Building to South of 34 Grange Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A long linear range incorporating house flanked by outbuildings, of mud-walled construction and having thatch-under-tin-roof, located on the north side of Grange Road at the historical site of the Battle of the Diamond. The house pre-dates 1832, and was extended in the nineteenth century.

Tin roof covering thatch, with metal rainwater goods and plain timber fascia and bargeboards. Later brick chimneystacks. Mud walling throughout, undulating and slightly battered in places, rendered with pebbledash to front and roughcast to rear. Rubblestone foundation visible to rear. Windows are generally horned 1/1 timber sashes, except where stated; render surrounds to front elevation.

Principal elevation faces south, with outbuildings to either end. House has mid-20th century concrete porch addition and door to left of centre, with one window to its left and three to its right. Outbuilding to left is lit by a single metal framed window; that to right has a timber sheeted door.

Left gable is blank.

Rear elevation has irregular fenestration and is abutted to left of centre by a flat-roofed kitchen extension with paneled door. Windows are generally timber 2/2 double hung sliding sash and horizontally divided. Outbuilding to left has a replacement casement window, those to right are accessed by a range of timber doors, and lit by metal-framed windows.

Right gable is blank.

Setting:
The house is set parallel to the road, with narrow front garden bounded by a rendered boundary wall having steel gate to path. The site slopes steeply to rear where a modern replacement bungalow is situated. To west is a large corrugated metal open barn, beyond which is the site of former clachan, and historic battlefield site, known as The Diamond. Secondary dwelling noted in the earlier survey has now been demolished (2025). Two restored eighteenth century single-storey thatched dwellings (Dan Winter's House) are visible at the junction to west.

Secondary house noted in earlier survey and now demolished (2025):
Directly to west was single-storey woodstore, formerly a house, also of mud-walled construction and with thatch under tin roof. Blank to road-facing south elevation; the west gable (likely once an internal wall) displayed a range of constructional features including exposed mud walling beneath broken render, and random rubble stone with brick chimneybreast. There was a single opening infilled with rubble stone having timber lintel. The north elevation had a door opening and a tri-partite timber sash window. West gable had a door opening.

Roof: Thatch under tin
Walling: Mud
Windows: Timber
RWG: Metal

Historical information

No. 34 Grange Road, a single-storey thatch-under-tin vernacular dwelling located in the townland of Grange Lower, was constructed prior to 1832 and was originally a much smaller cottage that was later extended. The dwelling was first recorded on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps for the area in 1832 which depicted the cottage as a small rectangular-shaped building flanked on either side by outbuildings (these outbuildings are now demolished) and situated to the immediate south-east of a 18th century Clachan known as ‘The Diamond.’

No. 34 Grange Road is located to the immediate south-east of The Diamond, a site of historical significance for Ulster Loyalism and essentially the birthplace of the Orange Order in Ireland. The Diamond was an 18th century Clachan (traditionally a small settlement lacking a church or major buildings) that was the site of a major agrarian skirmish between the Protestant Peep O’Day Boys and the Catholic Defenders. In 1795 the local leader of the Peep O’Day Boys was Dan Winters, a spirit dealer and innkeeper; the local members of the movement would frequently meet at Winter’s cottage (HB15/02/057B) making it, and the Diamond crossroads, a target for the Defenders. On 21st September 1795 the Peep O’Day Boys and Defenders clashed in a skirmish that became known as The Battle of the Diamond; approximately 30 Defenders were killed resulting in a decisive victory for the local Protestants who had occupied a strategic position upon Diamond Hill. In the aftermath of the battle a number of the local leaders, including Dan Winters, James Wilson and James Sloan, formed the Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organisation aimed at defending the civil and religious liberties won by King William III at the Battle of the Boyne; the formation of the Order was a direct result of the Battle of the Diamond and the first lodge was subsequently established in Co. Tyrone in 1796 (Brown, pp 20-23).

