Former house to the West of no.10 Drumiller Hill

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached lobby-entry three-bay single-storey rubblestone thatch under tin former dwelling, pre-dating 1833, with windbreaker entrance porch. Rectangular on plan, facing east with single-bay byre incorporated to the north. Located at the end of a long lane adjacent to a replacement dwelling to the south of Drumiller Hill at a sharp bend on the road.

Pitched corrugated iron over thatch roof with a single large rendered chimneystack. White-washed lime render over rubblestone walling. Square-headed window openings with timber lintels, rough-hewn basalt sills and partially intact timber window frames.

Front east elevation is three windows wide with an off-centre windbreaker entrance porch having lean-to corrugated iron roof. Square-headed door opening with original timber frame and replacement vertically-sheeted timber battened door opening onto single stone step. Former window opening to the south bay, now enlarged to provide an additional door opening. Byre to the north has further square-headed door opening with replacement timber door.

South gable is blank with partial lime render and largely exposed rubblestone walling.

Rear elevation is three windows wide with rough-cast lime render over rubblestone walling. Timber lintels to window openings having no sills and timber window frames, the southernmost bay has a stone lintel.

North gable is blank.

Setting:
Located at the end of a long lane to the south of Drumiller Hill at a sharp bend in the road within the site of an adjacent 1980s replacement dwelling. A single-bay single-storey rubblestone outbuilding is located close to the south gable with corrugated iron roof.

Roof: Corrugated iron over thatch
Walling: Lime render over rubblestone
Windows: Partial timber frames to former sashes
RWG: None

Historical information

The present vernacular farmhouse pre-dates the first edition ordnance survey map of 1833 and the plan form of the building, unusually, shows no discernible alteration through subsequent editions. The building does not appear in the Townland Valuation as it would not have reached the threshold for inclusion. However, Griffith’s Valuation of 1828-40 lists the occupiers as Samuel Kerr, otherwise known as John, who leases the farm of 9 acres from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners at 28s per year. The buildings are valued at £1.10s but in 1872 this is reduced to £1 with the loss of an outbuilding on the site. Samuel Kerr became the owner in fee of the small farm under land purchase legislation in 1879 and the farm continued to pass down through the Kerr family. The house was thatched at the time of the 1901 and 1911 censuses and the occupant is recorded as John Kerr, a carpenter who lived with his wife. The house was roofed in corrugated iron by the early 1930s and passed to Samuel Piper in 1953. Valuation records of the period record the accommodation as two bedrooms and a kitchen. The house has not been lived in for some years and currently serves as agricultural outbuildings.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/21/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/21/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1859
3. PRONI OS/6/3/21/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903
4. PRONI OS/6/3/21/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1919-20
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/342 Townland Valuation (1828-40)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/38B – Griffith’s Valuation 1861
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/23A –E Annual Revisions 1864-1930
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/3 First General Revaluation 1933-57
9. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/3/T/2 First General Revaluation 1933-57
10. 1901 census online
11. 1911 census online

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Detached lobby-entry three-bay single-storey rubblestone thatch under tin former dwelling, pre-dating 1833, with windbreaker entrance porch. Rectangular on plan, facing east with single-bay byre abutting the north gable. Located at the end of a long lane adjacent to a replacement dwelling to the south of Drumiller Hill at a sharp bend on the road. The corrugated iron roof has led to the retention of an intact thatched roof structure. The exposed straw thatched roof laid on sods above rough-hewn rafters and tied with rope to rough-hewn purlins in the principal room is rare and of considerable interest. Overall, an authentic interior, which includes a large hearth, entrance lobby screen and some original joinery. This is an important vernacular building of significant regional interest.