54 Ardground Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached three-bay asymmetrical single and storey-and-a-half whitewashed stone house, built c.1830 and located at the end of a tree-lined bitmac lane off the Ardground Road. Rectangular on plan facing east with its rear facing onto Ardground Road.
Two-storey rubblestone outbuilding to the north built c.1880 which is attached to more modern farm buildings.

Pitched natural slate roof to the storey-and-a-half north bay having clipped and corbelled eaves, timber bargeboards and a rendered chimneystack to the north gable (centred on ridge). Pitched corrugated metal roofed single-storey middle bay with clipped eaves, cement skews and a rendered brick chimneystack to the south (centred on ridge). Pitched corrugated metal roofed single-storey south bay (shallower pitch) with clipped eaves, cement skews and a rendered brick chimneystack to the south (centred on ridge).
Painted cement rendered rubblestone walling. Square-headed window openings with timber sliding sash windows and concrete sills unless otherwise noted.

Front (east) elevation has a slightly projecting wind-break entrance porch to right of middle bay with an extremely shallow pitched corrugated metal roof and a vertically-sheeted timber front door; 2/2 window with horns to left of door. Right bay has a single central 6/6 window with no horns. Left bay has a single central 2/2 window with horns and replacement concrete cill.

South gable is blank.

Rear (west) elevation has a fixed single pane timber window (no cill) to left of middle bay and a six pane fixed timber window (slightly projecting thin stone cill) to right of middle bay; left bay is blank; right bay has a single central 1/2 window with horns (no cill).

North gable has a single 2/2 window with horns and exposed sash box (no cill) to first floor left. The sashes have been inserted wrongly (bottom sash sits proud of top sash).

Two-storey outbuilding to the north has whitewashed rubblestone walling and a pitched corrugated metal roof with clipped eaves and cement skews. Front (south) elevation has two door openings to each floor equally spaced along the elevation (those to first floor are positioned directly over the ground floor openings). First floor level has a number of paired clay ventilating pipes along the length of the elevation. West elevation is abutted by a modern blockwork outbuilding; exposed section is blank. East elevation is abutted by a flight of stone steps with stone slab treads. Steps rise from left to right and provide access to the attic level through a vertically sheeted timber door right of centre. Rear (north) elevation not viewed at time of survey.

Setting
Located at the end of a tree-lined bitmac lane off to the east side of Ardground Road in a rural
setting.
Two-storey rubblestone outbuilding to the north with external stone steps to the east gable. Various twentieth-century corrugated iron farm buildings line the north side of the access lane.

Roof Natural slate / corrugated metal
RWG None
Walling Painted cement render over rubblestone
Windows Timber

Historical information

This group of vernacular farm buildings located on the Ardground Road, in the townland of Toneduff, consists of two blocks. The single and two-storey dwelling located on a south to north axis was constructed prior to 1830 whilst the two-storey outbuilding located to the north of the dwelling was originally constructed in c.1880. The dwelling was first recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1830) which depicted a rectangular-shaped building occupying the current layout of the site. The map records that the vernacular range originally extended further south than the current building. Inspection of the Ordnance Survey maps show that the southern portion of this range was demolished between c.1850 and 1900. The farmhouse was not included in the Townland Valuations (c.1830) suggesting that it was valued at less than the £3 minimum required for inclusion in the valuation survey.

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1832-38) note that, following the Plantation of Ulster, the majority of land in the parishes of Cumber Upper and Lower was owned by the Church of Ireland with the remainder of the land being distributed out to the Goldsmith, Skinners and Fishmongers Companies. By the early-19th century the decline in local linen weaving had resulting in increased attention being placed on agriculture and by the 1830s most of the land in Cumber parish was occupied by farmers ‘of a low rank’ (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, pp 3-18).

The second edition Ordnance Survey map (c. 1850) depicted the vernacular farmhouse along the same general layout as the 1830 map. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1856) records that the current farmhouse was originally divided into two dwellings valued at £1 and 5 shillings each. The valuer notes that in the 1850s the houses were leased by the Worshipful Company of Skinners to Andrew and Thomas Nixon who were local farmers. The Nixon’s vacated the farm in the 1870s when the dwellings were shared by Hugh McGuinness and Isabella McFarland.

In 1889 McGuinness and McFarland purchased the farm outright from the Worshipful Company of Skinners. The sale was facilitated by the passing of the Purchase of Land (Ireland) Act in 1885. This act, which was also known as the Ashbourne Act, made it easier for tenants in Ireland to buy land, providing them the facility to take out loans (worth 100% the value of the property) and to pay back the Government in monthly instalments (Oxford Companion to Irish History, p. 309).
The two-storey outbuilding to the north of the farmhouse was first depicted on the third edition Ordnance Survey map (1905). The Annual Revisions note that a substantial building, valued at £4 and 10 shillings, was constructed at the site in 1880 suggesting that the outbuilding was constructed at that time.

The 1901 census building return described the farm at Toneduff as a pair of 2nd class dwellings. McGuinness resided in the single-storey thatched portion of the farmhouse (which consisted of three rooms) whilst the McFarlands lived in the two-storey slated portion (which possessed five rooms). The McFarland family had vacated the farm by the 1930s. The two separate dwellings were was recorded as a single property under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The valuer noted that a Ms. Margaret McGuinness resided at the site, which was revalued at £2 and 15 shillings. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value of McGuinness’ farm at Toneduff had risen to over £7. Field inspection of the farm has found that the thatched roof (which originally covered the single-storey section of the dwelling) has been replaced with corrugated iron.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/22/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/22/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (c. 1850)
3. PRONI OS/6/5/22/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1905)
4. PRONI OS/6/5/22/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1925-26)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/46 – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/4A-F – Annual Revisions (1860-1929)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/8 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/20 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Ordnance Survey Memoirs: Co. Londonderry Vol. 28 (1832-38)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
11. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)

Secondary Sources
1. Connolly, S. J., ‘Oxford companion to Irish history’ Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A detached asymmetrical three-bay single and storey-and-a-half whitewashed stone house, built c.1830 and located at the end of a tree-lined bitmac lane off the Ardground Road.
The farmhouse was originally two dwellings constructed on lands owned by the Worshipful Company of Skinners who obtained the land following the Plantation of Ulster. The two dwellings were later amalgamated into a single property c.1930s.
The vernacular grouping remains largely intact with much of its detailing remaining. The twentieth-century corrugated iron farm buildings lining the north side of the access lane do not significantly detract from its interest.
Its interest is enhanced by a two-storey rubblestone outbuilding to the north built c.1880 and altogether they are a good example of modest vernacular architecture and represent a way of life once common, now increasingly rare.

General comments

Additional listing criteria apply - R-Age, S-Authenticity, T-Historic Importance