The Stormont Estate is an estate east of Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the site of Northern Ireland's main government buildings, which are surrounded by woods and parkland. The Stormont Estate is within the townland of Ballymiscaw and was named after a district in Perthshire and comes from the GaelicStoirmhonadh, "place for crossing the mountains".
The Cleland family
The Stormont Estate was established by the Reverend John Cleland in the early nineteenth century. He built Stormont Castle in 1830 which was described as a 'large plain house with very little planting about it'. In 1858 the exterior of the castle was redesigned in the Scottish Baronial style by the local architect Thomas Turner. Some ancillary buildings were added at this time including a lean-to glasshouse and stables. A terraced garden and a walled kitchen garden were also created. The Cleland family moved out in 1893 to live abroad and the estate was let to a tenant. When the tenancy ended, initial efforts to sell the estate failed.
Government ownership
In 1921 the newly formed Northern Ireland Parliament was looking for a site for its Parliament Buildings. It purchased the 224 acre Stormont Estate for about £21,000, this included 100 acres of woodland. Ralph Knott designed Stormont House in a Neo-Georgian style. The house was completed in 1926, and a two-storey administration block to its east was finished by 1939. A flat-roofed single-storey extension was added in about 1975. It was listed as a historic building in 1987. The Stormont Parliament Buildings were designed by Sir Arnold Thornely in Greek classical style. They were opened by Edward Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII, in 1932. The main approach to the parliament buildings is along Prince of Wales Avenue. On this road stands a bronze statue of the Unionist MP, Lord Edward Carson on stone plinth and base. This was erected in 1933 and designed by the sculptor Leonard Stanford Merrifield. Detached two-storey stone lodges and gate screens to Stormont Estate were built about 1932, on Upper Newtownards Road and on Massey Avenue. They were designed by Arnold Thornely. Both were listed as historic structures in 1987. A single-storey hipped roof Neo-Georgian style pavilion located on the north side of Massey Avenue just inside the entrance was built in 1936 by the Ministry of Finance, NI. It was designed by Arnold Thornley. Another single-storey hipped roof Neo-Georgian style pavilion on Massey Avenue was built to the east side of the Lord Carson Memorial at some point between 1938 and 1959. The architect is not known. Dundonald House was designed in the early 1960s by Belfast-born architect Robert Hanna Gibson. It is in the international style. The tomb of Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister, James Viscount Craigavon of Stormont and his wife, Cecil is on the east side of the parliament buildings. It is a solid block of Portland limestone with stepped top and corners on a shallow plinth base, set on a stepped platform. The tomb was designed by Roland Ingleby Smit and was completed in 1942.
Public access
The Stormont Estate grounds are open to the public. Facilities include a boardwalk, a fitness trail, an outdoor gym and a barbecue area. There is also a children's playpark named after former Secretary of State for Northern IrelandMo Mowlam MP. Stormont Estate is now home to the Stormont Parkrun, a free, weekly, timed run.
Stormont regulations
The regulations governing the use of the Stormont Estate are displayed at its entrance. These were initially enacted on 31 October 1933, in an order by the Ministry of Finance. These were eventually amended and the regulations currently in force are:
