Eden Hill 35 Upper Quilly Road Banbridge Co Down BT25 1NP

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached asymmetrical five-bay two-storey developed vernacular of lobby entry house type, built c.1800, with single-storey front entrance porch (c.1930), two-bay two-storey flat-roofed rear extension added c.1960, and single-storey wing abutting the southwest gable. Rectangular on plan facing northwest and located at the end of a long avenue to the east of Upper Quilly Road on a mature slightly elevated site having a large rear yard enclosed by two two-storey rendered outbuildings.

Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles, raised concrete verges and three rendered profiled brick chimneystacks. Moulded metal guttering supported on moulded rendered eaves cornice and plastic downpipes. Cement rendered walls and rusticated rendered quoins, ruled-and-lined to the ground floor below continuous sill band with pebbledash render to first floor. Square-headed window openings with concrete sills and original 6/6 timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes.

Front elevation is five windows wide with central single-storey flat-roofed entrance porch. Diminished window openings to the first floor have smooth rendered surrounds while the larger windows to the ground floor have deep moulded architrave surrounds. The entrance porch has a single-pane timber sash window to the front with margin lights and a square-headed door opening to the right cheek with replacement hardwood panelled door.

Northeast gable is blank with chimney to apex and ‘1928’ scribed into the pebbledash render of the first floor.

Rear elevation is abutted by an off-centre flat-roofed two-storey rendered extension, added c.1960. Two 2/2 timber sash windows to the first floor level on the right with the remaining being largely timber casement and uPVC replacements. Replacement sheeted timber door opens into rear concrete paved yard.

Southwest gable is abutted by a single-bay single-storey rendered section with pitched natural slate roof and steel casement window. The accretion is further abutted by a single-storey section having a single-span natural slate roof and attached to a single-storey outbuilding set at a right angle, enclosing the southwest of the yard.

Setting
Set on a slightly elevated mature site on the east side of Upper Quilly Road accessed via a long avenue. Extensive front garden enclosed by hedging with a pair of decorative wrought-iron gates supported on rendered piers and quadrant walls with stop-chamfer details and gabletted capstones. A matching pedestrian wrought-iron gate and piers is located to the south east of the house. The southwest of the yard is enclosed by a single-storey lime rendered stone outbuilding with pitched natural slate roof (now demolished c.2015). The northeast is enclosed by a two-storey rough-cast rendered outbuilding with pitched natural slate roof, sheeted timber doors and loading bays. The southeast is enclosed by a further two-storey range having corrugated iron roof, cement rendered walls and sheeted timber doors and loading bays.

Roof : Natural slate
Walling : Render/pebbledash
Windows: Timber /uPVC
RWG : Metal/uPVC

Historical information

The current farmhouse is shown, uncaptioned, on the first edition OS map of 1833 as a rectangular structure at the end of a tree-lined drive. A long range of outbuildings is shown to the west that may have partially survived to the present day. The Townland Valuation (1828-40) records the occupants. Dimensions are given for a two-storey house with return (map evidence suggests this was aligned with the main house) and a long, narrow single-storey outbuilding. Proportions and internal fabric indicate a late eighteenth century date.

By the second edition of the ordnance survey (1860), further outbuildings have been added to the site and these now form a stable courtyard to the rear of the house. Although the house is captioned ‘Rose Mount’ on the OS map, the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) records the name of the building as ‘Eden Hill’ and it is known by this name throughout valuation records. The occupiers at the time of Griffith’s Valuation were Church of Ireland ministers. The house was valued at £15 and was set in a small plot of two acres. Dimensions are given for the two-storey house and four single-storey outbuildings and the valuer comments that the dwelling is ‘respectable and very well finished’. Valuer's notes suggest that the house had recently undergone some remodelling and the dimensions given are consistent with the single-storey 'return' having been raised since the Townland Valuation.

In the mid-1860s the house was leased from the Earl of Clanwilliam. The house and outbuildings were now part of a farm of over 53 acres. In 1892 the farm was taken over by the present owners but the following year the valuation of the buildings was reduced to £7.10s because the house was in ‘very bad repair’. The house is recorded as second class with six rooms in the 1901 census, but by 1911 it has been extended and has eight rooms, giving it a first class designation. The fourth edition OS map of 1903-18 shows that the farmhouse has been extended to the west. This extension has been built across the former driveway to the house, forcing the driveway to be moved slightly to the west.

The First General Revaluation of 1933/4 revalues the house at £9.5s with £2.10s for agricultural buildings. The ‘farmhouse in fair condition’ comprises four bedrooms, two receptions, a kitchen, pantry and scullery. The accompanying plan and dimensions show a house of 1.5 Storeys with a single-storey porch to the front façade and a single storey return to the rear. A motor house of corrugated iron is also listed but the remaining outbuildings are not enumerated in valuer’s notes.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 Second Edition OS map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 Third Edition OS Map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/27/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/342 Townland Valuation (1828-40)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/38D Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/21A-E Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/3 First General Revaluation (1933-57)
9. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/3/R/3 First General Revaluation (1933-57)
10. 1901 census online
11. 1911 census online

Secondary Sources
1. Rankin, F., Leslie, Canon, J.B., Swanzy, Dean H.B. “Clergy of Down and Dromore” Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1996

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Detached asymmetrical five-bay two-storey developed vernacular of lobby entry house type, built c.1800, with single-storey front entrance porch (c.1930), two-bay two-storey flat-roofed rear extension added c.1960, and single-storey wing abutting the southwest gable. Rectangular on plan. Although extensively enlarged and externally refurbished c.1900, much original fabric of a Georgian farmhouse survives including detailing and the original layout, which developed from the earlier building. The original setting of a mature slightly elevated site survives, having a large rear yard enclosed by two two-storey rendered outbuildings. The house is a good example of this type of substantial farmhouse that was also connected to the local church, surviving in developed form with a good range of outbuildings.