Monday 23 May 2022

Parkanaur Manor

THE BURGESES OWNED 2,485 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE


The surname of this family, as appears from ancient documents, was formerly De Burges, afterwards Burches, and subsequently, in 1747, the present one was adopted. Richard De Burges was High Sheriff of Herefordshire, 1351-2.

SAMUEL BURCHES, born in Dublin, ca 1645, married, in 1684, Margaret Williams, of Llanelian, North Wales, and had issue,
David (Rev), Rector of St Mark's, Dublin;
Wilham;
JOSEPH, of whom we treat;
Katherine; Deborah.
Both brothers eventually moved northwards to the city of Armagh during the primacy of Archbishop Lindsay, with whom they were connected.

The youngest son,

JOSEPH BURCHES (1689-1747), baptized at St Michan's Church, Dublin, wedded, in 1716, Elizabeth, daughter of Ynyr Lloyd, of East Ham, Essex (Deputy Secretary of the East India Company), and had issue,
Joseph (Rev), 1717-46;
JOHN, of whom hereafter;
YNYR, of East Ham;
Molly; Margaret; Alice.
Mr Burches' second son,

JOHN BURGES (1722-90), espoused, in 1763, Martha, daughter of Robert Ford, and had issue,
JOHN HENRY, his heir;
Mary, m 1784, G Perry, of Mullaghmore, Co Tyrone;
Martha, m 1787, J Johnston, of Knappagh, Co Armagh;
Alice, died in infancy.
His only son and heir,

JOHN HENRY BURGES JP (c1768-1822), of Woodpark, Tynan, and Parkanaur, both in County Armagh, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1802, married, in 1795, Marianne, eldest daughter and eventually co-heir of Sir Richard Johnston Bt, of Gilford, and had issue,
JOHN YNYR, his heir;
Richard, deceased;
Margaret Anne;
Matilda, d 1805.
The only surviving son,

JOHN YNYR BURGES JP DL (1798-1889) of Parkanaur, County Tyrone, Thorpe Hall, Essex, and East Ham, Essex, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1829, wedded, in 1833, the Lady Caroline Clements, youngest daughter of Nathaniel, 2nd Earl of Leitrim KP, and had issue,
YNYR HENRY, his heir;
Charles Skeffington, 1835-45;
Clements Keppel, d 1840;
John Richard Alexander Wamphray, 1843-50;
Mary Anne Margaret; Alice Caroline.
The eldest son,

YNYR HENRY BURGES JP DL (1834-1908), of Parkanaur, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1869, espoused, in 1859, Edith, third daughter of the Hon Richard Bootle-Wilbraham, and sister of the 1st Earl of Latham, and had issue,
YNYR RICHARD PATRICK (1866-1905), High Sheriff of Co Tyrone, 1898; father of YNYR ALFRED;
John Ynyr Wilbraham (1871-95);
Edith Alice; Ethel Margaret; Lilian Adela; Myrtle Constance; Beatrice Annette; Irene Caroline.
Colonel Burges, officer commanding 6th Brigade, Northern Ireland Division, Royal Artillery, married secondly, in 1896, Mary, daughter of George Pearce, of Bishops Lydeard, Somerset.

He was succeeded by his grandson,

YNYR ALFRED BURGES JP DL (1900-83), of Parkanaur, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1939, County Armagh, 1951, who wedded, in 1930, Christine, daughter Colonel George Iver Patrick O'Shee (by his wife, the Lady Edith King-Tenison), and had issue,
MICHAEL YNYR, b 1931;
Susan Elizabeth, b 1934;
Patricia Anne, b 1936.
Major Burges, who lived, in 1976, at Catsfield Manor, Battle, Sussex, was succeeded by his son,

MICHAEL YNYR BURGES, Lieutenant, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers; in the Belfast Linen trade, 1950-74, at Belfast; who lived, in 1976, at Skinners, Edenbridge, Kent.

*****

The BURGES estate, East Ham, Essex, was established by Ynyr Burges, Paymaster, East India Company, between 1762 and his death in 1792, at a total cost of £20,700.

He was succeeded by his daughter Margaret, wife of Sir John Smith-Burges Bt, a director of the East India Company.

In 1799, the estate comprised 422 acres.

Sir John died in 1803.

In 1816, his widow married John, Earl Poulett.

Lady Poulett, who was childless, was succeeded by John Ynyr Burges, grandson of her father's elder brother.
In 1838, the estate produced an income of £1,549, but by 1840 this had been increased to £2,471. An estate map drawn in 1881, which includes details of recent and later changes, shows that most of the property lay near the present town centre.
John Ynyr Burges, who died in 1889, was succeeded by his son, Colonel Ynyr Henry Burges, who was largely responsible for developing the estate for building.

He had started to do so, on his father's behalf, about 1887, and continued until his own death in 1908.

Colonel Burges was succeeded by his grandson, Major Ynyr Alfred Burges, who completed the development of the estate during the 1920s.

Ynyr Burges (d 1792) lived at East Ham for most of his life.

