83 Castlenagree Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Asymmetric two-storey house with typically early to mid-Victorian picturesque / vaguely Tudoresque overtones, probably c.1855-60 but possibly a remodeling of pre-1832 dwelling. Likely to have been built as a gardener’s or steward’s residence, the building is located within the Dundarave House demesne, at the south end of what was the demesne's original walled garden.

SETTING Rural; towards the eastern side of the of the Dundarave demesne, roughly 0.2km W of Castlenagree Road, 1.1km E of the centre of Bushmills. The house backs on to the SE wall of a large disused walled garden of rhomboid plan. The eastern half of the garden is now mainly lawn whilst the western half is mainly wooded, but much of the tall rubble walling seems to be in place and to the eastern corner there is what appears to be a folly tower / belvedere.

GENERAL In basic terms the original section of the house is L-shaped in plan with a single-storey porch set within the crook of the ‘L’ and a later single-storey lean-to extension to the W gable and another lean-to addition directly behind this. The lean-to to the gable is abutted by a long open shed / garage of relatively recent construction (or adaptation.)

The walls are finished in roughcast with a smooth render plinth, ‘in-out’ rusticated quoins (set within an area of smooth render) to front and gables, and plain surrounds and drip moulding to the front and side windows, with plain surrounds only to those to the rear. The windows themselves are flat-headed and of slightly differing sizes; most have two over two timber sash frames-and painted stone sills, whilst those to the lean-tos are generally smaller and have modern top hung frames. The overhanging roof has recently been re-slated whilst its decorative bargeboards and plain fascia boards are also recent replacements. There are two roughcast chimney stacks, which also appear to have been either replaced or refurbed recently.

The roof has been renewed post-2015 (i.e re-slated with barges and fascia replaced), whilst the side lean-to has been refurbished also (its frontage previously had a parapet and the roof seems to have been renewed); the RW goods are also recent replacements.

FRONT ELEVATION The front elevation faces S/SE but for the purposes of this description this will be read as S. Gabled porch roughly to centre with Tudor arch doorway contained panelled timber door with plain fanlight. Window to W face of porch with one over one timber sash frame. Porch has overhanging roof with decorative (replacement) bargeboards; the roof originally had a final but this has been removed.

Window to ground floor left of porch on main section of house with two slightly larger windows to the first floor. The smaller size of the ground floor window compared to its upper level counterparts could be an indication that the upper floor was increased in height at some stage.

Full-height gabled bay to immediate right of porch with one window to each floor. S face of lean-to to far left has doorway with plain timber door.

W ELEVATION No openings or other features of note.

E ELEVATION Symmetrical arrangement with two windows to each floor.

REAR (N) ELEVATION To the ground floor are two widely spaced windows, that to the right much smaller and with a modern frame. To the immediate right of this is the rear lean-to extension which has two small window with modern frames, and another similar window to its W face. To the upper floor there are three windows with that to the centre larger.

Historical information

A rectangular building is shown in this location on the OS map of 1832, set along what was then the southern boundary of a rhomboid shaped productive garden belonging to ‘Bushmills House’, the mansion that preceded the present Dundarave. In the first valuation book for Billy Parish of June 1835 apart from the main residence itself, a ‘steward’s dwelling’ is noted within the demesne, which may equate to the structure depicted on this site. The valuers record this as a ‘not new’ slated house in good repair (‘quality letter’ 1B+) measuring 25ft x 20 x 17½, whilst later - possibly 1840s - pencil annotations underneath record what seems to have been an addition to the building measuring 20 x 15 x 7. None of these dimensions would seem to match the house we see today, however.

The revised OS map of 1855 shows a building much like that on the 1832 version. In the 1859 valuation book a ‘farm house and offices’ rated at £10 are recorded within the demesne. The annotations on the accompanying valuation map suggests that this is a reference to the building on this site, although it is difficult to be certain (it may relate to the farmyard at the north end of the demesne – see HB05/08/005C.)

The later 19th and 20th century valuations record no changes to the structure, indicating that it had either assumed its present form by 1859, or that any subsequent change or rebuild simply wasn’t noted, (as is the case for many structures within other demesnes, some of which were not even itemised individually.) The present appearance of the house suggests it could be of the later 1850s to 1860s but may represent a remodeling / extending of the pre-1832 dwelling, with the gable-fronted bay and porch added to the existing fabric and the whole re-roofed. The planform as we see it today appears on the OS map of 1904.

The ‘farm house’, (which may or may not have been this particular building), continues to be recorded individually within the valuation books up until 1929. In that year a separate ‘gardener’s house’ is referred to for the first time and all mention of the ‘farm’ dwelling ceases, but once again it is difficult to say exactly what this actually refers to.

[For the history of Dundarave demesne see HB05/08/005B]

References – primary sources
1 OS map County Series, Antrim sheet 3 – 1832, 1855, 1904, 1921; IG sheet 7-13 – 1972
2 PRONI VAL12B/30/8A-D Annual valuation revision books, Bushmills ED – 1859-94
3 PRONI VAL12B/4/6A-D Annual valuation revision books, Bushmills ED – 1895-1929
4 PRONI VAL3C/1/13 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Bushmills ED – 1936-57
5 PRONI VAL4B/1/22 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Bushmills ED – 1956-72

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
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two-storey house in mid-Victorian picturesque / Tudoresque style of c.1855-60 which may represent a remodelling / enlarging of a pre-1832 dwelling. While the roof may have been re-slated, the rest of the external fabric and much of the internal fabric such as cornicing, stairs shutters doors and architraves is authentic. The building is mainly asymmetrically proportioned, the windows, porch and front return of main elevation are arranged asymmetrically as are the windows of the rear elevation, although the side elevation (NE) is symmetrically composed. Modest eternal ornamentation – Tudoresque porch, timber barges, hood mouldings and heavy corbelling to the corners complement an interior in good condition with original/historic staircase, floors, doors and architraves, skirtings, cornices, rails and windows.
Likely to have served as a gardener’s or steward’s residence for the Dundarave demesne, the building has several relatively recent single-storey lean-to extensions to the rear and south end but is otherwise largely original both inside and out.
The building lies within the curtilage of Dundarave Estate (HB05/08/005A) and within the Registered HPG of the same (ref AN-026). Combining with the main house, walled garden and other listed buildings within the demesne, it has group value and local interest as part of the estate.