Former house at rear of

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A mudwalled, single-storey vernacular farmhouse, built in c1820, whose roof likely matches the visible roof of the attached east barn and may prove to be ‘thatch under tin’. The front elevation (N) consists of a four-bay frontage and a small, pitched-roof porch with square headed doorway. Elsewhere, additions to the dwelling include a stone built leant-to extension to the rear, an early barn attached to the east gable- with an exposed original timber and thatch roof, a hen house beyond (E) and a barn attached to the west gable – both 20th century.

Some of the external walling has been replaced, notably to the front (N) and to part of the rear (SW). Square headed openings throughout contain a mix of window types with a majority timber sliding sash, all are currently boarded. The wall finish is roughcast, and window surrounds and door openings are largely plain except for the northwest of the front elevation where there is some smooth render corbelling and surrounds to the window and porch door. Chimneystacks sited on the ridgeline are brick replacement, with one on either gable of the dwelling and one off-centre.

SETTING
The farmhouse is set at the end of a lane with other dwellings and farmsteads and is enclosed by farm buildings to the south, west and north with a dwelling dated 1974/5 also to the immediate north.

MATERIALS
Walls – Mud, Rubblestone and block
Roof – thatch (part confirmed)
Rainwater goods - cast-iron
Windows– timber sliding sash

Historical information

Houses are shown in this general vicinity on John Rocque’s county map of 1760, though the scale / accuracy of this survey makes it difficult to say whether anything is marked on this exact location. A long building matching the plan and position of the that of today is depicted on the 1835 OS map, however this is not recorded in the contemporary first valuation book as it was presumably below rateable value.

In 1864 (by which time all properties were recorded regardless of their rating) the building is noted as split into two dwellings, with that to the west occupied by Henry Platt, and that to the east (seemingly the smaller of the two) the home of Henry Fearins, with both leased from Henry Atkinson. Henry Platt was succeeded by George Platt in 1880 and by Mary Platt in or just prior to 1901, whilst William Henry Platt is noted as living in the neighbouring dwelling from around the same date.

In the 1901 census, Mary Platt, a 45yr-old widow and farmer, is recorded as residing in the larger house with her four (school age) children, whilst the building itself is noted as a ‘2nd class’ thatched dwelling with four windows in front and two rooms. Next door – a ‘3rd class’ dwelling also with a thatched roof, two rooms, and three windows in front - was solely occupied by William Henry Platt, an unmarried 38yr-old farmer, who was probably Mary’s brother-in-law. Similar details for both households are recorded in the 1911 census, though by this time the now married William was sharing the house with his wife, Mary Ann, and the larger property is listed as having three rooms. Although it is difficult to be certain, it is likely that by this date the larger house had assumed much of its present appearance, although the corrugated iron roof covering is later, as may be the porch. Given the more recent changes to the sections either side of this (which are now outbuildings) it is impossible to discern anything of what the smaller dwelling would have looked like, however.

Members of the Platt family are believed to have remained here until at least the early 1950s. The present owner’s family acquired the property at some point prior to the mid-1970s, with the present (replacement) dwelling built around 1974-75.

References -
1 '…Survey of the County of Armagh..' by John Rocque - 1760
2 OS map county series, Armagh sheet 5 - 1834-35, 1859, 1905-06; IG sheet 181-5 – 1954, 1964, 1980
3 PRONI VAL2B/2/21A Second valuation, Tartaraghan parish – 1862
4 PRONI VAL12B/14/15A, C-E Annual valuation revision books, Tartaraghan ED – 1864-1920
5 Census of Ireland – 1901, 1911 [Online at www.census.nationalarchives.ie]
6 ‘Belfast News-Letter’ – 13 September 1937, p.1
7 ‘Portadown News’ – 28 January 1939, p.4; 20 October 1945, p.5; 8 February 1947, p.2; 4 August 1951, p.8

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

While later additions have little value the original mudwalled, single-storey vernacular farmhouse and attached barn, built in c1820, have some merit. The house may well have its original roof and thatch, as the visible roof of the attached east barn would suggest, however many of the external mud walls have been replaced. Despite internal and gable mud walls remaining, the loss of original fabric - particularly most of the external walls, the many accretions to the main building and poor cramped setting combine leave this building with insufficient merit to be considered a special example of vernacular architecture.