Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon

File:Belfast Castle.JPG, designed by Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon]]

Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon, Civil Engineers and Architects was a 19th-century firm working mainly in Dublin and Belfast, and the leading architectural firm in Belfast during the 1860s. Its partners were Charles Lanyon, William Henry Lynn, and Charles' son John Lanyon.

Charles Lanyon was the head of the firm and its most famous architect. In 1854, he took Lynn, his former apprentice, into partnership. Their projects included the "Lombardic" Gothic-style Sinclair Seaman's Presbyterian Church in Belfast, and the Venetian Gothic banks at Newtownards, County Down, and Dungannon, County Tyrone.James Stevens Curl, A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-LanyonSirCharles.html "Lanyon, Sir Charles."]

Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon was created when John Lanyon became junior partner in 1860. The partnership with Lynn was dissolved in 1872.

Projects

Designs for buildings and other projects by Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon include:

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Building ! DateA date range indicates time from initial competition or commission to completion or opening of the building ! Location ! Style and remarks
Sion Mill \| 1853 \| Sion Mills, County Tyrone \| linen mill{{Citation needed\|date=June 2010}}
Sandford Road Church of Ireland \| \| Ranelagh, Dublin \| first Dublin commission for the firm[http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/ranelagh/sandford_road_churchofireland.html Sandford Road Church of Ireland, Ranelagh] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122051500/http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/ranelagh/sandford_road_churchofireland.html \|date=2008-11-22 }}; [https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom_allen/3573256463 photo]
Unitarian Church \| 1861–1863 \| St. Stephen's Green, Dublin \| described in Lynn's obituary as "the best example extant of a modern Gothic church on a narrow street frontage"{{cite journal\| title=Obituary: W. H. Lynn\| journal=Irish Builder and Engineer\| year=1915\| location=Dublin}} quoted in {{cite web\| title=Dublin Unitarian Church \| The St Stephen's Green Church\| url=http://www.unitarianchurchdublin.org/history.htm\| accessdate=27 December 2014}}
St. Andrew's Church \| 1862–1866 \| St Andrew Street, Dublin \| "an ambitious Gothic church on a cramped site"Christine Casey Dublin: the city within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road with the Phoenix Park (Yale University Press, 2005), p. 468f. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AQzYxvX_U8MC&dq=%22Lanyon%2C+Lynn+and+Lanyon%22+OR+%22Lanyon%2C+Lynn+%26+Lanyon%22&pg=RA1-PA468 online.]
Chester Town Hall \| 1862–1869 \| Chester \| "Lynn, seemingly ignoring the request for an 'economical' building, incorporated numerous fancy Gothic features and utilised two types of local sandstone, pink and grey"Although the competition eliciting designs had specified that the construction should be "substantial and economical rather than ornamental … and costing no more than £16,000," costs eventually ran to £50,000; see A Virtual Stroll around the Walls of Chester, [http://www.chesterwalls.info/northgate2.html The Northgate, Chester 2.] See also [https://www.flickr.com/photos/80912889@N00/425590883 photo] showing details of sandstone patterning.
Belfast Castle \| 1862–1870 \| Cavehill Country Park, Belfast \| Scottish Baronial style in sandstone, with "striking"Margaret Greenwood et al., Ireland (Rough Guides, 2003, 7th ed.) p. 640 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLHgtXEUfXgC&dq=Lanyon+%22Belfast+Castle%22&pg=PA640 online.] serpentine Italianate stairway; cost overruns and the family's depleted fortune delayed completionBelfast Castle, [http://www.belfastcastle.co.uk/history.asp History] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407134231/http://www.belfastcastle.co.uk/history.asp \|date=2007-04-07 }}; [http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Belfast-Castle-Belfast-P3028 photo] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614033145/http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Belfast-Castle-Belfast-P3028 \|date=2011-06-14 }}; see also John Vinycomb, "Historical and Descriptive Account of the City of Belfast," Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 2 (1892), pp. 325–327 [https://books.google.com/books?id=BIQJAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Belfast+Castle%22+intitle%3AJournal+intitle%3Aof+intitle%3Athe+intitle%3ARoyal+intitle%3ASociety+intitle%3Aof+intitle%3AAntiquaries+intitle%3Aof+intitle%3AIreland&pg=PA326 online], with drawing of the castle.
