76 Layde Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached two-bay single-storey rubblstone house, built c.1800, with angled roof. Rectangular on plan facing northeast with byre to the northwest gable. Located on the southeast side of Layde Road with the southeast gable fronting onto the road and a stone outbuilding to the north.

Pitched corrugated asbestos roof with asbestos ridge tiles, parged cement verges and rendered chimneystacks rising from either gable end. The roof follows the angle of the sloping site. Replacement painted steel gutter on iron drive-through brackets. Whitewashed rubble stone walling. Square-headed window openings with timber lintels and original 6/6 sliding timber sash windows having convex horns and exposed sash boxes.

Front elevation has a single square-headed door opening to the centre without door.

Blind rubblestone gabled side elevation.

Rubblestone rear elevation with a single diminutive window opening without window.

Blind rubblestone northwest gable partially obscured by embanked earth.

Roof Corrugated iron
RWG Steel
Walling Whitewashed rubblestone
Windows Original 6/6 sliding timber sash

Setting:
Set perpendicular to the road on a sloping site enclosed by hedgerows. A single rubblestone outbuilding remains to the north with corrugated iron roof.

Historical information

No. 76 Layde Road, a single-storey vernacular farmhouse with outbuildings located in the townland of Layd, was constructed between 1832 and 1857. The farmhouse was first recorded on the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) which depicted the building as a simple rectangular-shaped structure that possessed its current layout (the map did not depict the single-storey outbuilding to its north side). The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859) set the total rateable value of the farmhouse at £1 and noted that the site was leased to a Mr. Alexander McIlheran by the Earl of Antrim.

Alexander McIlheran was a farmer who resided at the site until c. 1887 when his son Daniel took possession of the site. The single-storey outbuilding to the north side of the farmhouse was constructed between 1857 and the third edition Ordnance Survey map (1903-04) in which it was first depicted; the exact date of construction is not known as there was no change in the value of the site throughout this period.

In 1911 the Census of Ireland described No. 76 Layde Road as a 3rd class dwelling that possessed a thatched roof, consisted of only two rooms and possessed a stable, a cow house, a piggery and a barn amongst its out offices. The site was decreased in value to 10 shillings under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that John McIlheran had purchased the site outright from the Earl of Antrim. McIlheran continued to be recorded as both occupant and owner of No. 76 Layde Road by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the total rateable value of the farm remained at 10 shillings.

Field inspection of the site, carried out as part of the Second Survey, has found that the farmhouses’ original thatched roof has been replaced with corrugated iron, however it remains a good example of an intact vernacular dwelling of which there are few in the region. The building appeared to be in use to house livestock.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/15/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/15/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/15/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903-04)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/15/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/40B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/7A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/12A – Annual Revisions (1923-29)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/4 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/10 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
11. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)

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

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

Evaluation

Detached two-bay single-storey rubblestone former house, built between 1832 and 1857. Whilst the building is no longer in use as a dwelling (instead being used to house livestock), the walls, windows, rainwater goods and simple interior remain largely intact and the sloping roof is of particular vernacular interest . Theformer dwelling has special architectural and historic interest as an authentic example of an increasingly rare vernacular building type, situated in its original setting. The stone outbuilding is also of interest.