MILLTOWN HOUSE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached symmetrical, (with side wing), three-bay two-storey with attic over basement rendered house, built c.1790. Rectangular on plan facing northwest with three-storey rear elevation having central bow and lower two-storey wing to south. Set on a sloping site between Balloughry Road to the northwest and Foyle River to the southeast.

Half-hipped natural slate roof with rolled lead ridges (clay ridge tiles to wing) and replacement rendered chimneystacks with terracotta pots. Replacement metal guttering supported on steel drive-through brackets to moulded eaves course and steel downpipes. Painted rough-cast rendered walling with smooth rendered projecting plinth course. Square-headed window openings with concrete sills and 6/6 replacement timber sliding sash windows with convex horns (unless otherwise stated).

Symmetrical three-bay two-storey northwest front elevation with central pedimented painted masonry doorcase. Round-headed door opening with flat-panelled timber door having brass furniture and plain timber lintel cornice surmounted by semi-circular webbed timber fanlight with glazed hub. Door opening flanked by Doric pilasters with entablature blocks supporting open-bed pediment. Door opens onto concrete platform to gravel front area. Two-bay two-storey south wing projects beyond front elevation with further single-storey accretion to southwest. Replacement multi-pane timber casement windows to south wing.

Symmetrical two-bay northeast side elevation with 3/3 timber sash windows to attic level. Embanked basement area with short section of sandstone coping.

Symmetrical three-bay three-storey rear elevation (SE) with central semi-circular full-height bow. Replacement 9/6 bowed timber sash windows to ground floor of bow, 3/3 to remainder.

Two-bay southwest side elevation abutted to the left by lower three-storey wing. The exposed basement and attic-storey provide a four-storey elevation. 6/6 timber sash window to ground floor, multi-pane timber casement window to first floor and 3/3 timber sash windows to attic and basement levels. The lower three-storey wing is abutted by a further garage block.

Vertically-sheeted double-leaf timber garage doors to wing and accretion with rear entrance to the right hand bay having timber door with glazed upper section and fixed-pane sidelight.

Setting:

Located on an extensive landscaped sloping site with short winding gravel drive leading to gravel front area to northwest. Bitmac driveway runs along northeast side elevation to large bitmac area to rear elevation overlooking Foyle River to southeast. Small cobbled area to south. Modern timber fence and gate encloses the site opening onto shared bitmac driveway opening onto Balloughry Road via replacement timber gates hung on original rubblestone and rusticated limestone ashlar piers with corniced capstones. Tall rubblestone boundary wall encloses the site to Balloughry Road.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Replacement metal
Walling Painted rough-cast render
Windows Replacement timber sash

Historical information

Milltown House, a two-storey-over-basement farmhouse located in the townland of Termonbacca, was constructed pre-1830. Curl suggests that the dwelling, which was originally known as ‘Milton Lodge,’ was constructed in the 18th century and possesses a pedimented doorcase that was directly copied from William Pain’s Practical House Carpenter (1792). The farmhouse was recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1830) which depicted the building along its current layout and displayed the central bay to its east elevation. The contemporary Townland Valuations (c. 1834) note that Milton Lodge was occupied by a Mr. Kennedy Esq. and was originally valued at £26 and 14 shillings. The valuer described Kennedy’s farmhouse as a 1B class building (that is a slated building of medium age that was slightly decayed, but still in good repair) that measured 54ft in width, 24ft in depth and 38ft in height and possessed a barn, servants room and stables amongst it outbuildings. Kennedy had vacated the farm by 1837 when the Ordnance Survey Memoirs recorded that Milton Lodge was the residence of a Captain Henry Lecky (Curl, p. 412; OSM).

There was no change to the layout of the building by the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1853). The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1857) noted that the house was owned by the Honourable The Irish Society and was valued at £25 in the mid-19th century. The valuer noted that the outbuildings, located to the southwest of the farmhouse, were constructed in c. 1857 and were valued at £25 (see HB01/12/010). Calley states that during the 1840s Milton Lodge was occupied by the Rev. James Crawford, the minister of Londonderry Second Presbyterian on the Strand Road (HB01/21/011). By 1857 the farm had passed to his son Samuel Law Crawford, a local solicitor and landowner (Crawford owned and gave his name to Crawford Square). Samuel Crawford died in 1861 at which time the farmhouse reverted to his father who continued to reside at Milton Lodge until his own death in 1868 (PRONI Wills).

Following Crawford’s death Milton Lodge was utilised as a manse by the Rev. Matthew Wilson of Londonderry Second Presbyterian. Wilson remained at the property in Termonbacca until 1897 when the house was briefly occupied by John McClatchie, a bank manager. By 1901 ownership of the property had passed to Robert Allen Wilson, a local solicitor and ‘Clerk of Crown and Peace’ for Co. Donegal. In that year the census recorded that Milton Lodge was occupied by Jessie and Georgina Harvey and that the farmhouse was a 1st class dwelling that consisted of ten rooms. The Wilson family continued to own Milton Lodge until 1936 when the farm and its outbuildings were purchased outright by Dr. George D. McCaul. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of Milton Lodge was increased to £35. Dr. George McCaul resided at Milton Lodge until his death in 1962 at which time his widow Agnes took possession of the site, residing there until at least the 1970s. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of Milton Lodge had been increased to £40.

Milton Lodge was listed in 1979 and in that year Rowan described the building as ‘mid-to-late-18th century, built on a hillside overlooking the Foyle’ (Rowan, p. 404). The NIEA HB Records note that Milton Lodge was renamed ‘Milltown House’ shortly after it was listed. The farmhouse underwent an extensive renovation in 1988 that included the repointing of its chimney stacks, the restoration of its roof, the installation of cast iron rainwater goods and the replacement of a number of its original timber sliding sash windows. In 2000 the farmhouse was converted back into a single dwelling after a number of years being subdivided into two self-contained apartments (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
3. PRONI OS/6/5/20/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904)
4. PRONI OS/6/5/20/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1924-25)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16A – Griffith’s Valuation (1857)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/10A-10G – Annual Revisions (1860-1929)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/ – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/ – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)
11. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
12. PRONI Wills Catalogue (18 May 1861; 8 Nov 1868; 2 Sep 1962)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. First Survey Record – HB01/12/008 (1972)
15. NIEA HB Records – HB01/12/008

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
2. Curl, J. S., ‘The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914’ Sussex, Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 1986.
3. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 1979.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

Detached symmetrical three-bay two-storey with attic (over basement) rendered house, built c.1790 and located on the Balloughry Road southwest of the city centre, on a steep slope that descends towards the River Foyle. It shares group value with Milltown Farm (HB01.12.010) to the south, with which it was formerly associated; the two buildings were owned at one time by Rev James Crawford and then by his son, Samuel Crawford, whom Crawford Square to the northeast of the city is named after. It is a fine symmetrical country dwelling displaying a vertical emphasis with an impressive bow to the elevation that fronts on to the river bank; overall it is exemplary as a Georgian period house. Set well back from the main road within a mature landscaped setting, the driveway entrance is marked by a set of square stone pillars with pyramidal caps that significantly enhance its character.

General comments

This house is associated with Milltown Lodge Farm, HB01.12.010