West Church \| 1863 \| Ballymoney Road, Ballymena \| black basalt in Decorated Gothic style; gutted by fire in 1926 and restored[http://www.ballymena.gov.uk/tourism/churches.asp Ballymena Churches] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924062700/http://www.ballymena.gov.uk/tourism/churches.asp \|date=2009-09-24 }}
Charles Sheils Buildings \| 1868 \| Downpatrick, County Down \| series of almshouses with a bell tower[http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=NITB_3303 Charles Sheils Buildings]
Clarence Place Hall \| \| May Street, Belfast \| style has been compared to Chester Town Hall; [http://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/lanyon/5.html photo][http://stthomas.connor.anglican.org/History.html History of St. Thomas' Belfast] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101225746/http://www.stthomas.connor.anglican.org/History.html \|date=2014-11-01 }}
Linen warehouse for Moore and Weinberg \| 1864 \| 16–18 Donegall Square, North Belfast \| yellow-grey brick, with interior said to be "specially arranged for carrying on the linen business in all departments";Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Proceedings (July 1888), p. 425 [https://books.google.com/books?id=xw8LAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Lanyon%2C+Lynn+and+Lanyon%22+OR+%22Lanyon%2C+Lynn+%26+Lanyon%22&pg=PA425 online], by which time the warehouse served J.N. Richardson Sons and Owden. now Linen Hall LibraryPhilip V. Allingham, The Victorian Web, [http://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/lanyon/6.html The Linen Hall Library], with photo; Linen Hall Library, [http://www.linenhall.com/history.asp History.] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927181722/http://www.linenhall.com/history.asp \|date=2011-09-27 }}
St. Thomas Church \| 1869–1870 \| Belfast \| "one of the grandest and most fully finished examples of High Victorian Gothic ecclesiastical architecture"; white sandstone decorated with red sandstone bands and colored marble discs and colonnettes; a notice of the laying of the foundation stone defines the style as "Gothic, of the Early French period"{{cite journal\| title=The Architect\| volume=2\| location=London\| date=6 November 1869\| page=232\| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vp4aAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22St.+Thomas%22+Church+Belfast+Lanyon&pg=PA232\| accessdate=27 December 2014}}Robert Brendan McDowell, The Church of Ireland, 1869-1969 (Routledge, 1975), p. 77 [https://books.google.com/books?id=VdU9AAAAIAAJ&dq=St.+Thomas+Church+Belfast+Lanyon&pg=PA77 online]
Dowdstown House \| 1870 \| near Navan in Leinster \| described as using "many of the picturesque tricks" characteristic of the firmChristine Casey and Alistair John Rowan, North Leinster: The Counties of Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath (Yale University Press, 1993), p. 78 [https://books.google.com/books?id=NJ1j2FhGpAEC&dq=Lanyon+architect&pg=PA78 online.]
Portrush Town Hall \| 1870–1872 \| corner of Mark and Kerr, Portrush, County Antrim \| "immensely vigorous high-Victorian building" with a "hotch-potch of styles"; Scottish Baronial with crow-stepped gables and "witch's hat" turret; red brick with bands of cream and black brickworkUlster Architectural Heritage Society, [http://freespace.virgin.net/mp.hearth/NAntrim.html North Antrim] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706015126/http://freespace.virgin.net/mp.hearth/NAntrim.html \|date=2009-07-06 }}, calling the Information Office "an utterly repulsive and unsympathetic recent addition"; and Coleraine Borough Council, "Restoration of Portrush Town Hall," [http://www.colerainebc.gov.uk/news/news_item.php?id=434 CBC News] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605054525/http://www.colerainebc.gov.uk/news/news_item.php?id=434 \|date=2011-06-05 }}, with photos. In 2000, the council was refused permission to demolish the building. It was renovated 2004–2005.

