21 GAULT'S ROAD

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached three-bay two-storey rendered vernacular farmhouse, built c.1830 with front entrance porch and lean-to extension, built c.1965. Rectangular on plan facing east with further lean-to extension to rear and set on an elevated site on the north side of Gaults Road with a concrete paved front yard shared with two neighbouring houses accessed via long concrete driveway.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles and uPVC rainwater goods. Masonry coping to both gable ends surmounted by a rendered chimneystack. Painted rough-cast rendered walling to the front and rear elevations, smooth rendered to side elevations with painted rusticated masonry quoins and plinth to the front elevation and porch only. Square-headed window openings with painted masonry sills and original multi-pane sliding timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes (unless otherwise stated).

Front (east) elevation is three windows wide with an off-centre flat-roofed entrance porch. All window openings have smooth rendered surrounds with original timber sliding sash windows; 3/6 to the first floor to both end bays (with convex horns) and a six-pane timber casement window to the centre, 6/6 sliding timber sash windows to the ground floor (without horns) and historic glass throughout. Torch-on felt roof to entrance porch with uPVC rainwater goods, window and door openings and walling details as per front elevation. Replacement timber glazed door and steel casement windows.

Gabled south side elevation has a single-storey lean-to extension with corrugated iron roof and steel top-hung casement windows.

Rear elevation is abutted by a further lean-to extension with cast iron roof, obscuring most of the rear elevation, with a single diminutive square-headed window opening to the ground floor (right) and first floor window (left), both having replacement timber casement windows.

Gabled north side elevation is blind.

Setting:
Located on an elevated site on the north side of Gaults Road with a concrete paved yard to front shared with neighbouring houses. The site is accessed via a long concrete paved driveway enclosed by hedgerows.

Materials:
Roof Natural slate
RWG uPVC
Walling Painted rough-cast render
Windows Original sliding timber sash / steel casement

Historical information

No. 21 Gault’s Road, a two-storey three-bay building located in the townland of Cloghs to the west of Cushendall, was originally constructed prior to 1832. The first farmhouse on the site was built as a single-storey vernacular dwelling, however this is believed to have been formalised in c. 1843 when the building took its current appearance. The original farmhouse on the site was recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832) which depicted it as a simple rectangular-shaped structure which possessed an outbuilding to its north side (now demolished). The details of the farmhouse were not recorded in the associated Townland Valuations (1834) as it was not worth the minimum £3 per annum value required for inclusion in that source. There was no discernible change made to the layout of the site by the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857), however, a date plaque located within the entrance porch of the building suggests that it was raised a storey in 1843 resulting in the farmhouse’s current appearance. Griffith’s Valuation (1859) set the total rateable value of the enlarged house and its outbuildings at £1 and 15 shillings and noted that the site was leased to a Ms. Esther McKillop by the Earl of Antrim.

Esther McKillop continued to reside at the farmhouse on the Gault’s Road until c. 1864 when the building passed to a Ms. Rose McKillop. The farmhouse remained with the McKillop family until c. 1884 when the site was occupied by John McCarry, a local farmer. The 1901 Census of Ireland records that John McCarry resided at Cloghs with his wife Ann, and their five children. The census building return described No. 21 Gault’s Road as a 2nd class dwelling which possessed a slate roof, consisted of four rooms and possessed a stable, cow house, piggery, a fowl house and a barn amongst its out offices. The third edition Ordnance Survey map (1903) records that a number outbuildings had been constructed to the south-east side of the farmhouse between 1857 and the turn of the 20th century; the exact date of construction is not known as the value of the site remained unchanged throughout this period. The value of No. 21 Gault’s Road was increased to £4 and 15 shillings under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that the McCarry family had purchased the farm outright from the Earl of Antrim’s estate by at least the 1930s. Following John McCarry’s death in 1934, No. 21 Gault’s Road passed to a Ms. Margaret Mooney who remained at the address until at least the 1970s (PRONI Wills). By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the farm and its outbuildings had been raised to £7 and 15 shillings.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim described No. 21 Gault’s Road in the following terms: ‘an excellent farmhouse, with quoins and Georgian glazing, hidden up a laneway on the north side of Glenballyemon; the (later) porch bears the date 1843; but though it seems much earlier, this is said to be the date of the main house; very well painted in blue and white’ (UAHS Guide, p. 39). No. 21 Gault’s Road was listed in 1976 and is now flanked, to its south and east sides, by modern replacement dwellings and outbuildings (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/19/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/19/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/19/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/19/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921)
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/14 – Townland Valuations Map (c. 1834)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/148B – Townland Valuations (1834)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/40A – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/7A-7 – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/12A – Annual Revisions (1923-1929)
10. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/4 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
11. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/10 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. PRONI Wills Catalogue (19 Dec 1934)
15. First Survey Record – HB05/02/038

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Detached three-bay two-storey rendered vernacular house, built prior to 1830, located in the townland of Cloghs to the west of Cushendall. Situated on an elevated site, the house shares a yard with two neighbouring houses and is accessed via a long laneway. The original farmhouse on the site was built as a single-storey vernacular dwelling. This is believed to have been formalised in c.1843 when the building took its current appearance. Externally the house retains much of its simple historic fabric and detailing, such as painted quoins and timber sliding sash windows and internally its simple plan form has been largely retained. Despite the addition of lean-to extensions, this dwelling constitutes a good example of an early, formalised vernacular farmhouse with a fine rural setting.

General comments

Previously recorded as HB05/02/038