Carrichue House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey three bay house with double pile natural slated hipped roof, cast iron rainwater goods and exposed sandstone quoins in a coursed sand cement facade. Twelve pane sashes without horns to front( east) facing facade. Central two leaf panelled entrance door with plain segmented fanlight recessed in a sandstone surround with cornice topped by a simple undecorated pediment. Recessed ‘pilasters’ flanking the door made from single piece of stone, rectangular recess along length.

North facing facade looking towards Lough Foyle is four bays wide with four twelve pane sashed windows on each floor. As at front windows on ground floor are taller than first.

Rear (west) facade, three bays wide is similarly detailed though a ground floor window to a kitchen at the south corner has been enlarged and replaced by a modern casement.

To the south is a stable courtyard and a two storey two bay extension from the main house. The extension is differentiated from the house by a metre and a half wide recess on both sides. To the rear the extension is obscured by the whinstone stable block with sandstone quoins which projects to the west.

The single storey stable block has three high level four pane openings to the north and a door in the north east corner abutting the house. There are no other openings. The block is entered through a shallow pedimented arch flanked by a door entrance on the east side adjacent to the extension. To the south a stone boiler house with brick quoins forms the south wing of the courtyard. It presents two small six pane sashed windows to the east elevation beside the entrance. The other buildings forming the courtyard are quite open to the space with cast iron columns in many places substituting for an inner wall.

On the south elevation of the extension are two twelve p-ane and two nine pane sash windows. The twelve pane windows to the ground are barred. To the east is a similar arrangement. All these sash windows are much smaller than those of the main house.The south facade of the main house has twelve pane windows as the other facades.

The building is set in its own grounds and approached along a gravelled entrance avenue from an unnamed road between Clooney Road and Carrickhugh Station (HB02/02/008). Sandstone entrance piers and a recessed wall form an entrance onto the road. Cast iron gate posts along the drive are repeated on other parts of the surrounding farm.

Historical information

One house indicated at Carrickhugh (spelt Carnhugh) on Thomas Ravens map of the Fishmongers Proportion in 1620. Present house dates from 1840s when lease for Carrickhugh and adjacent mills in Tullymain (HB02/02/005-7) was acquired by George Cather (brother of William Cather of the Hermitage in Limavady see HB02/13/003). The 1848 Ordnance Survey map shows the present house and extension but not the stable block. The 1858 Griffiths Valuation lists ‘House and land’ £30. ‘Offices and clerks house’ £15, suggesting a construction of the stable wing by this date. The present occupants bought house and lands from Cathers resident in England circa 1948. The estate was let to various occupants in the 50 years before. There is a Cather Vault (HB02/10/001) in Walworth graveyard. A letter from the mother of the present owner in HB files states that the house was constructed in 1850.

References:

Limavady & the Roe Valley by Rev. T H Mullan p.80, 90, 91, 92, 120, 128
Griffith’s Valuation 1858 Newtown Limavady p. 179
The Londonderry Plantation 1612-1914 by J S Curl p. 233.
Occupant (1998)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A simple Georgian house well proportioned and considered with an extended wing which does not detract from the clarity of the original building. Stable block adds to the architectural composition and increases the perceived grandeur of the ensemble. The plan is unusual and therefore interesting because the stair does not follow the common pattern of aligning with the hall. The majority of fittings and fixtures are intact and well maintained. The building is interesting historically for its association with the Cather family and as an important part of the historical story of the nearby mill buildings and branch railway line. However, the interior spaces do not have the proportions and other architectural qualities one usually expects to find in buildings of this period.