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Building

! DateA date range indicates time from initial competition or commission to completion or opening of the building

! Location

! Style and remarks

Sion Mill

| 1853

| Sion Mills, County Tyrone

| linen mill{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}

Sandford Road Church of Ireland

| Ranelagh, Dublin

| first Dublin commission for the firm[http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/ranelagh/sandford_road_churchofireland.html Sandford Road Church of Ireland, Ranelagh] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122051500/http://www.irish-architecture.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/ranelagh/sandford_road_churchofireland.html |date=2008-11-22 }}; [https://www.flickr.com/photos/tom_allen/3573256463 photo]

Unitarian Church

| 1861–1863

| St. Stephen's Green, Dublin

| described in Lynn's obituary as "the best example extant of a modern Gothic church on a narrow street frontage"{{cite journal| title=Obituary: W. H. Lynn| journal=Irish Builder and Engineer| year=1915| location=Dublin}} quoted in {{cite web| title=Dublin Unitarian Church | The St Stephen's Green Church| url=http://www.unitarianchurchdublin.org/history.htm| accessdate=27 December 2014}}

St. Andrew's Church

| 1862–1866

| St Andrew Street, Dublin

| "an ambitious Gothic church on a cramped site"Christine Casey Dublin: the city within the Grand and Royal Canals and the Circular Road with the Phoenix Park (Yale University Press, 2005), p. 468f. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AQzYxvX_U8MC&dq=%22Lanyon%2C+Lynn+and+Lanyon%22+OR+%22Lanyon%2C+Lynn+%26+Lanyon%22&pg=RA1-PA468 online.]

Chester Town Hall

| 1862–1869

| Chester

| "Lynn, seemingly ignoring the request for an 'economical' building, incorporated numerous fancy Gothic features and utilised two types of local sandstone, pink and grey"Although the competition eliciting designs had specified that the construction should be "substantial and economical rather than ornamental … and costing no more than £16,000," costs eventually ran to £50,000; see A Virtual Stroll around the Walls of Chester, [http://www.chesterwalls.info/northgate2.html The Northgate, Chester 2.] See also [https://www.flickr.com/photos/80912889@N00/425590883 photo] showing details of sandstone patterning.

Belfast Castle

| 1862–1870

| Cavehill Country Park, Belfast

| Scottish Baronial style in sandstone, with "striking"Margaret Greenwood et al., Ireland (Rough Guides, 2003, 7th ed.) p. 640 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZLHgtXEUfXgC&dq=Lanyon+%22Belfast+Castle%22&pg=PA640 online.] serpentine Italianate stairway; cost overruns and the family's depleted fortune delayed completionBelfast Castle, [http://www.belfastcastle.co.uk/history.asp History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070407134231/http://www.belfastcastle.co.uk/history.asp |date=2007-04-07 }}; [http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Belfast-Castle-Belfast-P3028 photo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614033145/http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/Belfast-Castle-Belfast-P3028 |date=2011-06-14 }}; see also John Vinycomb, "Historical and Descriptive Account of the City of Belfast," Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 2 (1892), pp. 325–327 [https://books.google.com/books?id=BIQJAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22Belfast+Castle%22+intitle%3AJournal+intitle%3Aof+intitle%3Athe+intitle%3ARoyal+intitle%3ASociety+intitle%3Aof+intitle%3AAntiquaries+intitle%3Aof+intitle%3AIreland&pg=PA326 online], with drawing of the castle.

West Church

| 1863

| Ballymoney Road, Ballymena

| black basalt in Decorated Gothic style; gutted by fire in 1926 and restored[http://www.ballymena.gov.uk/tourism/churches.asp Ballymena Churches] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090924062700/http://www.ballymena.gov.uk/tourism/churches.asp |date=2009-09-24 }}

Charles Sheils Buildings

| 1868

| Downpatrick, County Down

| series of almshouses with a bell tower[http://www.discoverireland.com/us/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=NITB_3303 Charles Sheils Buildings]

