Springhill

Springhill is a simple, attractive manor house built at the end of the 17th century for Will Conyngham, whose descendants lived here for the following nearly 300 years. Long sash-windows, a steeply pitched slate roof and a whitewashed façade give the house a Scottish air, explained by the fact that Conyngham’s ancestor came from Scotland as part of the Plantation of Ulster in the early 17th century. The central block of the house has a symmetrical façade of 7 bays, with 18th-century wings to either side. The house and flanking Dutch-gabled pavilions display typical late 17th-century butt purlin roof construction. Inside there is a mixture of oak-panelled older rooms and later airy, spacious reception rooms. There is a fine early staircase with oak treads and a handrail and balusters of yew. In the gun room there is rare English Gothick wallpaper dating from c.1760.

Springhill, County Londonderry

This collection has 12,111 items online

The collection offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the Lenox-Conynghams, inhabitants of Springhill for nearly 300 years. The collections range from 18th- and 19th century family portraits, including the Grand Tour group attributed to John Brown, and works by Pompeo Batoni and William Hoare of Bath, to a medicine chest presented by the Duke of Marlborough, all the way through to a much loved very early teddy bear in the nursery. There is a costume museum with a yearly changing theme, which provides a centrepiece for the costume collection that contains over 2000 items of costume and stories, gifted to Springhill over the past 60 years. There is also one of the most remarkable historic libraries in Ireland, going back to the middle of the 17th century. In addition to the books of the Conynghams who first built the house, it includes books assembled in the city of Derry by their merchant cousins the Lenoxs, whom they later married into, to combine their names into the Lenox-Conynghams of today. There is also a large number of books inherited in the 19th century through the female line of the family, firstly from Blessington House in Co. Wicklow and then to Lissan House, Co. Tyrone, before ending their journey at Springhill with the marriage of Charlotte Staples to William Lenox-Conyngham.

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