Dwelling 70m N of 8 Low Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two storey, two bay vernacular house, with later single storey /single bay addition to right gable. Aligned N-S to the E of Low Road and accessed by grassed lane.

Roof is pitched natural slate with tiled skews; ruinous condition. It has a chimney to each gable - that to left is rendered and corbelled, that to right is gone. A smooth cement rendered eaves course runs along façade and falls to ground level at left corner of façade only. There are no rainwater goods. Walls are granite random rubble, with vestiges of lime render.

Principal elevation faces W. To extreme right on the main block is a projecting windbreak porch with pitched natural slate roof. Its W face has a door opening with timber lintel. There is a slightly advanced rendered apex over the door lintel, with a blind recess. Right and left cheeks are blank. To left of porch are two window openings to each floor, those to upper floor are diminished in height. All have granite cills and smooth rendered decorative architraves, lugged to bottom and hooked to top. The first floor left opening has the remains of a 2/2 exposed box sliding sash window (with horns).

Left gable has a small window opening to first floor left and the ghost marks of a former lower single storey lean-to. The section above is rendered.

Rear elevation has fieldstone quoins to left end. Set to left of centre is a door opening with a timber lintel. To either side is a window opening both infilled with rubble stone. To first floor is a single window opening to right of centre. All windows have granite cills.

Right gable is abutted by a single storey addition. The exposed section is blank with flush brick chimney breast.

Single storey addition is detailed as main block with a rendered chimney to right. There are fieldstone quoins to right end only. Principal elevation has a single window opening to centre (detailed as those to façade) and infilled with brick. Rear elevation has two plainly detailed window openings. That to left is infilled with timber. Right gable is blank.

Setting:
House is set in a maturely planted garden and accessed by a grassed lane. To road is a pair of roughly dressed one-piece granite gate piers (gate gone). Set to front of house to the right and left are ruinous outbuildings.

Historical information

The building shown on this plot in the 1835 OS map has no valuation suggesting a small one storey structure. Its valuation from 1862 onwards is uncertain as its plot on the Valuation map cannot be determined. It was probably raised to its present form in the mid 1800s.

Primary sources:
1. First edition OS 6" map, Co Armagh sheet 29, 1835 (PRONI - OS 6/2/29/1).
2. Second edition OS 6" map, Co Armagh sheet 29, 1861 (PRONI - OS 6/2/29/2).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

An attractive and much evolved vernacular house with interesting plan form. It is pleasantly set within a mature garden in the Slieve Gullion AONB.