Threshing Mill

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Group of stone farm buildings forming a courtyard opening onto Dremont Road directly opposite its junction with East Road.

Main building perpendicular to Dremont Road is a storey and a half structure rising to two stories and dropping again to a storey and a half. It is six structural bays long. The lower part nearer the road is two bays long, has a chimney on its gable and two doors to the farmyard. Thereis a small four pane sash window. Openings are lined in brick. Roof is natural slate with a roof light, walls are rubble stone butter pointed. Cut sand stone quoins at exposed corners. The higher part, three bays long is symmetrical about big barn doors at first and second floors. A small four pane sash is on each side of the door at each level. Openings are trimmed in brick. Slate roof is natural. Brick chimneys with butter pointed rubble stone. Stone quoins at exposed corners which do not descend to ground level abutting the first building. The final shed is a bay wide with tin roof and single garage door. There is a construction joint between it and the other building.

Perpendicular to this building is a single storey stone barn with slate roof. It is of similar stone and brick construction and has four circular ventilator windows equally spaced along the facade (which seems to be a common detail in this area).

To the south the farmyard is enclosed by a stone wall and a more modern barn. (In a field further to the south is a chambered grave reference: LDY17:10).

The gables of the main building are blank, they show the line of brick encasement to the chimney flues.

To the rear there are two small windows to the lower building nearer the road. The symmetry of the taller block is disrupted to have a blocked up window and a door at ground level and two small windows flanking an off centre door at high level. The smaller building is blank to the rear and to the east gable. To the north east more modern barns and sheds sit out. To the north west is a former school building now also used as a barn (see HB02/08/030).

Historical information

Buildings shown on this site on the 1830 Ordnance Survey Map. From their arrangement they are unlikely to be the present buildings. A long building nearer the road than the present buildings is probably the thatched cottage described to us by the current occupiers. They lived in this cottage until their landlord built their present home nearby in 1958. It was subsequently demolished. To the north east of this building and aligning, was a second building, a third aligned in front.

On the 1904 map the farmyard has developed to the north west. The perpendicular barns of the description first appear on the map of 1924.

The quality and size of the construction of the farm buildings is unusual in this area. Combined with the presence of the school this may suggest that they were built by the Marquis of Waterford as a threshing mill for his tenants.

The present occupants have used the buildings as part of their farm for 60 years. When they first arrived in the late 1930s a Mrs Loughery lived in the single room described above.

References:
No IHR ref.
Ordnance Survey Maps 1830, 1848, 1905, 1924.
Occupant (1998)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A well constructed group of farm buildings which sit well in the countryside and continue to form the nucleus of a modern farm. Ornamentation of quoins and brick work follows strictly practical principles as the quoins were not structurally required do not extend to the base of the wall. Interesting historically and archaeologically for the large intact threshing machine which is now an unusual find. It is of local interest for this and perhaps as a remnant of the Marquis of Waterford’s Estate.