15 Seavers Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A traditional farm complex comprising a detached two-bay one-and-a-half storey dwelling and a number of single-storey outbuildings, located on the north side of Seavers Road, west of Newry. A scheduled monument (ARM026:048), thought to be a neolithic court tomb, is located directly opposite on the south side of Seavers Road and the immediate
setting is within the Ring of Gullion Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The complex is wedge-shaped, bounded by outbuildings and rubble stone walls, and all buildings are rectangular on plan; the house has a full-height gabled porch to west bay and has been extended by the incorporation of a former outbuilding, with slightly lower ridge height, attached on axis to west gable.

The house has a pitched slate roof with angled ridge tiles and a rebuilt redbrick chimneystack to party wall between bays; replacement timber bargeboards to porch. Rainwater goods are plastic. Walling is dashed with beach pebbles bedded in cement render, interspersed with occasional segments of blue glass; porch is painted cement render. Windows are replacement timber casements set in smooth rendered reveals, with granite cills. Principal elevation faces south; to extreme left is a porch with hardwood panelled door; ground and first floor windows are aligned to left and right of party wall between bays. West gable is abutted by the former outbuilding, now converted to a kitchen; there is a window to south and a timber sheeted door to rear. The rear elevation has a single window to upper storey; east gable is blank.

Outbuildings have pitched slated roofs (except where otherwise stated) and plastic gutters over timber fascia boards. Walls are limewashed over rubblestone, generally having rock foundations visible. They include:

Outbuildings 1 & 2: Cart house and attached store; the attached store has a monopitched corrugated metal roof; otherwise detailed as stated. The store has a hardwood sheeted door to west and a window to east; the cart house is fully timber sheeted to south gable with double vehicular doors; the yard-facing elevation (W) has a timber sheeted door and small opening, and a series of circular ventilation openings. Decorative iron grille to store.

Outbuilding 3: Pigsty: Road-facing, rising from the boundary wall at south. Limewash applied directly to rubble stone. Opening to a small rubble-walled enclosure to east via a timber sheeted door with timber lintel, accessed by a wrought-iron gate. Other elevations are blank.

Outbuilding 4: Store: Built into a bank and connected to the pigsty via a whitewashed rubble retaiing wall with tall granite steps built in, leading to a paddock above. Single door and window opening facing yard, otherwise blank.

Outbuilding 5: Possible fowl house: Monopitched roof, whitewashed rubblestone walls, and sheeted door to south; slatted timber opening to east.

Outbuilding 6: Later concrete block structure with pitched corrugated metal roof and metal-framed openings.

SETTING
The complex is set on an elevated site in a mountainous area west of Newry, with panoramic views to the south and west. It is bounded to the road by a whitewashed rubble wall, inset with a number of traditional hand-forged gates, variously detailed and painted red. They lead to (from left) a raised paddock; the farmyard; a small garden; and a rubble-stone enclosed path leading to the house. There are a number of additional gates dispersed throughout the site, and to rear. To the front of the house is a small enclosed front yard, with stone wall and a raised platform with yellow and black tiled surface.

MATERIALS
Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Pebbledashed and limewashed rubblestone
Windows: uPVC and replacement timber casments
RWG: Plastic

Historical information

Built c.1883, the house is first shown on the third edition OS map (1906), with a pair of outbuildings in close proximity to the south-west and north-west.

A previous building is shown on site on earlier OS maps (first edition; 1834-5, second edition; 1861), having a long narrow footprint with similar orientation to the present building. This house, with a pair of small outbuildings to the west, was occupied by a Matthew Murphy during the mid 19th century and the valuation of £1 in Griffith’s Valuation (1862), is indicative of a single-storey building.

A Bernard (Patrick) Murphy took over as occupier in 1875 and the buildings remained unchanged until the Annual Revisions of 1883, when the value increased to £2 5s, following the noted rebuilding of the house. The valuer’s notes are unclear, however in combination with the contemporary valuation map (1895-1913), the outbuildings (abutting to the north and detached to the south-west) appear to have been rebuilt and slated in conjunction with the rebuilding of the house. While the value of the buildings remained unchanged, ownership of the site passed to the occupier (Bernard Murphy) in 1906, under the Land Appropriation Act (LAP), as was common with a number of other plots in the surrounding area. Although the value decreased to £0 15s in the First General Revaluation of 1935, this is commensurate with similar buildings elsewhere in the locality and is not reflective of any physical changes to the fabric.

Unfortunately the map evidence is very unclear but it suggests that the outbuilding to south-west is contemporary with the main house and that to the north-west was constructed around the late 19th or early 20th century. The detached outbuilding to the north was constructed during the mid 20th century and the footprint has remained unchanged since the fifth edition OS map (1956). Two small lean-to structures are present on site, one to the north-west and the other abutting the southern boundary wall. Whilst these are not shown on any historic or contemporary maps, the rubblestone construction indicates that they were built around the mid to late 19th century.

References
Primary sources:
1. PRONI OS 6/2/26/1 - First edition OS map, (1834-5)
2. PRONI OS 6/2/26/2 - Second edition OS map, (1861)
3. PRONI OS 6/2/26/3 - Third edition OS map, (1906)
4. PRONI OS 6/2/26/5 - Fifth edition OS map, (1956)
5. PRONI VAL/12/D/2/26/C-H - Annual Revision Maps (1860-1935)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/2/37/B - Griffith’s Valuation (1862)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/17A-D - Annual Revisions (1865-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/3/B/2/9 - First General Revaluation (1935)
9. PRONI VAL/3/A/2/26 - Second General Revaluation (1956-72)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

S. Authenticity
R. Age
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

15 Seavers Road is a fine example of a traditional rural farm complex, nestled on a modest smallholding in mountainous countryside west of Newry and originating from pre-1834, although largely rebuilt in 1883. The dwelling has been subject to refurbishment, latterly in the late twentieth century; however proportions have been retained, and the traditional form of a modest one-and-a-half storey dwelling with lower attached outbuilding remains clearly legible. The value lies in the completeness of the wider complex, which is distinctly vernacular in its irregularly arrangment around a small wedge-shaped yard, which would once have provided significant shelter from the elements on this exposed site. A neolithic court tomb (ARM026:048), is believed to be directly opposite on the south side of Seavers Road, within the immediate setting. The buildings have been well-maintained and present an original aspect, as an intact grouping, and add considerable character to the landscape and historical context of this rural area, in the Ring of Gullion. Traditional construction methods are much in evidence, considerably enhanced by the survival of ancillary features such as walling and hand-forged iron gates.

General comments

Located within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.