House adj 45 Corbet Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached asymmetrical three-bay single-storey lobby-entry rubblestone tin-over-thatch former dwelling, built c.1800, with windbreaker entrance porch and incorporated byre. Rectangular on plan, facing north and built on a steeply sloping elevated site overlooking Corbet Lough to the west and accessed via a long lane to the west of Corbet Road with a single-storey rubblestone outbuilding and a replacement dwelling to the east.

Pitched corrugated iron over thatch roof with iron ridge, slightly raised gables and a single rendered redbrick chimneystack with no rainwater goods. The roof follows the slope of the site. Lime render over rubblestone walling. Square-headed window openings with redbrick linings and remnants of timber sash or steel casement windows having no sills.

Front north elevation is three windows wide with a central windbreaker entrance porch and byre to the west bay. Windbreaker entrance porch with corrugated iron roof extending from front pitch and having an original timber frame set on granite plinth blocks and original vertically-sheeted timber battened door. Door opens onto front concrete paved area within front yard.

East gable is set into the sloping terrain and obscured below eaves level.

Rear elevation is four windows wide and set below an embankment.

Gabled west side elevation abutted by lean-to rubblestone shed having corrugated asbestos roof.

Setting

Located on a sloping elevated site overlooking Corbet Lough to the west and accessed via a long lane to the west of Corbet Road. A single-storey rubblestone outbuilding is set parallel to the dwelling forming a sloping front yard. The outbuilding has corrugated iron roof and cement render over rubblestone walling. A replacement dwelling is located to the east of the complex and set on a higher level, built c.1950, recently renovated.

Roof: Corrugated iron over thatch
Walling: render/stone
Windows: Steel / timber
RWG: None

Historical information

This vernacular dwelling house overlooking Corbet Lough pre-dates the first Ordnance Survey of 1833 and is of an unusual character, clinging as it does to the sloping contours leading down to the lake shore. Shown on the first edition of 1833 in its present form with a parallel outbuilding to the north, the house is listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) and is designated of sufficient value (£3.12s) to be included in these early lists. This is most unusual for what was then a thatched dwelling house and indicates that the structure was judged to be substantial and well-kept for the time. It is the only house in Castlevennon townland to be valued over £3. Robert Watts, the tenant of a farm of 29 acres, is the householder and he or his son of the same name continued in occupation of the farm at the time of Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64), around 25 years later. However, by this time, the valuation of the farm buildings had dropped to £2.

In 1870 the farm passed to the Stewart family and the 1911 census shows us 71-year-old widow Isabella Stewart at the house with her daughter and a friend, a telephone operator from Belfast. The widow employed a live-in farm servant, 75-year-old Alexander Levin and became the owner in fee of her farm in 1913 under land purchase legislation. Isabella’s daughter, also Isabella, appears to have married and lived in the house as Isabella Maxwell from 1926. Valuation notes of the 1930s record the accommodation at the house as two bedrooms, a ‘room’, kitchen and scullery. It was said to be a farm house in good order with a good internal finish, although not plastered internally.

The house has not been occupied for some time. A new farmhouse has been erected on the site in recent years.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/34/1 First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/34/2 Second Edition OS map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/34/3 Third Edition OS Map 1902-3
4. PRONI OS/6/3/34/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/360 Townland Valuation (1828-40)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/52 Griffiths Valuation (1861)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/3A-E Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/1 First General Revaluation 1933-57
9. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/3/B/2 First General Revaluation 1933-57
10. 1901 census online
11. 1911 census online

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Detached asymmetrical three-bay single-storey lobby-entry rubblestone former dwelling, built c.1800, with windbreaker entrance porch and incorporated byre. Rectangular on plan, facing north. Original detailing to the interior of note includes a double hearth and some timber built-in furniture. Also of interest is the surviving thatched roof structure over part of the house, although much material has been lost. Of note for its detailing and layout, the house is an interesting survival. However, loss of fabric and detailing has compromised its architectural and historic interest.