Woodbine Cottage

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single storey thatched cottage with a chimney on one gable and a later lean-to extension to the other side.

Main doorway faces south. South facade of main cottage 3 openings wide, with the door enclosed in a flat-roofed porch, flanked by a window to each side. Porch of low concrete block walls rendered and painted, carrying timber framed glazing above; asphalt covering to roof; PVC gutter; all 1970s replacement for an earlier porch. Main entrance door, contained in porch, timber panelled and glazed, translucent glass. Window to left, timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 1 over 1, with horns, but sashes now fixed in position due to insertion of extractor fan in upper pane; stone cill, painted. Window to right, timber fixed light below top-hung vent. Walls rendered and painted white. Roof thatched with reeds.

Wall of main block of cottage extends in same plane to left hand side where a single storey extension abuts west gable, before stepping back to left hand extremity. Two windows in south wall of extension: first to left, a timber casement with painted stone cill; second to left, a small top-hung timber window, new, in a blocked up opening. Varnished wooden fascia; fibre cement slate roof in regular courses to very shallow pitch, replacement of 1997 for earlier corrugated iron roof.
West gable of cottage above roof of extension has one small window to loft, timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 1 over 1, now enclosed in an outer sheet of protective glass. West wall of extension has two windows, timber fixed lights with top-hung vents.

Rear elevation of cottage has two windows; to left, white painted timber fixed light below top-hung vent, c 1950s, in plain reveals with no cill; to right, similar but recent, c 1995. Beyond to right a similar window in extension.

East gable of cottage plain with a chimney at apex, square plan, with projecting string course, whitened as walls, and one terracotta pot, 20th century. To left hand side, low boundary wall, rendered and painted, projects forward and returns to south, with ornamental wrought iron gate leading down steps to concrete area in front of entrance to cottage, with floor level below road level.

The roof timberwork is original.

SETTING: The house stands in a rural location, at right angles to the main road with its east gable up against the footpath, with a small garden to the front and a larger one to the rear. Its roadside position means it is the most readily visible of all the thatched cottages in the area.

Historical information

What appears to be the present building, minus the lean-to addition and porch, is shown on this site on the OS maps of 1831 / 32 and 1857. The property is not included in the 1830s valuation, but is recorded in that of 1860, however, with the occupant listed as James Lawse [?or Lause], Col. Charles P. Leslie the immediate lessor, and the rateable value calculated at 15/-. According to the present owner the house was built for one of her ancestors in c.1820, with the front porch added c.1920 and the interior refurbished c.1950.

The building was re-thatched in 1994 by George Topping of the Thatch Advisory Service.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/1A/1/47 OS map, County Antrim sheet 47, with valuation
references (1831 / 32-c.38)
2 PRONI VAL/2A/1/47A OS map, County Antrim sheet 47, with valuation references (1857-c.60)
3 PRONI VAL/2B/1/34A Second valuation, Islandmagee (1860)

Secondary sources
1 Information supplied by owner (20 September 1997)

Appears on the OS map of 1831. Built for a member of the present owner’s family c 1820; front porch originally added in 1920s but renewed since; interior improvements carried out c 1950; re-thatched in 1994 by George Topping of Portadown working for the Thatch Advisory Service. (Information from present owner).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A good example of a vernacular type which is now rare, which retains the original layout, roof timbers, and window shapes, and is also so sited that it is in full public view.