93 Derryboy Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Long single storey vernacular house of pre 1834 origin, set on a slight rise to the NW side of the Derryboy Road, c.3.5 miles NE of Crossgar. The building is partly thatched.

To the left on the front (E) façade there is a timber sheeted door. To the left of this is a sash window (four over four) set on a recent looking cill. To the right of the doorway are five similar windows, unevenly spaced and set at marginally differing levels. To the right of these the façade merges into a single storey outbuilding section which is abutted by a single storey gabled outbuilding which has the effect of largely obscuring it when viewed from the E.

The S gable is blank.

To the left on the rear façade are three windows as front, then a tiny four pane window and to the right of this, another two windows as front. To the immediate right of the last window is a large, single storey, gabled return. The N face of this return has a small sash window (four over two) to the left, and a timber sheeted stable door to the right. To the gable are three small sash windows (as N face), and to the S face is a similar sash window (to the left) with a pair of French doors to the right.

The façade is finished in rough render (which partly follows the contours of the stonework underneath it) and is painted. The return is finished is a form of rough render.

The S half of the house (i.e. the original dwelling) is thatched, with a rendered parapet to the S gable. The N half (originally an outbuilding) has a natural slated gabled roof. The return has similar slates. There are two small rendered chimneys to the S half of the house.

The walling and gate to immediate front of house have been removed. To the rear of the house there is a free standing gabled garage whose façade with sash windows and timber doors is largely in keeping with its surroundings.

The roof timberwork is modern.

Historical information

A building is shown on this site on the 1834 and 1859 OS maps which would appear to correspond with the house we see today. The property was not of sufficient value to be noted in the valuation of c.1837, but is recorded in that of 1861 as the a ‘caretaker’s house’ occupied by a Samuel Morrow and rated at £2-10-0. The lessor is listed as Charles Matthews.

In the 1990s the outbuilding to the north side was sympathetically converted to serve as an extension to the dwelling and the return to the rear was added. The garden walling and the gate to the front of the house, (both of which may have dated from the later 19th century), were also removed in the 1990s.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/1A/3/23 OS map, County Down sheet 23, with valuation
references, (1834-c.38)
2 PRONI VAL/2A/3/23A Revised OS map, County Down sheet 24, with valuation references, (1858-c.61)
3 PRONI VAL/2B/3/34B Second valuation, Killyleagh (1861)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Z. Rarity

Evaluation

This house sits on a slight rise to the NW side of the Derryboy Road about 3.5 miles NE of Crossgar. It is a long single storey vernacular building, part thatched, part slated.It is of at least early 19th. C origin but could be much older. The northern half of this house was originally an outbuilding but was sympathetically converted recently. An equally sympathetic gabled return has been added recently to the rear.