Camus House,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c.1870, located to the east side of Lisky Road. Rectangular-on-plan with lower two-storey return, built c.1855, to the east.

Roof is hipped natural slate with blue-black clay ridge tiles over corbelled brick eaves course; dentilled eaves to principal elevation; ruled-and-lined rendered chimneys with replacement clay pots on central flat roof; access via flat-roofed timber framed lobby to timber stair; cast-iron balustrade; roof of return is pitched natural slate, eaves as main house; timber bargeboards; roughcast chimneys. Walls are painted roughcast rendered with smooth quoins over smooth rendered plinth (no plinth to return); smooth string course to first floor. Windows are square-headed timber framed 2/2 sliding sash to principal elevation; 6/6 sliding sash elsewhere; all have smooth reveals and sandstone sills.

Principal elevation faces west and consists of central chamfered sandstone entrance opening containing square-headed four-panelled timber door surmounted by transom light; access via five sandstone steps with chamfered sandstone parapet wall; single window in chamfered sandstone surround at first floor. At left, rectangular projecting bay contains window flanked by sidelights at each floor. At right, canted bay contains window to each cheek at each floor.

North elevation consists of canted bay at right containing window to each cheek at each floor; eaves as principal elevation; at left, single window at each floor.

East elevation is abutted at left by return; exposed section at left contains 9/9 sliding sash window at ground floor and single window at first floor; exposed section at right contains, at left, timber-panelled entrance door with glazed top panels surmounted by round-arched-headed sliding sash stairwell window containing stained glass; single window to each floor right.

South elevation contains two windows at each floor.

Return to east; south elevation contains five openings at each floor; that to ground floor left contains replacement timber glazed door with transom light. West elevation is abutted by house. North elevation contains three openings at each floor; ground floor centre and right each contain replacement timber-panelled entrance door with transom light. East elevation contains single window at each floor and attic.

Set within private grounds with mature garden to west; remains of walled garden bounded by rubble walling to north-east. Range of single- and two-storey rubble outbuildings to south-east accessed through wrought-iron gates supported on pair of circular rubble piers; all have natural slate roofs, timber-framed windows and vertically-sheeted doors. Immediately south of house, lean-to shelter supported by rubble boundary wall and L-shaped outbuilding; access to yard through segmental-arched-headed opening. To south, courtyard is enclosed on three sides by outbuildings with hipped roofs (two-storey pitched to east section). Courtyard enclosed at north by single-storey outbuilding. To east of courtyard, flax drying green is bounded by rubble walling with square-headed slit openings. Two-storey rubble flax mill with wheel 'sandwiched' between two mill buildings, beyond in agricultural land to east.

Site bounded to road at west by rubble walling; access through pairs of square rubble pillars supporting pair of cast-iron gates with secondary pedestrian gate at right to north-west and south-west. Driveway bounded to garden by rubble retaining wall with pedestrian access to avenue approach through pair of circular rubble piers via four sandstone steps.

Roof Natural slate
Walls Roughcast
Windows Square-headed timber framed 6/6 sliding sash; 2/2 sliding sash to principal elevation
RWG Cast-iron ogee-profile gutters (half-round to return) and round downpipes

Historical information

The house was built c.1870 on the site of an earlier dwelling. The return appears in style and proportion to be earlier than the main house, but cannot be earlier than 1855 as it does not appear on the second edition OS map.

A group of buildings is shown on the first edition OS map of 1832-3, to the north west of the current buildings. On the second edition of 1855 the group is captioned ‘Camus’. By the third edition OS map of 1905, the current house is shown, captioned ‘Camus House’. To the east are a ‘Flax mill’, ‘Mill pond’ and ‘Mill race’. The front of the main house is partly on the site of the older buildings but no other buildings overlap with the 1855 group.

The Camus estate is recorded in The Landed Gentry, Burke as being part of the estate of the Smyly family from Castlederg, with reference to John Smyly of Camus. The owner claims that the Smyly family were in ownership of the estate from 17th century to 20th century.

The property is recorded in the Townland Valuation as a ‘dwelling, offices and cellar’, Robert Grier is the occupier and the building valuation is £6.5s.

Griffith’s Valuation of 1858 records a ‘house, offices and land’, which is occupied by Robert Grier and freehold (the original lessor being the Lord Bishop of Derry). The building valuation is £6, and is revised at an unknown date to £7. A marginal note reads ‘R. Grier is in the lunatic asylum but is yet in possession’.

A marginal note of 1873 in Annual Revision reads “Unfinished house 19x11½x2½a, 18x7?x2a. Mr Greer lives at present in the return. See in 1874”. A further note reads ‘Held under a Bishop’s lease forever’. Also added to the fieldbook at this time are a ‘Flax Mill’ and ‘two scutchers houses’. The Valuation is originally £7 and revised to £20 in 1873 and to £60 in 1876, supporting the late Victorian character of the house. The Flax Mill is valued at £15.

In 1889 the mill is valued at £10 as only 2 stocks worked, the main house valuation increases to £66 in 1896 due to ‘appeal’, and the ‘flax mill [is] converted into threshing mill and valued with offices’. It is deleted from the fieldbook in 1896.

Rowan refers to this house as late Georgian, but primary evidence and internal inspection refute this (p.409). Internal plasterwork and joinery are distinctly late Victorian in character.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/6/10/1-First Edition OS Map (1832-3)
2. PRONI OS/6/6/10/2-Second Edition OS Map (1855)
3. PRONI OS/6/6/10/3-Third Edition OS Map (1905)
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/638C-Townland Valuation (1820-1840)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/6/41-Griffith’s Valuation (1858)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/42/10A-G-Valuation Revisions (1860-1929)

Secondary Sources

1. Rowan, Alistair. “North West Ulster: Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.” Buildings of Ireland Series. Dublin: Penguin Books, 1979.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A detached three-bay two-storey house, built c.1870, located to the east side of Lisky Road. This substantial house displays good style and proportions and retains many of its original features including a richly detailed Victorian interior. The relatively plain exterior appearance of the house is enriched by corbelled eaves and sandstone dressings. The building, which incorporates an earlier rear return of equal importance, remains an important architectural feature of the local area. The site is given further interest by the extensive range of outbuildings to the south-east of the house. The outbuildings remain intact and well maintained and the presence of a flax drying green and flax mill to the east supplement the significance of this site in the context of rural industry in the local area.