Killycolp House Farm,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

This is a detached hipped two-storey gentleman’s residence, built c.1830. The ground floor footprint is roughly square in plan with a single-storey pitched replacement entrance porch to the front elevation. There is a two-storey pitched return to the rear. There is a single-storey lean-to to the Northwest, visible on the rear elevation. The house is set back from the main Killycolp road, accessed by a long driveway.

The front East elevation is three windows in width. Walls are roughcast painted. There is a Classical style porch with rusticated walls and rendered pediment to the centre of the facade. The porch has a square-headed door to the South elevation with a panelled timber door. There s a square-headed tri-partite window to the East elevation. The window has carved timber pilasters and margin panes, set on a cut-stone sill. The ground floor windows are square-headed 1/1 timber sash frames with margin panes. There are cut-stone sills to the base. The upper level has 6/6 timber sash windows. The central window above the porch is a single-light replacement timber casement window. There is classical reduction to the proportions of the upper floor windows.

The side South elevation has timber sliding sash windows to the ground and upper level, as previous.

There are no openings to the side North elevation.

The roof is hipped with natural slate. Walls are roughcast and chimneystacks are rendered.

Returns:
The two-storey pitched return to the rear West has square-headed timber sliding sash frames. There is a replacement uPVC window to the North. There is natural slate to the roof.

The single-storey lean-to the rear Northwest has a replacement uPVC window to the West. The remainder of the lean-to is partially obscured by a stone wall.

Outbuildings:

There is an assortment of outbuildings to the Northwest. The outbuildings form a U-shaped yard, which is accessed by a laneway to the North of the main house.

The Southern boundary of the yard is enclosed by a series of single-storey lean-to sheds. There are metal roofs to the sheds, and they have painted timber doors.

A long double-height outbuilding with a pitched metal roof forms the Western boundary of the yard. Externals walls are random rubble. It has four segmental-headed arched openings to the yard. There are red brick dressings to openings. There is a large painted corrugated metal shed to the Northwest corner.

The Northern boundary of the yard is formed by a series of small single-storey sheds under a continuous pitched slate roof. It has a number of square-headed door openings with timber doors.

To the Northeast of the yard, there is a two-storey random rubble outbuilding. The ground floor has an elliptical-headed opening, and a square-headed door. The upper level has square-headed openings with replacement windows. There are two stone and brick chimneys to the roof.

Setting

The house is prominently sited on a rise; it is set back from the main Killycolp road, accessed by a long driveway with gated pillars. The pillars are cut and carved-stone. The gates are painted wrought-iron. The house is set at the top of a large sloping field, overlooking the surrounding countryside. A level parking area is set to the front of the house.

Historical information

A building is shown on this site on the OS map of 1833-34. The property is recorded in the first valuation of 1835 as a ‘newly-built’ house not in the best condition, (quality letter ‘1A’), in the hands of a Captain Griffith. Its dimensions are recorded as 48½ft x 22½ x 22½ for the main section, returns of 21 x 23 x 13 and 14 x 21 x 8, and thatched outbuildings of 28 x 16 x 7½ and 47 x 17½ x 7. The building was rated for valuation purposes at £11-13-0.

On the revised OS map of 1857 the house is marked ‘Killycolp’. By this stage the building appears to have been extended slightly to the rear and the front porch added. Unfortunately the valuers ‘house’ notes from the 1858 valuation regarding the dimensions of the building have not survived, and all we have is the name of the occupant, Henry A. Griffith, the immediate lessor, Robert Graham, and the rateable value, £20.

Henry Griffith died in c.1868-69, and in 1872 a William Crawford is recorded as the occupant, with a Deane Mann succeeding him the following year. In 1881 the Representatives of William Alexander Gunning is listed as the residents- a valuer’s annotation suggesting they purchased the lease for £1,410. A John W. Osmond [?or Ormond] is recorded as tenant in 1882, followed by a Matthew Henderson in 1885, the immediate lessor listed as a William H. Spier in the same year. Sophia Henderson was the next occupant, in 1902, followed by a Sophia S. Hunter [?Sophia Henderson after marriage] in 1910, Thomas Brown, in 1912, and Thomas Hamilton in 1920, with whose descendants it remained with up until at least 1993.

References- Primary sources
1 ‘OS Memoirs of Ireland vol.20...’, eds. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams, (QUB, 1993), p.34
2 PRONI VAL/1B/623 First valuation, Desertcreat parish, 1834-c.1838
3 PRONI VAL/1A/6/38 OS map, Co. Tyrone sheet 38, with valuation
references, 1834-c.1838
4 Lewis, Samuel, ‘A topographical dictionary of Ireland…’ vol.1, (London, 1837)
5 ‘Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1846)
6 ‘Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1856)
7 PRONI VAL/2A/6/38 OS map, Co. Tyrone sheet 38, with valuation references, 1857-58
8 PRONI VAL/2B/6/6/24B Second valuation, Desertcreat parish, 1858
9 PRONI VAL/12B/37/21A Annual valuation revision book, Tullaghoge ED, 1860-63
10 PRONI VAL/12B/37/21B Annual valuation revision book, Tullaghoge ED, 1864-80
11 ‘Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1870)
12 ‘Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1880)
13 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5C Annual valuation revision book, Tullaghoge ED, 1881
14 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5D Annual valuation revision book, Tullaghoge ED, 1881-94
15 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5E Annual valuation revision book, Tullaghoge ED, 1895-1912
16 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster directory’ 1902- (Belfast News-Letter, 1902- )
17 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5F Annual valuation revision book, Tullaghoge ED, 1913-29
18 PRONI VAL/3B/7/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Tullaghoge ED 1935
19 PRONI VAL/3C/7/7 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Tullaghoge ED, 1936-57
20 PRONI VAL/4B/6/9 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Tullaghoge ED, 1956-72
21 PRONI VAL/14A/126 Third general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Sandholes ED, 1975
22 PRONI VAL/14B/174 Third general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Sandholes ED, 1976-87
23 PRONI VAL/14C/156 Third general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Sandholes ED, 1987-93

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is a detached hipped two-storey gentleman’s residence, built c.1830. This is a well-composed early nineteenth-century Georgian style gentleman’s residence. It is well proportioned, although a little compromised by the later porch. The elevated setting adds a sense of importance, as does its naming related to the townland and adjacent road. The assortment of associated outhouses and farm buildings to the rear of the house enhance the overall setting.