Limepark

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Substantial two-storey gabled farm house, probably dating from c.1760, with later projecting porch. There is a large collection of mainly mid 19th century two and single-storey rubble-built outbuildings; now largely converted to holiday apartments.

The property is set quite close to the Northwest side of Drones Road, roughly half a mile south of Armoy. [Although the front elevation faces NE, for the purposes of this description, NE will be read as N, SW as S etc.]

The house consists of a main section to N with a large projecting single-storey porch to the front elevation. To the rear of the main section there is a long almost full-height return which, beyond a point demarked by a chimneystack, merges with a long former outbuilding section (now holiday apartments) that continues in ‘stepped’ fashion along the gently rising ground to the S.

To the E gable of the main section of the house there stretches a single-storey shed with mono-pitched roof and slightly lower recently added projecting section to the S with a flat roof. The whole structure is constructed in rubble, with the house section itself largely finished in a coloured lime wash Outbuildings are finished in the bare stone with brick dressings to the openings. The roof of the house and the return is gabled and slated.

To the middle of the ground floor of the front elevation of the house there is the relatively large single-storey porch. To the W face of the porch there is a doorway with panelled timber door, with a similar doorway to the E face, which appears to have been inserted relatively recently. To the N face there is a large square window with a fixed timber frame with multiple Georgian panes and narrower margin panes. The walls of the porch are finished as the main section of the house; however there is a bevelled projecting base course and a projecting moulded stone eaves cornice. The porch appears to have a flat roof which is hidden behind a low parapet with squat arched corner piers. To the W side the parapet is in the form of a shallow pediment.

To either side of the porch there are two windows with horned timber sash frames with Georgian panes (six over six). To the first floor there are five similar, but marginally shorter, windows. The frames in all of these windows appear to be recent replacements, as are most of those to the rest of the house, and to the outbuildings.

The ground floor level of the E gable of the main section of the house is abutted by the shed (see above). To the first floor there is a window, as front, to the left. There is a similar window to right on the ground floor of the W gable.

The S elevation is abutted to the left of centre by the two-storey return (see below). To the left of the return on the ground floor there is a doorway with a modern glazed timber door. This doorway appears to be a relatively recent insertion. To the left on the first floor there is a window, as front. To the right of the return on the ground floor there is a broad -obviously enlarged- doorway with modern glazed timber door with sidelights. To the first floor directly above this there is window with a modern timber casement frame identical to the door to the ground floor. This window (which is a recent insertion) has an unusual corbelled cill.

To the E face of the return there is a window to far left with a horned timber sash frame (two over two). To the right of this there is a doorway with timber-sheeted door. To right again is another window, as before but with a broader sash box. To right of this is a smaller segmental headed window with a timber frame with leaded stained glass to the upper pane. To the right again is a broad doorway, as that to the rear elevation of the main section of the house. Finally, to far right, there is a conventional sized doorway with a partly glazed timber door with margin panes and coloured glass.

To the first floor there are two narrow windows with side-hung timber frames and bevelled cills. To right there are two windows, same as those to the front elevation of the main section of the house. The right hand third of this face of the return is lime-washed in similar fashion to the main section of the house.

To the far left on the ground floor of the W face of the return there is a small window with side-hung timber frame. To the right of this is a much broader (enlarged) window with timber casement frame. To right again is a smaller window with horned timber sash frame (two over two). To the first floor there are three windows of roughly similar size, all with timber frames, that to far left with a top-hung opener, the others side-hung. The left hand third of this face of the return is lime-washed.

The main section of the house has a rendered chimneystack to each gable. There is a rendered stack to the ridge of the return. The rainwater goods appear to be largely (if not wholly) cast-iron.

The ‘outbuildings’
The outbuildings belonging to this property are extensive, particularly so in relation to the size of the house itself. As stated above, most of these outbuildings are built of rubble (basalt) with brick dressings to the openings, with gabled or hipped slated roofs. Most of the buildings have been renovated / restored and converted to holiday apartments in recent years, with some to the SE currently undergoing, or awaiting renovation.

Outbuilding ‘A’
The largest ‘single’ component of the whole outbuilding grouping is that which is attached to the return of the house. This is largely two-storey and stretches S along gently rising ground, the roofline ‘stepping up’ slightly at two points to cope the changing level.

E face of this section there are three relatively small square windows to left, with timber frames of varying description (some side-hung). To right of these there is a pedestrian doorway with timber-sheeted ‘stable’ door, then another small window, another doorway and another window, all much as before (side-hung four-pane frames etc.). To the right again there is a vehicle doorway with concrete lintel and a part glazed timber-sheeted folding door. To far right is another (pedestrian) doorway with a concrete lintel and part glazed timber-sheeted door. To the first floor there are two very small windows to right with side-hung timber frames.

