Laurel Hill House

THE KYLES OWNED 1,876 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY LONDONDERRY

The family of KYLE, formerly settled in Ayrshire, acquired, during the plantation of Ulster, the lands of Camnish, County Londonderry.

SAMUEL KYLE (1686-1769), of Camnish, married, in 1720, Mary Buchanan, and had issue,

John;
William;
James;
ARTHUR, of whom presently.

The fourth son,

THE REV ARTHUR KYLE (1733-1808), Minister of First Coleraine Presbyterian Church, wedded, in 1770, Martha, daughter of James Wood, by his wife Maria Lœtitia, second daughter of the Rev Robert Higginbotham, of Laurel Hill, County Londonderry (James Wood was brother to Robert Wood, the celebrated traveller, who discovered the ruins of Baalbec, and was Under-Secretary of state, in 1759, in Lord Chatham's government), and had issue,

ROBERT;
SAMUEL, of whom we treat.

The younger son,

SAMUEL KYLE (1772-1814), espoused his cousin Martha, youngest daughter of the Rev Henry Wright, by his wife Martha, eldest daughter of the Rev Thomas Higginbotham, Rector of Pettigo, County Fermanagh, and had issue,

Arthur, died unmarried;
Henry Wright, died unmarried;
Samuel, died unmarried;
Robert Wood;
HENRY, of whom hereafter;
Maria Lœtitia Wood; Rachel Anna; Martha Eleanor; Anna Lily; Emily H.

Mr Kyle was buried at Capel Curig, North Wales.

His fifth son,

HENRY KYLE JP DL (1811-78), of of Laurel Hill, High Sheriff of County Londonderry, 1868, who succeeded his uncle, Robert Kyle, 1831, married, in 1836, his cousin, Elizabeth Mary, third daughter of William Thompson, of Oatlands, County Meath, and had issue,

ROBERT, his heir;
Henry;
William Thompson;
Anne Elizabeth; Ellen; Frances Martha; Georgina Higinbothom.

Mr Kyle was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE REV ROBERT KYLE JP (1837-98), of Laurel Hill, who wedded, in 1868, Kathleen, second daughter of William Wilson Carus-Wilson, of Casterton Hall, Westmorland, and had issue,

HENRY GREVILLE, his heir;
Francis Carus;
Robert Wood;
Mary Alice Kathleen.

Mr Kyle was succeeded by his eldest son,

DR HENRY GREVILLE KYLE (1869-1956), of Laurel Hill, and 31, Westbury Road, Bristol.

LAUREL HILL HOUSE, Coleraine, County Londonderry, is a two-storey, five-bay house of 1843, with a single-bay pedimented breakfront centre which has three narrow, round-headed windows at first floor level.

The porch boasts a fine, single-storey Corinthian portico.

Quoins are vermiculated and rusticated.

The hall has columns at the rear, disguising the join with an earlier house.

There is said to be good plasterwork in several reception rooms.

The house comprises 5,300 square feet, to the designs of (Sir) Charles Lanyon.

It was lately used by the Ministry of Defence, mainly as an activity centre with ancillary function rooms and recreational space together with showers and toilets.

The Granary lies to the south of the main house.

Laurel Hill House is located on the high ground to the west of Coleraine, overlooking the River Bann.

The Kyles inhabited the house since 1711; hence the road outside the estate was named Kyle’s Brae.

Henry Kyle (1811-78), eldest son of Rev Arthur Kyle, Minister of First Coleraine Presbyterian Church, was the last member of the family to live at Laurel Hill.

During the 2nd World War Laurel Hill House accommodated elements of the American army.

It was sold to a private buyer in 2012.

First published in March, 2019.