Stone walling

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Long curving stretch of low rubble-built walling, possibly dating from the early to mid 1800s. The walling runs along much of the east side of Main Street, Armoy, enclosing the street from the steep river bank, (of the Bush River), on the other side.

The walling stretches from the end of Church Street in the S and curves in a NE direction, ending some metres before the junction of Main Street and Drones Road. It is relatively low (roughly 1m or less) and constructed of random rubble with a rough rubble parapet. A significant portion of the wall to the S end has been reconstructed in relatively recent years (possibly the mid to later 1990s) using squared rubble. Close to the N end of the wall there is a small gap allowing pedestrian access to steps leading down to a path running alongside the river. A recently laid footpath made up of small square-ish paving ‘stones’ runs alongside the wall.

Historical information

The village of Armoy came into being in the latter half of the 18th century, its growth, like many others, spurred on by the granting of a patent for toll-free fairs around c.1780. Prior to this, (according to the later OS Memoirs), ‘there was only 2 or 3 cabins on the roadside’. The village is marked on Taylor’s and Skinner’s map of 1777 and John Lendrick’s map of 1780.

By the 1830s, Armoy largely consisted of a series of rows of houses fringing the west side of the present Main Street -then part of the road from Ballymena to Ballycastle. The OS Memoirs of 1835 describe the village as consisting of 43 houses, twenty of which were two-storey, the settlement ‘improving’, with many ‘good 2-storey houses…lately built’. In spite these changes, however, the village did not expand greatly beyond its 1830s bounds, its population of ‘about 250’ in c.1835 only rising to just over 300 by the 1880s, and remaining as such into the early 1900s. In common with other small towns and villages, Armoy did begin to spread beyond its 1800s limits in the latter half of the 20th century, when local authority housing developments were established to north and west of Main Street.

It is not certain when the walling on the east side of Main Street was erected. As a safety measure to stop pedestrians (and vehicles) falling down the steep bank of the Bush River, it may have a long history, however as walls such as this are rarely indicated on the OS (or other) maps, it is difficult pin it down to a date. Walling is shown on a pre-1903 photograph of the village, however. It is possible that it was built in the 1830s, when the village was said to be undergoing improvements.

The southern end of the wall was reconstructed c.1990s.

References- Primary sources
1 Taylor, George, and Skinner, Andrew, ‘Taylor and Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed 1777’ (Dublin, 1778), Map 20 etc.
2 Linen Hall Library, Belfast, ‘A Map of County Antrim…by J. Lendrick’ (1780)
References- Primary sources
2 PRONI OS/6/1/13/1 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 13 (1832)
3 PRONI VAL/1B/130 First valuation, Armoy parish [Cary Barony] (1834)
4 OS Memoirs, Parish of Armoy, (1832-38), reprinted in ‘Ordnance Survey memoirs of Ireland…’ ed Angelique Day, Patrick McWilliams and Noirin Dobson (Belfast, QUB, 1994), p.4
5 PRONI OS/6/1/13/2 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 13 (1857)
6 PRONI VAL/2D/1/20d Valuation plan of Armoy (1859)
7 Bassett, George Henry, ‘The Book of County Antrim’ (Dublin, 1888), p.87
8 EHS (MBR) Photograph showing Armoy Presbyterian church, (c.1900) [The wall can be seen in this photograph.]
9 PRONI VAL/12E/5/1/1 Valuation plan of Armoy (1906-35)
10 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ (Belfast, 1905)
11 PRONI VAL/3G/3/1/1 Valuation plan of Armoy (1935-56

Other
references
1 EHS HB05/05/013 First Survey report (c.1993)
2 EHS HB05/05/013 Photographs (Dec 1993)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Long curving stretch of low rubble-built walling, possibly dating from the early to mid 1800s, which remains an attractive part of the Armoy streetscape.