The S gable of this section has a doorway to right on the ground floor, with a timber-sheeted door and a cement-rendered surround suggesting that the opening is a recent insertion. To the upper floor there is another doorway reached via a rubble-built flight of steps with a recent metal railings. This doorway has a partly glazed timber door; the surrounding stone / brickwork suggests the opening was once considerable larger.

The W face of this section there is a small window to far left with side-hung timber frame. To the immediate right of this is a doorway with partly glazed timber door. To right again there is a tall pointed arch window (a recent insertion) with timber Georgian-paned ‘gothick’ frame. A distance to the right of this, beyond a point where the façade projects forward slightly, there are three small windows all with timber side-hung frames. These windows do not appear to be original. To the first floor there are three windows with frames similar to previous.

The gabled roof of outbuilding ‘A’ is slated and has two brick chimneystacks, one to the ridge, the other (further to the N) to the W side of the roof near the eaves. There are at least five skylights of various sizes to the E side of the roof, and at least three more to the W side.

Outbuilding ‘B’
To the far right outbuilding ‘A’ is abutted by a large single storey outbuilding with a ‘Belfast Truss’ roof. Judging from a date stone this building may date from 1853, was extended or modified in 1903 (undoubtedly the present roof was added at this stage) and again in 1961 when the front face probably assumed its current appearance. The (S-facing) front face itself has a ‘stepped’ parapet, is finished in dry dash and has two vehicle doorways with timber-sheeted doors; one door being partly glazed.

The N face is in rubble interspersed with courses of brick; the curve of the roof clearly visible. This face has a broad doorway to the right, with timber sheeted door, with two segmental headed windows to left, with Georgian-paned fixed timber frames. The roof is covered in corrugated-iron and there is a small brick chimneystack to the N (flush with the N face).

Outbuilding grouping ‘C’
Attached the W side of outbuilding ‘B’ is a U-shaped single-storey shed grouping, arranged around a relatively small yard, with a short additional building and some rubble walling to west (outside of the yard, as it were). The walls of the buildings making up this grouping are largely constructed in rubble, with the mixture of gabled and mono-pitched roofs slated, however the building to the E side has breeze block walls whilst its roof is covered in corrugated-iron and corrugated asbestos. The openings (of which there are few) are largely devoid of doors or window frames. There are two relatively large doorways to the S face of the building to the N side, both of which appear to be recent insertions. The most interesting aspect of this grouping is the N elevation, which consists of a long façade of rubble interspersed with courses of brick, in similar fashion to the N face of outbuilding ‘B’ (see above). This façade has three slit openings set at a high level with two at a slightly lower level and a larger window opening at this level to far right.

Outbuildings ‘D and E’
To the E side of the site, E of outbuilding ‘A’ there are two L-shaped blocks, arranged around what is now a small vegetable patch / garden. Outbuilding ‘D’, to the N, is wholly single-storey, and appears to be still used as a shed, whereas outbuilding ‘E’ is single-storey to the E and two-storey to the south, the latter section housing more holiday apartments, and the former a small tea room of sorts. Both blocks are constructed as most of the other outbuildings, with rubble walls, with a mixture of gabled, hipped and mono-pitched slated roofs, with brick dressings and stone lintels to many openings and recent timber window frames and doors.

The N face of the N section of outbuilding ‘D’ has a window to far left with fixed timber frame, with a doorway with timber-sheeted stable door to right. To right again is a somewhat narrower doorway with conventional timber-sheeted door and plain rectangular fanlight. To right of this there is the (brick) outline of a low segmental-headed arch. Just above this are two small high level windows, with leaded stained glass. The coursing of the stonework / brickwork to this face suggests that the arrangement of the openings has been altered. To the S face of this section there are two doorways, both timber-sheeted doors, the one to the right partly glazed.

To the W face of the E section of outbuilding ‘D’ there is a window to far left with fixed timber frame, then a doorway with sliding timber door, then a larger window with timber sash frame with Georgian panes (six over six), then another doorway, with timber-sheeted door. To the E face of this section there is a single doorway, much as previous only broader. To the S-facing gable of this section there is a small window to left with timber shutters over. There is a smaller high level window near the apex of the gable, with a timber four-pane frame. A small gabled extension has been added to the right hand side of this gable, this has a doorway to its W face, with timber-sheeted door. A (19th-century looking) wrought iron pedestrian gate spans between the S face of this extension and the N gable of the N section of outbuilding ‘E’.

To the E face of the N section of outbuilding ‘E’ there are three small evenly-spaced windows with timber casement frames and ‘rough’ cement render surrounds. To the W face there is a symmetrical arrangement of four (relatively large) uniform windows and a central doorway. The windows have timber sash frames (two over two) and the doorway has a partly glazed timber door. All of these openings appear to be recent.

