25 Sentry Box Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey three-bay lobby-entry vernacular farmhouse predating 1833. Rectangular plan form with windbreak porch and modern extensions to the rear. Located on the Sentry Box Road, just south of the junction with Cavehill Road, approximately 2 miles south east of Banbridge.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; cast-iron rainwater goods on drive-in brackets, stone eaves; roughcast rendered chimney with concrete capping. Lime-wash rubble masonry walling; rough cast render to the rear. 6/6 timber sliding box sash with horns and granite cills. Timber sheeted front door; gabled roughcast rendered single-storey windbreak porch with diminutive sash windows to either cheek

The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged. The porch is located left of centre with two ground floor windows to the left and a single window to the right; three first floor windows directly over.

The left gable is asymmetrically arranged. Single narrow ground floor window to the left.

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged. Abutted to the right by a two-storey gable-ended return; rough cast render and timber sliding sash windows; further abutted on the right cheek by a single-storey lean-to bay stepping down to a single-storey pitched roof rear entrance porch; iron roof-lights throughout; split rear door and single first floor window to the left cheek of the return. Single first floor window over lean-to roof. Left of the return are three ground and first floor windows of varying sizes.

The right gable has a diminutive first floor window to the right.

Setting

Set slightly back from the road in a rural
setting, with front garden bounded by a rubble masonry wall with squared and rounded piers supporting wrought-iron gates. Single-storey rubble masonry stable block to the right with gable end to the road. Slate roof, vestigial lime wash; timber sheeted door. Gravel parking bays to the left. Garden to the rear beyond which is a wider rural context.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: stone
Windows: Timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

No. 25 Sentry Box Road, a two-storey farmhouse, was constructed sometime before 1833 as it appears on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map. At that time the two-storey farmhouse and the current one-storey barn to the north of the site had been constructed; a second outbuilding to the south-east of the farmhouse can also be seen, however this was taken down between the second and third editions of the Ordnance Survey maps (1859; 1902-03). The Townland Valuations (1830s) did not include No. 25 Sentry Box Road as it presumably was not worth the minimum value of £5.

In 1862 Griffith’s Valuation noted that the site was occupied by a Mr. James Harshaw, a local farmer who purchased the lease from Edward Ward (the Fourth Viscount Bangor). By the 1860s the farm’s value had risen to £5, however in 1869 it was raised to £8 as a result of unknown alterations. James Harshaw continued to reside at the farm until his death in 1881 (PRONI Wills) at which time the farm briefly passed to Joseph Gillespie before being occupied by a Mrs. Mary Anne McCartan by 1888. When Mary Anne McCartan took possession of the site in 1888 the house was described as ‘old and out of repair’ and a number of out offices, including the outbuilding to the south of the site, were taken down reducing the farms value to £5 10s.

Mary Anne McCartan continued to reside at No. 25 Sentry Box Road until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1929. The 1901 Census notes that McCartan (42, Roman Catholic) was a widow who resided at the farm with her son and two daughters; the Census Building Return described her property as a first class dwelling that consisted of seven rooms. In 1911 the census notes that McCartan’s adult children assisted with help on the farm which consisted of a stable, two cow houses, two piggeries, a fowl house and a barn located in the single-storey outbuilding to the north side of the house.

No. 25 Sentry Box Road was listed in 1977 and was extensively renovated in 2003 when a modern extension was added to the rear of the site.

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/A/3/34 – Townland Valuation map 1830s
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/352 – Townland Valuations 1830s
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/56 – Griffith’s Valuation 1862
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1A – Annual Revisions 1864-1874
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1B – Annual Revisions 1875-1883
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1C – Annual Revisions 1883-1897
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1D – Annual Revisions 1898-1908
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/1E – Annual Revisions 1909-1929
13. PRONI Wills Catalogue (6 Jan 1881)
14. Census of Ireland (1901 / 1911)
15. First Survey Record – HB17/08/031 (1970)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two-storey three-bay lobby entry vernacular farmhouse predating 1833. Its early character, proportion and styling survive. The additions in 2003 are distinct from the historic fabric and do not detract significantly from the integrity of the building. The interiors were extensively modified, although the general character and layout has been retained. The stable block, walls gates and piers all make a contribution to the historic setting of the building. This is a good example of a type becoming increasingly rare, demonstrating a robust and typical character, surviving in its original setting.