villa stands between the school and hall.
There’s nothing obviously castellated about Beltrim Castle. There are apparently remnants of the 1620s bawn completed by Sir William Hamilton hidden deep in the fabric of the building. Tyrone people call country houses “castles”. Locals refer to nearby Baronscourt (firmly in the country house category) as “the castle”. Alistair Rowan believes the current appearance of Beltrim Castle dates from the 1820s and notes its overhanging eaves. The low two storey house is incredibly attractive in an understated Ulster manner. The five bay entrance front has a fanlight over its entrance door as big and grand as one on any Dublin townhouse. A later boxy porch was removed last century to reveal the doorcase in all its spiky splendour. To the rear of the main block, Beltrim Castle’s return wing is nearly as long as Gortin High Street or at least a terrace lining it. A lean-to conservatory attached to the wing has long since disappeared. The estate is privately owned by the Blakiston-Houstons but its gardens are occasionally open to the public. In 2015, the now 35 year old Jack Blakiston-Houston married the actress Emma Hiddleston, sister of the actor Tom Hiddleston.