To the N face of the two-storey S section there is a low but broad segmental-headed doorway to the left on the ground floor, with a partly glazed timber door with sidelights. There is a similar doorway to right, and between these doorways there is a window with timber sash frame with Georgian panes (six over six). To the first floor there are four windows, similar to those on the E face of the N section. To the W gable of the S section there is a high level doorway with timber-sheeted door and ‘rough’ cement render surround. This doorway is reached via stone steps with recent metal railings. The ground floor of the S elevation there are three unevenly-spaced windows with timber sash frames (four over four). Between the second and third windows is a doorway with partly glazed timber door. All of the ground floor openings have ‘rough’ brick dressings, suggesting they are not original. To the first floor there are four windows similar to those on the first floor of the N elevation. The E gable of this section and the E face of the N section of outbuilding ‘D’ both back into a tall (but uneven) rubble wall which runs alongside the roadside to the E of the property. This wall is blank apart from a doorway (with timber sheeted door), which leads into the N section of outbuilding ‘D’. The S section of outbuilding ‘E’ has a small rubble-built chimneystack to the E end.

Outbuilding ‘F’
This outbuilding lies to the SE of the complex. It is a long single-storey rubble-built gable structure, with a large ‘lean-to’ section to the E end. It is partly ruinous; however a small section to the E is currently undergoing renovation for use as a small holiday apartment. This section has a rebuilt N face with several window openings and a doorway, and its roof is slated. The remainder of the structure to the W of this is partly open to the E side and has a corrugated-iron roof. The openings to this section are devoid of doors or window frames. The lean-to section to the E end has a grass-covered roof.

Shed to E of house
As mentioned above, a long shed stretches from the E gable of the house. This shed appears to have been largely rebuilt in recent years, and has been extended to the S side with the addition of a slightly lower full-length section in rubble and brick with a three large doorways, two with timber-sheeted double doors, the other completely open and a corrugated-iron roof (which is almost flat). The ‘original’ taller shed behind this has a corrugated-in lean-to roof with the exposed section of its S face finished in a mixture of render and breeze block. The N face of the shed has the appearance of a tall rubble wall, with little to suggest the presence of a building beyond, save a small rendered chimneystack. This wall has several high level slit openings, whilst, to the right hand side there is a low segmental-headed archway with wrought-iron gate. The E face of the shed backs directly on to the roadside (flush with the wall mentioned above).

In front of the house there is a gravel forecourt with a small lawn to the E and much larger lawn to W and SW. The forecourt and lawn to E are enclosed from the roadside by a lime-washed rubble wall with rough stone coping. The wall curves in to a gateway with rough rounded piers with stone caps, and simple wrought-iron gates.

The areas of yard between the outbuildings have been paved, in recent times with small square blocks; however the areas to the S and W around the largely unused outbuildings are not paved.

Historical information

In a map of this area, (‘The Loughgeel Estate…Belonging to Sir George Macartney’), believed to date from the 1760s, the townland of Moyaver Upper is shown as divided between a Rev Alexander Clark, Francis Murry, Patrick Murry and Thomas Mooney. No houses are indicated, but as the purpose of the map -like many others- was to show the extent of plots held by the various tenants, this is not unusual. ‘Lime Park’, the home ‘Revd. Mr Clarke’ is marked on Taylor’s and Skinner’s road map of 1777, however, suggesting that a house of some description was in place at this date. The detailing to the staircase suggests that the property is indeed pre c.1780, so it is likely that the ‘Lime Park’ of 1777 equates to the present building.

Another Macartney estate map of 1790 shows that Rev. Alexander Clark was still holding the property at this point, and the ‘Post-Chaise Companion’ of 1803 notes the house as ‘the seat of the Revd. Mr. Clarke’. According to C.E.B. Brett, however, (who appears to have based his information on Canon Leslie’s ‘Clergy of Connor’- see
references below), Clark had actually died in 1792! The house is not listed among any of the residences of the ‘Clergy and Gentry’ in Pigot’s ‘Directory’ of 1824, suggesting that it was inhabited by someone further down the social scale by that stage.

The main section of the dwelling is shown on the OS map of 1832 with a long L-shaped section stretching out from the N side of the rear. The building is marked ‘Lime Park’, the presence of a limestone quarry a short distance to the Northwest probably explaining the origins of the name.

