Marburn Cottage

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single storey thatched cottage with later extensions to each end.

Main entrance is in an outset porch on south front. South front has one window to left of projecting porch and four to right, with an extension projecting forward at each extremity. Roof thatched, set at steeper pitch than gables. Walls of rubble stone rendered and whitened. Three chimneys, one on left hand gable, two on ridge, smooth rendered and whitened, with, apparently, thick black tiles as cornice; one modern earthenware pot to each stack. Window to left of porch, rectangular double timber casement; first window to right of porch similar to left, followed by three timber sliding sash windows, vertically hung, 1 over 1, with horns; projecting concrete cills in each case. Entrance porch rectangular; gabled sides with thatch of main roof swept down over it, new, previously flat-roofed. Door in west side of porch, timber ledged, of half-door type, new, with modern bracket lamp alongside. South face of porch has three-light window, comprising fixed pane between two casements; east side of porch has double timber casement. To right hand end of house a projecting conservatory, built 1990: wall finish as on main cottage; west face has four-light window comprising two fixed panes between two casements, and uneven profile to parapet or wall-head, in vernacular idiom. South face of conservatory: two French doors, timber painted white, small panes, modern, with long narrow single-pane sidelights; strawboard soffit with PVC gutter and downpipe; shallow pitched roof. To left hand end of house a projecting extension of modern construction with shallow pitch corrugated metal roof; walls smooth rendered and painted white; timber fascia; PVC gutter and downpipe; rectangular windows, fixed panes and casements.

West gable of house blank above roof of extension; flat copings to gable off-set carrying chimney; cylindrical metal flue pipe affixed. West wall of extension: rectangular timber casements and timber ledged door.

North facade of house from windows wide, all timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 1 over 1, with horns, replacements c 1987 but in original openings with varying heights of heads and projecting concrete cills. Eaves of thatch overhanging and bound with chicken wire. Along base of north face of house, a drainage channel laid with concrete pavoirs and stones. To right of right hand window a buttress with stepped profile with drainage channel running through it. To right hand end of north front, modern kitchen extension has two small timber casement windows; projecting rafter ends carrying low-pitched corrugated metal roof; PVC gutter and downpipe. To left hand end of north front, small extension in same wall plane; corrugated iron roof; timber fascia; PVC gutter without downpipe.

East gable of house blank above gabled extension of lower ridge height. East wall of extension: wall cement rendered and painted; timber fascia; three-light timber casement with concrete cill, with small timber casement without cill to left, followed by four-light window in conservatory projection, similar to that on west face of conservatory.

The roof timberwork is original.
SETTING: The house stands in a spacious garden in a very rural location, at the end of a lane leading from the main road, but is not readily visible from the road.

Historical information

A building is shown on this site on the OS map of 1831 / 32, however it is not included in the contemporary valuation. It is recorded in the second valuation of 1860, however, the occupant listed as John Murray, Col. Charles P. Leslie the immediate lessor, and the rateable value of both the house and a ‘good slated office’ calculated at £2.

According to the present owner the property once contained three dwellings. It is probable that one of these former dwellings was originally the ‘office’ (i.e. outbuilding) mentioned in 1860. The building was converted to a single property c.1930.

The roof was re-thatched in 1988 by Gerry Agnew and repaired in 1996. The porch’s flat roof was replaced with the present pitched roof of thatch in c.1993.

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 Corcoran, D. ‘A Tour of East Antrim’ (Belfast, 1990), p.43 [A reproduction of a photograph from the Green Collection]
2 Information supplied by owner (21 September 1997)

Appears on OS map of 1831. Originally was three cottages but converted to one dwelling c 1930; re-thatched 1988 by Gerry Agnew; portions repaired 1996; flat roof of porch changed to pitched roof of thatch c 1993. (Information from present owner.)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

B. Proportion
H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An example of a vernacular type which is now rare, which retains much of its original appearance on the exterior and has been conserved well in the main body of the house.