1 Davies Road, Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone BT78 4NH

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached three-bay two-storey direct-entry early ninteenth-century vernacular dwelling, located to the east side of Davies Road. Rectangular-on-plan with single-storey lean-to porch to west; bay to north later addition, added c.1900.

Roof is pitched natural slate with blue/black clay ridge tiles; smooth rendered chimneys. Walls are painted roughcast; lime-rendered over rubble construction to south elevation; smooth rendered to east elevation and porch. Windows are square-headed timber-framed 2/2 sliding sashes; painted masonry sills.

Principal elevation faces west and was originally two-bay; central bay contains window at each floor at left flanked at right by porch containing vertically-sheeted timber door, surmounted by single window at first floor; right bay contains window at each floor; left bay (later) contains single window.

North gable contains two small 1/1 sliding sash windows to first floor; abutted at right by shed.

East elevation is largely overgrown (opening cannot be seen).

South gable contains two timber casement windows at first floor.

Directly accessed from road at west; access to yard at rear through pair of wrought-iron gates at south supported on square rendered pillars directly to south corner of house. Attached single-storey barrel-roofed shed at north; roof is corrugated metal; walls are roughcast rendered to north, largely repaired with corrugated metal. Further modern outbuildings and yard to north and west. Range of outbuildings at south; mono-pitched rubble outbuilding with corrugated roof directly at road-side, abutted at south by one-and-a-half-storey pitched rubble outbuilding with natural slate roof; single-storey red brick stable-block to south-east with monopitched corrugated metal roof.

Roof Natural slate
Walling Painted roughcast
Windows Timber-framed 2/2 sliding sash
Rainwater goods Cast-iron half-round gutters and round downpipes

Historical information

The current house is present on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 together with additional buildings to the north and north west.

Griffith’s Valuation of 1859 shows the house and outbuildings divided into two separate plots. The current house is occupied by Michael Rea and valued at £2. The buildings that are later to become outbuildings to the current house are occupied by Christopher Hutchinson as a dwelling and offices and valued at £1.10s. Annual Revisions record that the lessor is the Reverend James McIvor but this is amended to the Church Temporalities Commissioner in 1872 and to the Irish Land Commissioner in 1888.

James McElrea becomes the owner in fee of the current house in 1878, and in 1890 Miller McElrea becomes the owner of the buildings to the north of the current house and by 1892 is the owner in fee. In 1894 a marginal note reads, ‘house now used as office’, the valuation consequently being dropped to £1. In 1901 some rebuilding work has taken place to the outbuildings which are revalued at £2.15s.

By 1903 Miller McElrea owns the current house and in 1905, it too is subject to remodelling, being revalued at £3.10s. The two plots are subsequently treated as one with the house being valued at £4 and the outbuildings at £2.5s. Field inspection of the house suggests that it was extended by the addition of a bay to the north c.1900. It is also possible that it was raised a storey at the same time.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/6/17/1 – First Edition OS Map (1833)
2. PRONI OS/6/6/17/2 – Second Edition OS Map (1853)
3. PRONI OS/6/6/17/3 – Third Edition OS Map (1904-5)
4. PRONI OS/6/6/17/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map (1951)
5. PRONI VAL/2/A/6/17 – Griffiths’ Valuation Map
6. PRONI Printed Griffith’s Valuation, Union of Gortin (1859)
7. PRONI VAL/12/A/6/34 – Valuers’ Note Book (1898-1901)
8. PRONI VAL/12/A/6/36 – Valuers’ Note Book (1903-1906)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/39/10A-F – Annual Revision Records (1860-1924)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A detached three-bay two-storey early nineteenth-century direct-entry vernacular dwelling, located to the east side of Davies Road, with outbuilding yards to each side. This right hand side of this simple house retains much of its original external character and materials. The building has however been altered and extended in the twentieth century and it has lost much of its internal layout and detailing resulting in a loss of architectural character.