The valuation of 1834 tells us that by this time the property was in the hands of a Patrick McAlice [probably McAleese] and consisted of the main dwelling measuring 49ft x 26½ x 17 (‘too near the road and rather too good for a farmer’s house’), another portion belonging to the house of 37 x 20 x 8¼, a cart house of 27 x 14½ x 8, stores of 26 x 20 x 6½, a thatched ‘barn etc.’ of 47½ x 20 x 6¾, and a thatched ‘stable, byre etc.’ of 46 x 19½ x 6. As these dimensions, and the OS map, show, none of the outbuildings we see today existed in their current form; in fact the positioning of the long L-shaped structure at the rear of the house as shown on the map, does not tally with anything today.

The revised OS map of 1857 shows a complex of buildings largely the same as the present, however the house is marked as ‘Moyaver’. Unfortunately the valuation of 1859 does not supply any details of these new buildings, however, the valuers do tell us that the outgoing tenant, [possibly Patrick McAlice mentioned in 1834], had ‘improved the land a good deal and built [the] house and offices’. The phrase ‘the house’ is probably a reference to the return, which appears to have been present at this stage.

The occupier in 1859 is recorded as a James Craig. According to C.E.B. Brett, (whose information appears to be based on local knowledge), Craig is said to have originally been ‘a hard-working herdsman from Scotland’. He must have acquired Lime Park in or before 1853, as both this year and his name appear on an, (albeit somewhat later), date stone on one of the outbuildings.

The post 1859 valuations reveal little about the development of the property in the later 1800s and early 1900s, the most interesting entry occurring in 1888 which describes the dwelling as ‘a farmer’s house, old and out of repair’. On the 1906 OS map the house is marked as ‘Limepark’.

The Craig family continued to hold Limepark into the 20th century, James Craig succeeded by his son Arthur Brooke Craig in 1900, and by grandson James Alexander Craig in 1919. In 1959, James Alexander oversaw the 7th World Ploughing Championships on the farm, the event commemorated by the ‘Cairn of Peace’ monument erected near the front gateway.

In 1984 the house underwent major renovation with the original roof structure replaced, a rear extension demolished, and the interior largely gutted. The Craig family sold the property to the present owners in 1992, who, since then have converted most of the outbuildings to holiday apartments.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI T.1064/2/1 ‘The Loughgeel Estate…Belonging to Sir George Macartney’, (c.1760s)
2 Taylor, George, and Skinner, Andrew, ‘Taylor and Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed 1777’ (Dublin, 1778), Map 20 etc.
3 Linen Hall Library, Belfast, ‘A Map of County Antrim…by J. Lendrick’ (1780) [The house is not indicated on this map.]
4 PRONI D.588/1 ‘The Loughgeel Estate…Belonging to Sir George Macartney…by James Williamson’ (1790)
5 Wilson, William, ‘The Post Chaise Companion…’ (Dublin, 1803)
6 ‘Pigot & Co’s City of Dublin and Hibernian Commercial Directory (Manchester, 1824)
5 PRONI OS/6/1/13/1 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 13 (1832)
6 PRONI VAL/1B/141 First valuation, Armoy parish [Upper Dunluce Barony] (1834)
7 PRONI OS/6/1/13/2 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 13 (1857)
8 PRONI VAL/2B/1/37 Second valuation, Armoy parish [Upper Dunluce Barony] (1859)
9 PRONI VAL/12B/4/1a Annual valuation revision book, Ballymoney RD (1864-79)
10 PRONI VAL/12B/4/1b Annual valuation revision book, Ballymoney RD (1880-96)
11 Bassett, George Henry, ‘The Book of County Antrim’ (Dublin, 1888), p.87
12 PRONI VAL/12B/4/1c Annual valuation revision book, Ballymoney RD (1897-1913)
14 PRONI OS/6/1/13/3 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 13 (1906)
15 PRONI VAL/12B/4/1d Annual valuation revision book, Ballymoney RD (1914-29)
16 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ (Belfast, 1905)
17 PRONI VAL/3B/1/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Ballymoney RD (1935)

Secondary sources
1 Girvan, W.D., ‘Historic Buildings…North Antrim’ (Belfast, 1972)
2 Leslie, James B., ‘Clergy of Connor: From Patrician Times to the Present Day’ (Belfast, 1993)
3 Brett, C.E.B., ‘The Buildings of County Antrim’, (Belfast, 1996), p.156
4 Information supplied by the owner (October 2004)

Other references
1 EHS HB05/05/001 First Survey report (6 February 1973)
2 EHS HB05/05/001 Photographs (1973-84)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Substantial two-storey gabled farm house, probably dating from c.1760, with later projecting porch and a large collection of mainly 19th century two and single-storey rubble-built outbuildings, now largely converted to holiday apartments. Externally the mid 18th century appearance of this house has been maintained, but internally the building is largely a product of mid 1980s and the early 2000s, with very little original detailing remaining. The outbuildings have been sympathetically adapted to their new uses, but some new openings have been introduced.