31 Birren Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Substantial two-storey vernacular farmhouse of probable pre-1832 construction, but which is likely to have started out as a more modest single-storey building, assuming its somewhat more formalised two-storey form in the early 20th century. Attached in typical linear fashion is a two-storey outbuilding, whilst to the rear there is a single-storey lean-to kitchen outshoot. To the west end there is a lower single-storey outbuilding, recently renovated.

The house is located 3 kilometres south-east of Dungiven and is set on the southern slope of the picturesque valley, Enady Glen.

The front elevation is asymmetric and faces roughly north, with the outbuildings to the west side. This elevation is rendered in roughcast and has a well-ordered composition with openings regular and largely evenly-spaced. The flat-headed door opening is set to the right of centre and has a timber panelled and glazed mid-1900s door. To the right side, there is a single window opening while to the left there are two more openings. Directly over each of the ground floor door and windows there is a first floor window, somewhat shorter than those below. All openings have cut stone sills and timber sash frames, mostly 1/1.

The east gable is blank.

The rear elevation has lost much of its render revealing the rubble construction and (Imperial) brick dressings to the windows. There is a single-storey lean-to outshoot set to the left of centre. Either side there is a window opening and directly over but slightly offset is a first floor window; all have frames as front.

The gabled roof is slated and has a single brick chimneystack to the east gable. The lean-to roof has 'shaped' slates popular in the early deacades of the 20th century.

The outbuilding is slightly wider that the house but shares a continuous front wall, roof slopes and ridgeline. It shares similar construction but compositionally is less ordered and more overtly vernacular in character. .

Historical information

A building matching the size and orientation of the present house is shown on the OS map of 1832. This is recorded in the first valuation of late December of 1831 as the home of an E. Cromie [or Crommie], with a rateable value of £2-8-0. Unfortunately the ‘House Book’ that originally accompanied this valuation, and that contained the dimensions of buildings and other details such as age, condition etc., has been lost, so we have no idea of the measurements of the property at this date; however, the relatively low rateable value indicates that it is likely to have been single-storey and probably thatched.

In the second valuation of 1856 the house is noted as divided between Alexander Crommie and Edward Crommie with the entire building valued at £2-5-0. This suggests the structure had little altered in the intervening 25 years or so. The Crommies, however, had built another smaller dwelling somewhere within the surrounding plot by this date, and two modestly-sized additional dwellings are recorded in annotation to the valuation of c.1863, occupied initially Michael McCloskey and Margaret McElheney. Both of these houses, (which map evidence suggests may been located next to the field boundary to the south-west, with the other due north fronting on to Birren Road), continued in use until in or just before 1882, when both are listed as ‘down’. The main house remained occupied by members of the Crommie family until c.1980, when Robert Crommie built a new house a short distance to the east. Since this time the original building has remained vacant. The present owner acquired the whole concern in 1987.

As mentioned above, the first and second valuations suggest this house was originally single-storey, or at least had considerably less living space than it does today. Unfortunately, however, the valuations themselves give little indication when any major structural changes took place, either the raising of the roof, or the conversion (and probable heightening) of some of the attached outbuildings. This is a not uncommon occurrence, and appears to have been deliberate on the part of the valuers, improvements to vernacular dwellings not meriting the attention devoted to larger 'planned' dwellings. Although the stonework gives little obvious indication of the walls having been raised, the use of 'Imperial' brick as an eaves course and as window dressings, sawn roof timbers, lack of glazing bars to the windows combined with the internal detailing, suggests that the building witnessed remodelling in very late 19th or (perhaps more likely) the early 20th century. The property passed through five different members of the Crommie family between 1870 and 1910, (in 1870, 1887, 1894, 1906 and 1910), one of which, at least, would appear to have felt the need to extend the building.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/1B/518A-C First valuation, Dungiven parish, December 1831
2 PRONI VAL/1A/5/31 OS map, Co. Londonderry, sheet 31, with valuation
references, 1832
3 PRONI VAL/2A/5/31 OS map, Co. Londonderry, sheet 31, with valuation references, 1856
4 PRONI VAL/2B/5/21C Second valuation, Dungiven parish, 1856
5 PRONI VAL/12B/31/15A Annual valuation revision book, Glenshane Electoral District, 1860-63
6 PRONI VAL/12B/31/15B Annual valuation revision book, Glenshane Electoral District, 1864-80
7 PRONI VAL/12B/31/15C Annual valuation revision book, Glenshane Electoral District, 1881-89
8 PRONI VAL/12B/31/15D Annual valuation revision book, Glenshane Electoral District, 1890-1901
9 PRONI VAL/12B/31/15E Annual valuation revision book, Glenshane Electoral District, 1902-15
10 PRONI VAL/12B/31/15F Annual valuation revision book, Glenshane Electoral District, 1916-30
11 PRONI VAL/3B/6/6 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Rural district of Limavady, Glenshane electoral district, 1935 [The valuation for the years 1936-56 is missing.]
12 PRONI VAL/4B/5/10 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Rural district of Limavady, Glenshane electoral district, 1956-72

Secondary sources
1 'Brenbradagh Magazine' ([?Limavady], 1994)
2 Information supplied by the present owner, June 2008, April 2009

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is a well-preserved example of a two-storey 'developed' vernacular farmhouse, which has retained its linear arrangement, openings, interior layout and detailing, as well as its setting. Once numerous, buildings of this type and in this state of originality are now relatively rare.