12 School Lane

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Semi-detached single-bay one-and-a-half-storey stone house, built c.1870, as one of a pair (see also HB03/12/009B). Located along the north side of School Lane to the south of Castlerock and to the east of Downhill Demesne.

Pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles and single brick chimneystack with black clay pots to the east. Decorative timber bargeboard to sheeted overhanging eaves to the west gable only. Ogee-moulded cast-iron guttering supported on timber fascia with sheeted overhanging eaves and cast-iron downpipe. Random coursed rock-faced basalt ashlar walling with tooled sandstone ashlar quoins and cement rendered to side and rear elevations. Stop-chamfered sandstone ashlar window surrounds and sandstone sills with 2/2 timber sash window (unless otherwise stated).

Front south elevation is a single window wide having a gabled entrance porch to the west. Roof and bargeboard to entrance porch, as per main roof with vertically-sheeted and glazed double-leaf doors and wall resting on black brick plinth walls. Square-headed window opening with tooled stop-chamfered block-and-start sandstone ashlar surround having a 2/2 timber sash window with angled horns.

West gable has a thick application of cement render with recessed sandstone quoins to either end (as per above). To the attic level is a diminutive square-headed window opening with stop-chamfered sandstone surround and a replacement bipartite timber window.

Rear elevation is abutted by a single-storey extension, currently undergoing construction.

East side elevation abutted by adjoining house, No.14 (HB03/12/009B).

Setting
Located on the north side of School Lane to the south of Castlerock village and to the east of the Downhill Demesne.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Random coursed rock-faced basalt ashlar / cement render
Windows Timber sash

Historical information

This semi-detached pair of rubble basalt houses dates from c1870 and is first shown on the third edition OS map of 1904. The building enters valuation records in the fieldbook dating from between 1864 and 1873, but the entry is undated. Both houses are valued at £3, but this was reduced to £2 in 1887. The rent for each cottage was recorded as 1s weekly in 1887.

The dwellings appear to have been a small building project of Sir Henry Hervey Bruce, third Baronet Downhill and may have been intended to serve as teachers' accommodation for the nearby Downhill School, although no teachers are known to have lived there. In 1871 the third Baronet bought out the Clothworkers’ property in the area, becoming the largest landowner and thereafter taking a particular interest in the development of Castlerock as well as rebuilding Downhill Castle after a serious fire. (Eccles)

The first occupier to be noted in the current house c1870 is Stuart Davis followed by William Davis in 1888 and Mary Anne Davis in 1892. At the time of the 1901 census Mary Anne was a 65-year-old widow, living with her three adult daughters who were all seamstresses. By 1911, Mary Anne’s daughter, also Mary, was at the head of the household and the family had a boarder, David Lyttle, a nineteen-year-old golf professional. David Lyttle had been a ‘caddy master’ at Fortwilliam Golf Club in 1908 (Street Directories) Castlerock golf links of 9 holes was formally inaugurated in June 1901 on land placed at the disposal of the club by the Bruce family. The golf course was a success and in 1909 was expanded to eighteen holes. (www.castlerockgc.co.uk) The five-room house was designated 2nd class in the census.

Mary Davis was resident at the time of the First General Revaluation in the early 1930s and is described as a ‘very old tenant’ who had been in the house for 57 years. Dimensions are given for the house and outbuilding and accommodation is listed as a kitchen and room on the ground floor and two bedrooms on the upper floor. The rent was 6s.4d per month.

The house was listed in 1977 and renovations took place in the 1980s and 90s. In recent years a porch has been added to the front elevation and at the time of writing (2012) the rear extension is being rebuilt.
References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/2/1 First Edition OS Map 1831
2. PRONI OS/6/5/2/2 Second Edition OS map 1848
3. PRONI OS/6/5/2/3 Third Edition OS Map 1904
4. PRONI OS/6/5/2/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1923
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/10A-F Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/2 First General Revaluation 1933-57
7. PRONI VAL/3/D/6/3/H/5 First General Revaluation 1933-57
8. HB file – 03/12/009A-B
9. 1901 census
10. 1911 census

Secondary Sources

1. Eccles, J “Downhill, A Scrapbook of People and Place” London: Bath Press, 1996
2. Girvan, W D “Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in North Derry including Limavady, Ballykelly, Castlerock, Downhill and Magilligan” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1975
3. www.castlerockgc.co.uk

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Semi-detached single-bay one-and-a-half-storey stone house, built c.1870, as one of a pair (HB03/12/009B). Located along the north side of School Lane to the south of Castlerock and to the east of Downhill Demesne. A modestly scaled semi-detached pair of houses built as part of the Downhill Demesne to provide accommodation for the nearby Downhill School (HB03/12/010). Undergoing renovations at the time of the survey, the house retains its original external appearance and interior planform and contributes to the heritage of the Castlerock area.

General comments

Additional listing criteria apply - R Age, S- Authenticity, U- Historic Associations.