Between 1832 and 1857 the outbuildings to No. 34 Grange Road were demolished and the single-storey cottage extended to its current length. The outbuilding that currently stands to the west of the cottage appears to have been constructed during this period as a building occupying the same layout first appears on the 1857 map. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1863) records that the dwelling was owned by Francis Cope (who owned most of the land and property in the townland) and was valued at £2 15s. Cope leased the property to a Mr. Alexander McMurray, a local farmer, who continued to reside at the site until 1884. In that year a Mr. James Williamson took over possession of the site in which he lived until at least the 1930s.

The 1901 Census records that Williamson was employed as a farmer. The census building return described his farmhouse as a third class dwelling which possessed a thatched roof, consisted of four rooms and whose walls were constructed of ‘perishable’ materials which were specified as mud or wood (No. 34 Grange Road is a mud-walled dwelling); the enumerator also noted that Williamson’s outbuildings were utilised as a stable, two cow houses and a barn. The third edition of the Ordnance Survey maps records that a third farm building was constructed between the cottage and the earlier office by 1904 suggesting some development of the site during this period, however the 1911 Census continued to describe the cottage as a 3rd class building constructed of ‘perishable materials.’ Facilitated by the Land Acts of the early-20th Century, James Williamson purchased his property outright in 1914 and continued to reside at The Diamond until at least 1935 when the First Revaluation noted him as both occupant and owner; in that year the value of the dwelling was raised to £4 10s. The property remained in the Williamson’s family until at least the Second Revaluation (1956-72), which further raised the total rateable value of the building to £9.

In the mid-to-late-20th century a number of No. 34 Grange Road’s minor outbuildings were demolished and replaced by the current corrugated-iron barn on site; during the same period the current concrete entrance porch was added. Field inspection of the site suggests that the vernacular cottage may date from the late-18th century and, therefore, may be contemporary with the Battle of the Diamond, however this cannot be proven without invasive investigations. The building continues to possess its original thatched roof, however this has been covered by a corrugated tin roof and further late-20th century additions include the construction of a small flat roofed return to the rear of the dwelling. No. 34 Grange Road currently lies vacant, and a modern dwelling has been constructed to rear with the Planning Approval documents for O/2006/0113/F linking the permission of the new dwelling to the demolition of the mud walled dwelling ‘to preserve the amenity of the area and prevent an accumulation of dwellings on the site’.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/2/9/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map 1832
2. PRONI OS/6/2/9/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1857
3. PRONI OS/6/2/9/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903-04
4. PRONI OS/6/2/9/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1922-31
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/2/9 – Townland Valuation map c. 1830
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/2/30 – Griffith’s Valuation 1863
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/10/33A-E – Annual Revisions 1864-1929
8. PRONI VAL/3/B/2/3 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland 1935
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/2/6 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland 1956-72
10. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837)
11. Census of Ireland (1901 / 1911)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1918)
13. Listing Query Files (HB15/LQ085)
14. Planning Approval documents for O/2006/0113/F

Secondary Sources
1. Brown, W., ‘An army with banners: The real face of Orangeism’ Belfast: Beyond the Pale, 2003.

Evaluation

A modified single-storey linear mud-walled vernacular dwelling of lobby-entry type, extended with outbuildings at either end, located at the site of a former clachan known as The Diamond, which is also a historic battlefield site associated with the birth of Orangeism. Beneath twentieth-century refurbishments, the house is a relatively rare example of monolithic mud-walled construction, having an intact thatched roof structure beneath tin. Historical associations, and contribution to a concentration of thatched dwellings in the immediate vicinity add interest. This building adjacent to no. 34 Grange Road currently lies vacant, and the modern dwelling at no 34 Grange Road has been constructed to rear on an elevated site with the Planning Approval documents for O/2006/0113/F linking the permission of the new dwelling to the demolition of the mud walled dwelling ‘to preserve the amenity of the area and prevent an accumulation of dwellings on the site’.