Clarence Place Hall

| May Street, Belfast

| style has been compared to Chester Town Hall; [http://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/lanyon/5.html photo][http://stthomas.connor.anglican.org/History.html History of St. Thomas' Belfast] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101225746/http://www.stthomas.connor.anglican.org/History.html |date=2014-11-01 }}

Linen warehouse for Moore and Weinberg

| 1864

| 16–18 Donegall Square, North Belfast

| yellow-grey brick, with interior said to be "specially arranged for carrying on the linen business in all departments";Institution of Mechanical Engineers: Proceedings (July 1888), p. 425 [https://books.google.com/books?id=xw8LAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Lanyon%2C+Lynn+and+Lanyon%22+OR+%22Lanyon%2C+Lynn+%26+Lanyon%22&pg=PA425 online], by which time the warehouse served J.N. Richardson Sons and Owden. now Linen Hall LibraryPhilip V. Allingham, The Victorian Web, [http://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/lanyon/6.html The Linen Hall Library], with photo; Linen Hall Library, [http://www.linenhall.com/history.asp History.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927181722/http://www.linenhall.com/history.asp |date=2011-09-27 }}

St. Thomas Church

| 1869–1870

| Belfast

| "one of the grandest and most fully finished examples of High Victorian Gothic ecclesiastical architecture"; white sandstone decorated with red sandstone bands and colored marble discs and colonnettes; a notice of the laying of the foundation stone defines the style as "Gothic, of the Early French period"{{cite journal| title=The Architect| volume=2| location=London| date=6 November 1869| page=232| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vp4aAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22St.+Thomas%22+Church+Belfast+Lanyon&pg=PA232| accessdate=27 December 2014}}Robert Brendan McDowell, The Church of Ireland, 1869-1969 (Routledge, 1975), p. 77 [https://books.google.com/books?id=VdU9AAAAIAAJ&dq=St.+Thomas+Church+Belfast+Lanyon&pg=PA77 online]

Dowdstown House

| 1870

| near Navan in Leinster

| described as using "many of the picturesque tricks" characteristic of the firmChristine Casey and Alistair John Rowan, North Leinster: The Counties of Longford, Louth, Meath and Westmeath (Yale University Press, 1993), p. 78 [https://books.google.com/books?id=NJ1j2FhGpAEC&dq=Lanyon+architect&pg=PA78 online.]

Portrush Town Hall

| 1870–1872

| corner of Mark and Kerr, Portrush, County Antrim

| "immensely vigorous high-Victorian building" with a "hotch-potch of styles"; Scottish Baronial with crow-stepped gables and "witch's hat" turret; red brick with bands of cream and black brickworkUlster Architectural Heritage Society, [http://freespace.virgin.net/mp.hearth/NAntrim.html North Antrim] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090706015126/http://freespace.virgin.net/mp.hearth/NAntrim.html |date=2009-07-06 }}, calling the Information Office "an utterly repulsive and unsympathetic recent addition"; and Coleraine Borough Council, "Restoration of Portrush Town Hall," [http://www.colerainebc.gov.uk/news/news_item.php?id=434 CBC News] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605054525/http://www.colerainebc.gov.uk/news/news_item.php?id=434 |date=2011-06-05 }}, with photos. In 2000, the council was refused permission to demolish the building. It was renovated 2004–2005.

Sources

Gillian McClelland and Diana Hadden, Pioneering Women: Riddel Hall and Queen's University Belfast (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2005), p. 193 [https://books.google.com/books?id=DnheNDYg1ZcC&dq=%22Lanyon+Lynn%22&pg=PA193 online.]
Antonia Brody, Directory of British Architects 1834-1914: L-Z (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2001), pp. 15–16 and 89 [https://books.google.com/books?id=GkThQYLb3ZUC&dq=%22Lanyon+Lynn%22&pg=PA16 online.]
[http://www.archiseek.com/search/search.php?site=0&path=&result_page=search.php&query_string=Lanyon+Lynn+Lanyon&search=Go&limite=10& Archiseek.]
Dictionary of Scottish Architects, Architect Biography Report, [http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/architect_full.php?id=201944 Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon]

References

Category:Architecture firms of Northern Ireland

Category:Architecture firms of Ireland