37b Cockhill Road (North of 37)

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An attached lobby-entry single-storey vernacular dwelling of rubblestone construction, pre-dating c.1830 and located within a linear group of similar buildings on the south side of Cockhill Road near Ballymena. Rectangular on plan with lobby-style entry, gables are abutted by neighbouring vernacular buildings to either side.

Steeply pitched corrugated-iron roof over thatch, single red brick chimney to south (partially collapsed and without pots), no rainwater goods to overhanging eaves. Walling is random rubblestone construction, with lime mortar to joints and vestiges of lime-wash over lime-render. Square-headed window openings without sills; largely 1/1 timber casements, having exposed frames, timber lintels and largely replacement glass. Single square-headed door opening to west elevation, having a timber lintel and partially rendered reveals.

Principal elevation faces west, two openings wide; doorway to right; window to left having shallow splayed cement-rendered reveals and remnants of a three-light upper window pane, with side hung casement affixed behind. Door opening contains no door or frame.

North elevation largely abutted by neighbouring building, formerly No.35. Upper section of gable contains red brick walling, not laid in a discernable or consistent bond and partially collapsed to left-side.

Rear elevation faces east and comprises two window openings, with plain rubblestone surrounds and timber casements set in shallow recess from face of wall. Window missing from left-side but frame remains.

Setting

Forming part of a linear row of similarly dated vernacular dwellings, which are orientated perpendicular to the Cockhill Road, with the northern gable of the former No.35 directly lining the southern side of the road. Sited within a rural farmland
setting, the immediate surroundings are wooded and overgrown. A small, shared yard to the east is overgrown and is bound by a low rubblestone wall curving from north to south. The building forms part of a wider complex of vernacular farm structures located within a separate yard to the south and east, which are thought to be associated with the adjoining thatched dwelling at No.39 (HB07/10/017). This yard of outbuildings, in conjunction with No.39, are separately accessed from Cockhill Road, via a sweeping path to the north-east. Whilst the southern former dwellings in the terraced row have principal elevations which face east, that to the former No.35 and No.37B, both have principal elevations facing west.

Materials
Roof – Corrugated-iron over cruck-framed thatch
RWG – None
Walls – Lime-wash render over uncoursed rubblestone
Windows – 1/1 timber casements

Historical information

The building is likely of late 18th or early 19th century origin, as indicated by the cruck-framed timber roof structure, however it may be earlier.

This linear group of buildings is first shown on the first edition OS map (1833), forming part of a larger group with those to the north-east and having two small outbuildings in close proximity to the north-west. Comprising individual dwellings, including the present Nos.39, 37, 37B and the former No.35, this linear group remained largely unchanged on the second edition map (1853), except for the removal of the north-western outbuilding.

The property is recorded in Griffith’s Valuation (c.1859), however the handwritten numbering on the accompanying map is very difficult to discern. Although unclear, the group of small dwellings, comprising Nos.37, 37B and the former No.35, appear to have been those leased by a Robert Dill to a Hugh Campbell and a Thomas Tweedy, which were valued at £1 and £0 15s respectively, and that leased by a John Hanna to a Samuel McDonnell, which was valued at £0 10s.

The different owners of the various buildings within the wider cluster indicate that this settlement may have originally developed as a clachan. Some of the buildings may have also been lodgings for farm workers, in particular No.37B, as it contains a single room with a hearth, which was characteristic of workers’ lodgings.

Subsequent OS maps show that the footprint of the building has remained unchanged since at least the mid 19th century. By the fourth edition OS map (1936) the complex is captioned ‘Hannastown’, reflecting the fact that the Hanna family had continuously occupied a number of the buildings since at least the mid 19th century.

The subsequent Annual Revision maps and records are also very unclear, however the rateable value of the buildings appears to have remained largely unchanged until at least the First General Revaluations (c.1930). Census records (1901 & 1911), in conjunction with the Annual Revisions (1894-1920), show that the house, is thought to have been occupied by a cotton weaver Fanny Coffel, and her son, who were followed by a labourer David Clarke, in the early 20th century. This information remains unclear, however it should be noted that this building was the only dwelling within the townland of Cromkill, to contain a single window on the principal elevation and therefore the reference likely relates to this record, the present No.37B.

Remaining in use as a house until at least the 1930s, the building has had a corrugated-iron roof placed over the thatch, at some point during the 20th century. No.37B, along with those which make up the wider complex, have all been vacated in recent years.

Comprising a single space which was open to the rafters, the dwelling comprises a lobby-entry arrangement whereby the entrance door and hearth are located in close proximity. In vernacular dwellings of this arrangement a jamb was placed directly in front of the entrance door, as a means of protecting the hearth. It was also common for a small window to be incorporated within the jamb, to enable those inside to see who was entering. The thatched roof is carried on timber purlins, supported to the centre by a half-raised cruck-framed timber roof structure. Such roof systems where commonly employed in vernacular buildings, at a time when the quality and availability of timber was poor. Early examples of such roof structures used timber pegs to secure the joints, as iron nails and screws were not widely available. In order to minimise strenuous saw-work timbers were split riven an axed, giving a roughly hewn surface, which greatly differed from the smooth faces of later sawn examples.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/37/1 First edition OS map (1833)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/37/2 Second edition OS map (1853)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/37/3 Third edition OS map (1906-07)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/37/4 Fourth edition OS map (1936)
5. PRONI VAL/12/D/1/37A-N Annual Revision Maps (1860-1935)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/2A Griffith’s Valuation Records (1859)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/3/18/A-E Annual Revision Records (1863-1930)
8. 1901 & 1911 Census Records

Secondary Sources
1. HB File (HB07/LQ064)
2. Oram, Richard, Stelfox, Dawson ‘Traditional Buildings in Ireland – A Home Owners Handbook’ Mourne Heritage Trust (2004)

Online Sources
1. McFaul, Michael ‘A Dying Tradition: Thatching in Northern Ireland’ accessed at (http://ihbc.org.uk/context_archive/46/nireland.htm

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

A late 18th century vernacular dwelling, characterised by the retained lobby-style entry plan, typically modest proportions and the thatched roof (under corrugated-iron), which is supported on a raised cruck-frame. Although once a common feature of the rural landscape, vernacular thatched structures have been under serious threat in recent decades and are now scarce. Despite the condition of the thatch, the roof structure and the chimney, this former dwelling, remains an important surviving example of an increasingly rare building type, which is of great historic and cultural significance within the context of Northern Ireland but also on an international scale. The roof is a rare and relatively early example of a cruck-framed truss, with the roughly hewn timbers and pegged joints displaying the traditional methods of timber construction employed prior to the widespread availability of nails and screws. The adjoining buildings and the associated outbuildings make an important contextual contribution to this former dwelling, and the group constitutes a significant example of a large traditional farmstead or ‘clachan’.

General comments

also HB07/LQ064

This record has been re-numbered and was previously HB07/10/035.