58 Villa Wood Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-bay single-storey vernacular direct-entry dwelling predating 1834. Rectangular linear plan form with raised left bay, windbreaker porch and adjoining single-storey outbuilding. Located on the east side of Villa Wood Road approximately 3.5 miles west of Dromore.

Pitched corrugated-iron roof with plain ridging to single-storey central and right bays; raised left bay slated with cement verges; smooth rendered chimneystacks with corbelled upper course; no pots. Rainwater goods largely removed with remains of drive-in brackets; existing cast-iron down-pipe with hopper head. Lime render walling over rubble masonry; eaves built up in brick. Remains of 1/1 timber sliding sash windows with horns, exposed sash boxes; concrete cills. Painted timber-sheeted entrance door set into projecting brick windbreaker porch with lean-to corrugated-iron roofing; addressed by embedded flagstone.

The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged; inclining site from left to right. Central windbreaker porch with window to its right; left and right bay each has a single window. Brick quoins to the right.

Left gable is cement rendered with attic window. Abutted by single-storey outbuilding; pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; lime rendered and exposed rubble masonry walling. Further abutted by flat roofed corrugated-iron shed; of minimal interest.

View to rear elevation completely obscured by thick vegetation.

The right gable is blank; abutted by flat roofed corrugated-iron shed; of minimal interest.

Setting:

Extensive rural
setting set back from the road and screened from public view. The farmhouse is sited at the end of an inclining lane at the crest of a hill with extensive views across the rural landscape. Modern farm gates access the field in which the farmhouse sits. Thick vegetation to the rear.

Roofing: Thatch under tin
Walling: Lime rendered rubble masonry
Windows: Timber sliding sash
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

A building is shown on the site on the first edition OS map of 1834 which corresponds to the dwelling present on the site today. The farmhouse has been extended in length over the years with the addition of adjoining outbuildings which are shown from the third edition (1903) onwards.

The building is not listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) as it would not have reached the threshold for inclusion. Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) records the tenant as John Hill who paid a rent of 28s.6d to Earl Clanwilliam. The house and offices, valued at 15s, were situated on a small farm of 3 acres. The farm was passed down through the Hill family for some years and the 1901 census lists Isaac Hill, 34-year-old farmer, living at the house with his English wife Annie, his sister and three young children. The three-room thatched house was designated third class and had six outbuildings. By 1911 the eldest son who was then 15, was working as an agricultural labourer and two more children had been born to the family, although one child had sadly died in the interim. The house was still thatched at the time of the 1911 census but an increase in size had taken it up to the second class category.

In 1924 the house passed to Thomas Adams and by the 1930s the owner/occupier was Anna Maria Lavery. In 1933/4 dimensions are given for a house of two parts, one slated and the other roofed in corrugated iron. The accommodation comprised two bedrooms, a kitchen and scullery. The house has not been lived in for some years.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/20/1 First Edition OS Map 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/20/2 Second Edition OS map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/20/3 Third Edition OS Map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/20/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-16
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/38C Griffith’s Valuation (1863)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/21A-E Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/3 First General Revaluation (1933-57)
8. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/3/R/3 First General Revaluation (1933-57)
9. 1901 census online
10. 1911 census online

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

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A three-unit vernacular direct-entry dwelling, with screen predating 1834. Abandoned prior to any extensive twentieth century modification, much of its vernacular character, fabric and detiling survive. Originating as a two-unit thatch dwelling, the farmhouse in its present state is a good illustration of the historic alterations and additions that a building of this type typically went through. The survival of the thatch, scraws and rough hewn timbers is of particular interest, as rare original fabric of this type. Once commonplace, such buildings are becoming increasingly rare.