108 Drone Hill

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey with attic three-bay farmhouse predating c1833. Rectangular plan form. Located at the junction of Dronehill Road and Derrylough Hill, approximately 1.5 miles south east of Banbridge.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; chimneys removed; cement skews; uPVC replacement rainwater goods. Lime rendered walling partially removed to expose rubble masonry walling. Openings infilled with concrete blocks.

The front elevation faces north and is asymmetrically arranged. Centrally positioned door with window to either side. Three first floor windows; the central window positioned left of centre.

The left gable has a single infilled attic window to apex.

The rear elevation has been completely altered comprising modern double height shed doors. Cement rendered (scratch coat).

The right gable is blank.

Setting:

Prominently located at a cross roads, the front of the house has a wrought-iron railing with cast-iron terminals and rubble masonry wall. Agricultural units and yard to the rear; of no interest.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: rendered
Windows: None
RWG: uPVC replacement

Historical information

No. 108 Drone Hill, a two-storey farmhouse , was constructed prior to 1833 and can be seen on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map in that year. The map depicts the dwelling at the crossroads of the Drone Hill Road and Derrylough Hill at which time it was abutted on the west side by an additional building (now demolished). The contemporary Townland Valuations (c. 1830) note that the building was originally utilised as a public house, valued at £5 8s. And was occupied by a Mr. William Russell; the structure that abutted the west side of the building was a storehouse.

By the 1860s the site does not appear to have been utilised as a public house and was simply described as a house and offices in Griffith’s Valuation. William Russell had vacated the site at that time and his relative Alexander Russell (likely his son) was recorded as occupant of the farmhouse which was valued at £12. Alexander Russell resided at the farm until his death in 1869 when occupation of the site passed to a Mr. Robert Russell.

The farm on the Drone Hill Road passed out of the Russell family in the mid-1870s and over the next decade was occupied by a number of tenants who briefly resided at the site. By 1886 the value of the farmhouse was reduced to £8 5s. As the building had fallen into a state of ‘dilapidation,’ however by 1896 Andrew Jelly, a local farmer, came into possession of the site. Jelly restored the farmhouse as the 1901 Census described the building as a 1st class dwelling consisting of 10 rooms and possessing a stable, cow house, two piggeries and a barn amongst its out offices. Jelly purchased the farm outright in 1907 and continued to reside at the site until his death in 1915 (PRONI Wills). Andrew’s relative James Jelly took possession of the site by 1918 and continued to be recorded as occupant of the farm by the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929.

No. 108 Drone Hill Road was listed in 1977 and is currently lying vacant and in a state of disrepair. The farmhouse is the only surviving remnant of the original farm; the outbuilding to the west side of the farmhouse was taken down sometime after the current edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1975. Further, the second, third and fourth editions of the Ordnance Survey maps note that a return or outbuilding abutted the rear of the farmhouse; however this has since been taken down sometime after the current edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1975; all of the remaining out offices situated at the site are modern corrugated-iron outbuildings. The property has been unoccupied since the 1970s.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/34/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/34/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/34/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1902-03
4. PRONI OS/6/3/34/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1903-1918
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/352 – Townland Valuations 1830s
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/56 – Griffith’s Valuation 1862
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1A – Annual Revisions 1864-1874
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1B – Annual Revisions 1875-1883
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1C – Annual Revisions 1883-1897
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1D – Annual Revisions 1898-1908
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1E – Annual Revisions 1909-1929
12. PRONI Wills Catalogue (19 Apr 1869; 11 Nov 1915)
13. Census of Ireland (1901 / 1911)
14. Ordnance Survey Map – 221-14 (1975)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two-storey three-bay farmhouse predating c1833. The building was vacated c.1970 and has remained unoccupied since. Although loss of fabric has seriously compromised its interest, its history as a public house on a crossroads is of some note, .