As a boy he was adopted by his uncle, Ynyr Lloyd, deputy secretary of the East India Company.


PARKANAUR MANOR, near Castlecaulfield, County Tyrone, is a large, rambling, romantic, Tudor-Revival house which has evolved over many years.

Originally the land was held by the O’Donnellys until granted by JAMES I to Sir Toby Caulfeild in the early 1600s.

The growing importance of the house from retreat to home to seat is reflected in the graduated scale of the different parts.

When Ynyr Henry Burges settled on the estate in the 1820s, the cottage was enlarged.

His son, John Ynyr, added further to the building from 1839-54, encasing the original building and adding a west wing.

This new house was then named Parkanaur and was built from block rubble on a larger scale.


Parkanaur has a grand, terraced front with octagonal shafts (or pinnacles) and gables at each projection of the façade; a big bay window and an upper oriel; and is comparable to Narrow Water Castle in County Down, again by the Newry Architect, Thomas Duff.

The original two-storey dwelling is still visible with the new building adjoined to it.

The large plate windows of the 1820 and 1839 additions have mullioned windows with leaded lights and transformed frames.

They are shielded by block drip-stones.


The present, higher west wing, lying along the terrace, was laid in 1843.

It doubles back to form an upper yard which has a coach house and a tower intended for hanging meat.

A free-standing office block was added in 1870.

A plaque above the doorway leading to the court is inscribed “This house and offices were built by John Ynyr and Lady Caroline Burges without placing any debt upon the property (A.D. 1870)”.

The cost of the works was specified not to exceed £5,000.

The house remained within the ownership of the Burgeses until 1955, when Major Ynyr Burges and his family moved to Catsfield Manor in East Sussex.

The house lay vacant until 1958 when it was bought by the millionaire Thomas Doran for £13,000 as a gift for his friend, the Rev Gerry Eakins.

Mr Doran had originally come from near Castlecaulfield but had emigrated to the USA as a teenager, where he made his fortune as the founder of The Cheerful Greetings Card Company.

The reason for purchasing the house was to facilitate his friend Gerry Eakins in developing a new centre for the education of handicapped young adults.

The house reopened in 1960 as The Thomas Doran Training Centre (Parkanaur College) and much of the house continues today in this role.

Parkanaur boasts rich, Elizabethan-style interiors.

It has a great hall lit by its three perpendicular windows, with a Tudor-style, arched screen and minstrel's gallery at its south end.

Older work includes the 17th Century Jacobean carved, wooden mantel with male and female figures, and an imported dining-room chimney-piece dated 1641 with Ionic columns, decorated with bunches of grapes and interspersed with spiralling vines and cherub heads below the shelf.

In the Duff Wing, Mrs Burges's sitting room, the drawing room (which has a strap work mantel) and a further octagonal room have lofty Jacobean ceilings.

There is a pretty, mid-17th century Baroque organ-case in the gallery.

Parkanaur is set in beautiful grounds. It boasts a rare herd of white fallow deer.

Much of the original estate remains in the ownership of the NI Forest Service.

As previously stated, the present Tudor-Revival house was begun in 1839 by John Ynyr Burges after he succeeded to the property in 1838, though this building may incorporate elements of the 18th century house on the site.

A wing was added by Duff in 1858 and the whole complex of house and yards completed by 1870 as detailed above, including stable-yard, terrace, retaining wall, gates and urn.

The mansion is enhanced by lawns and parkland, with a small, modern ornamental garden.

Formal gardens on the west side of the house are not planted, but yews and a terrace survive.

The demesne dates from the late 18th century and is on undulating ground; is well planted, with a mixture of mature trees in woodland and parkland, including some unusual trees, exotics and forest planting.

The NI Forestry Service is developing the site as an oak forest and for native conifers.

It is referred to now as ‘a lowland broad-leaved estate’.

This continues a tradition noted by Deane, who describes the demesne thus:
… immaculately tended grounds, wooded by the planting of 40,000 trees by John Henry (Burges) are two avenues leading from two gate lodges added in the mid 1840s.
There is a walled garden, no longer planted up, which has a castellated potting shed in the eastern corner and a large, fine lean-to glasshouse used for peaches, with an extending centre piece.

This was erected in 1873 by J Boyd & sons for £250.

There are remnants of an ornamental area east of the house, between the house and the walled garden, which is oval in shape; retained paths, yews and an urn.

A pond and riverside walks in woodland have been maintained by the Forest Service.

The gate lodge, gates and screen, also by Duff ca 1845, are fine and are listed.

The local and main road have been realigned.

In 1976 the NI Department of Agriculture bought 161 hectares and subsequently more land was acquired, including the stable yard, to allow the provision of facilities for the Forest Park.

Five white fallow deer arrived from Mallow Castle, County Cork, in 1978 and they are the basis of the present herd.

The grounds were opened to the public as Parkanaur Forest Park in 1983.

Parkanaur is open to visitors for functions. 

First published in October, 2010.

1 comment :

Demetrius said...

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