17 Ballougry Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached four-bay single-storey with attic and basement rendered house, built between between 1680 and 1850, with rear projection. L-shaped on plan facing southeast on an elevated site on the north side of Ballougry Road overlooking River Foyle.

Pitched artificial slate roofs, half-hipped to the south section with black clay ridge tiles (roll moulded to south section) and rendered chimneystacks with clay pots. Cast-iron guttering to rendered eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. Rough-cast cement rendered walling. Square-headed window openings with tooled sandstone sills and replacement multi-pane timber casement windows.

Front elevation (SE) is split level with square-headed door opening to the taller south section having vertically-sheeted timber door with brass door furniture and rectangular overlight having margin lights.

Southwest side elevation has a single landscape window opening to the attic level which is divided in three; the left third serves one bedroom and the remaining two thirds serve the adjacent bedroom. Two slender window openings to the rear lean-to projection. Side elevation set at a lower level than the gravel driveway behind retaining wall.

Rear elevation (NW) is split level with the south section projecting beyond the general elevation and set well below the ground level behind retaining wall. Lean-to extension to the re-entrant angle between north and south sections. Triangular curved window opening to the gable of the south section having original fixed-pane window with iron lattice tracery.

Northeast gabled side elevation with chimney on ridge and two symmetrically placed windows to ground floor and attic level. A flight of stone steps lead to basement level with square-headed door opening and vertically-sheeted timber door with glazed panel.

Setting:
Set on an elevated sloping site overlooking Foyle River to the east with gravel rear yard having corrugated iron sheeting clad structures and a single-storey whitewashed red-brick outbuilding. Mature front lawn with gravel footpath enclosed by rubblestone wall with single pedestrian ornate cast iron gate on square rubble schist stone pillars. To the south is a gravel driveway leading past the south gable to the rear yard opening onto the road via pair of iron gates hung on tall square-plan rubblestone pillars with pyramidal rubble capstones.

Roof Artificial slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Rough-cast cement render
Windows Replacement timber casement

Historical information

No. 17 Ballougry Road, a single-storey cottage located in the townland of Ballougry was constructed pre-1830 and possesses a history extending back to the 17th century. Local tradition states that the cottage, which is known as Ballynacross Cottage, dates from the mid-17th century and predates the Siege of Derry (1688-89). The NIEA HB Records note that the cottage was constructed of locally-quarried stones, lime and sand ‘with walls two feet thick with rood and rafters supported by tree trunks for beams.’ Records held by the occupants of the cottage suggest that the property was first occupied by a Ms. Elizabeth Mills who was born in 1581 and died in 1668. In the late-17th century the cottage was occupied by Elizabeth’s grandson, a Mr. Robert Mills, who fought as part of the city garrison during the siege. In his Derry and Enniskillen account in the year 1689 Witherow recorded that during King James II’s march from Dublin to Derry, he made his main camp on Ballougry Hill above Ballynacross Cottage. Furthermore local tradition suggests that the King slept in the cottage before making his final march towards Derry. A siege-era cannon and ball were unearthed from the hill overlooking the cottage and are in the possession of the current occupants. Following the siege, Robert Mills returned to his dwelling at Ballougry but died in 1690 and was interred at Killea Graveyard. In 1817 Ballynacross Cottage was signed over to Mary Foster (granddaughter of Robert Mills) and her husband William (NIEA HB Records).

