Castletown House,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached five-bay one-and-a-half-storey house, built c.1865, located to the west side of Urney Road. Rectangular-on-plan with single-storey canted bay and two-storey porch to east; lower one-and-a-half-storey annex to south; two-storey gabled return to north-west; single-storey cat-slide return to west.

Roofs are pitched natural slate with blue/black ridge tiles; smooth rendered chimneys with replacement clay pots. Walls are roughcast over painted plinth. Windows are mainly square-headed timber-framed 1/1 sliding sash; round-arched-headed to first floor; painted masonry sills.

Principal elevation faces east; from left, bay one contains single window at ground floor and hipped half-dormer at left; bay two is abutted at ground floor right by canted bay containing single window to each cheek; hipped half-dormer at left; bay three is abutted by hipped porch containing round-arched-headed window to each floor; six-panelled timber entrance door to north; bay four contains two windows at ground floor and hipped half-dormer at right; bay five contains two windows at ground floor.

Annex to south contains two windows at ground floor flanked at right by replacement uPVC entrance door; central hipped half-dormer; gable is blank; west elevation projects containing small window at ground floor left and two windows at ground floor right; central hipped half-dormer.

South gable is blank; abutted by annex.

West elevation consists of five bays; from left, bay one contains single window at ground floor; bay two abutted by gabled return containing two windows at each floor; bays three and four are abutted by lean-to return containing replacement timber panelled door at left flanked to right by single window; hipped dormer containing square-headed window at first floor; exposed section at left contains round-arched-headed stairwell window; bay five contains single window at ground floor surmounted by hipped half-dormer.

North gable contains two windows at first floor.

Castletown house is acccess from Urney road via a narrow lane which curves as it approaches the house and criosses a mid-Victorian railway bridge. The railway line is no longer in place. The railway bridge is single span and the arch is built on the skew with clay bricks to the soffit. Mainly constructed of random rubble stone with contrasting rock faced platband and copings. The arch has been built up on one side with a rendered wall and is used to store straw.
Set within extensive grounds; bounded to river at west by wire fencing; bounded to property at east by rendered walling surmounted by steel railings.

Roof Natural slate
Walls Roughcast render
Windows Timber-framed 1/1 sliding sash
RWG Cast-iron half-round gutters and round downpipes

Historical information

The first and second editions of the OS Map (1832 and 1855) show a building captioned “Castletown House”. On the 1905 map this house has fallen into disuse and has been replaced by an adjacent building now captioned “Castletown House”.

Griffith’s Valuation states that the occupier of the old house is Samuel Colhoun who holds it ‘in fee’.It is valued at £5 10s. In the Valuation Revisions (1860-1864), the house is revised in value to £10, indicating a possible date of rebuilding. The occupier is revised to John Colhoun in 1873. In 1872, there are further increases to the value of the plot perhaps indicating additions to the building.

A gate lodge is added on the plot in 1894, valued at £1.15s. In 1911, this is revised to £3. Dean (1994) reports that the lodge has been demolished, briefly mentioning it as “a lodge opposite the gates probably built for a Major Semple” (Dean, p.139).

References:

Primary Sources:

1. PRONI OS/6/6/4/1-First Edition OS Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/6/4/2 -Second Edition OS Map (1855)
3. PRONI OS/6/6/4/3 -Third Edition OS Map (1905)
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/642 -Townland Valuation
5. PRONI VAL/2B/6/44 -Griffith’s Valuation (1857)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/42/20A-G -Valuation Revisions (1860-1924)
7. PRONI VAL/2/A/6/4A+B -Griffith’s Valuation Map (1858)
8. PRONI VAL/12/D/6/4C -Valuation Revisions Map (1896-1925)

Secondary Sources:

1. Dean, J. A. K. “The Gate Lodges of Ulster: A Gazetteer.” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
I. Quality and survival of Interior

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A detached five-bay one-and-a-half-storey house, built c.1865 on the site of an earlier house, located to the west side of Urney Road. This house, little changed in appearance externally and simply detailed, has an interesting form consisting of a series of projecting bays and dormers and it constitutes one of the more interesting and important houses on the outskirts of Strabane. Originally the plan layout consisted of four principal rooms at each floor accessed from a central stair hall; however, subdivision of the building has broken down these large spaces into smaller living accommodation and this has diminished its internal interest. Despite these internal alterations, there remains some good quality original features internally, including fireplaces and stairs. Castletown house grounds are entered over a good quality mid-Victorian stone railway bridge and it enjoys an extensive setting with open fields streching down to the river on one side. This setting has been partially affected by the loss of land once belonging to the house on the Urney Road side and construction of late twentieth century houses