The cottage was first recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1830) which depicted it as a rectangular-shaped building occupying the same layout as the current structure. The map also depicted two outbuildings located to the west and south-west side of the cottage (both now demolished and replaced with modern outbuildings). William Foster had vacated Ballynacross Cottage by the 1830s when he occupied the much larger two-storey house located on Ballougry Hill overlooking his earlier residence (No. 40 Letterkenny Road - see HB01/12/009). Foster also named his new residence Ballynacross and rented his original dwelling out to tenants from at least the 1830s. A Mrs. Davidson occupied the cottage during the Townland Valuations (c. 1834) which described the building as two 1B class houses (that is slated buildings of medium age that were slightly decayed but still in good repair) that followed the current measurements of the cottage. By designating the structure 1B class the valuer suggests that the cottage does not date from the 17th century but was constructed within (approximately) the previous 50 years (1A was used to record very new buildings whilst 1C was utilised to designate buildings of a much earlier origin). The current appearance of Ballynacross Cottage may be the result of a rebuild, or an extensive renovation, carried out in the late-18th or early-19th century but without further evidence it is difficult to be certain. The valuer set the total rateable value of the property at £9 and noted that the cottage possessed a pig house, cow house and barn as its sole outbuildings.

William Foster continued to reside at Ballougry until his death in 1858 at which time ownership of Ballynacross and Ballynacross Cottage passed to his son Samuel Foster. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1857) set the value of Ballynacross Cottage at £5 and noted that the Fosters rented the dwelling out to John Frazer, a local farmer (NIEA HB Records; UTD). The occupants of the cottage were not noted in the Annual Revisions from the 1860s making it difficult to ascertain the history of the building between that time and the 1930s. The valuer maintained the value of the cottage at £5 throughout this period and only noted changes in the ownership of the site. With the death of Samuel Foster in 1900, Ballynacross and Ballynacross Cottage passed to his son William Foster, a local solicitor with business premises on Richmond Street. Upon his own death in 1930, Ballynacross and Ballynacross Cottage passed to William Foster’s daughters, Katherine, Emily and Ethel, who retained ownership of the buildings until at least the 1980s (NIEA HB Records). The Fosters vacated Ballynacross Cottage, which they leased out to other tenants, and resided at Ballynacross Cottage until at least the 1970s. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern (1936-57) the value of the cottage was increased to £17 and 15 shillings. The cottage was occupied by Emily Hunter (nee Foster) by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the value of the cottage stood at £24.

No. 17 Ballougry Road was listed in 1980. The NIEA HB Records note that a renovation and general repairs were made to the building in 1984. During the Second Survey the site continued to be utilised as a farm. Field inspection has found that the site’s original outbuildings have been replaced with modern farm buildings (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/1/A/5/20 – Townland Valuation Map (c. 1830)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/547A-F – Townland Valuation (c. 1834)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16A – Griffith’s Valuation (1857)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/10A-10G – Annual Revisions (1860-1929)
9. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/9 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
10. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/22 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
11. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837)
12. Derry and Enniskillen in the year 1689: The story of some famous battlefields in Ulster (1873)
13. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)
14. Census of Ireland (1831; 1901; 1911)
15. PRONI Wills Catalogue (29 Jun 1858; 24 Sept 1900; 23 May 1930)
16. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
17. First Survey Record – HB01/12/016 (1972)
18. NIEA HB Records – HB01/12/016 (includes family history of Ballynacross Cottage)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
R. Age

Evaluation

Detached four-bay single-storey with attic and basement assymetrical rendered house, formerly known as Ballynacross Cottage, built between 1680 and 1850. Reputedly of mid 17th century origins and pre-dating the Siege of Derry, the current house owes its appearance to subsequent developments and renovations. Nonetheless the plan depth and roof profile are characteristic of a building of that era. Despite the polycarbonate lean-to at the rear, timber casement windows and artificial roof slates, the building is well proportioned and retains sufficient character externally; inside the plan form survives as well as some historic detailling that collectively make it of special architectural interest. Historically, it is of interest to Northern Ireland due to the important association with King James II, who is reported to have slept there whilst marching from Dublin to Derry. The house shares group value with Ballynacross House (HB01.12.009), a larger two-storey building located on a hillside to the NW and built c.1830 as its replacement residence. The mature setting and substantial schist stone pillars with ornate cast iron gates that demark the site entrance, together with smaller rubble stone piers and a single cast iron pedestrian gate add further interest.