Maymore House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Maymore House is a large two storey late Georgian style gabled farm house of c.1840. It is set to the E of the Comber Road, roughly a mile N of Killyleagh.

The front (W) façade is symmetrical. In the centre of the ground floor is the main entrance which consists of a nine panel door encased with Doric columns. Above is an elliptical arch fanlight, with ‘petal’-like tracery, and beyond the columns are narrow three pane sidelights. Two sandstone steps to doorway (now in poor order).

There is a sash window, with Georgian panes (6 over 6), to the left of the entrance and another to the right. There are three similar, but slightly smaller, windows to the first floor. The front façade is in coursed fieldstone (greywacke) with the stonework to the window openings either painted or cleaned to give the impression of dressings. The lower half of the façade is covered thick ivy growth.

The S gable has a window to the left on the ground floor, as front, and two similar to the first floor. To the right on the ground floor the former window has been converted to a doorway with a narrow set of French doors with the top sash of the former window now acting as a de facto large fanlight. The right side of this gable merges with the S face of a two storey gabled return which has a sash window (as before) to the ground floor. To the first floor is a much smaller [?fixed light] four pane window.

The N gable has two sash windows (as before) to the first floor. A high wall projects from the right side of this gable (running flush with the front façade).

The rear gable of the return has a large modern (kitchen) window to the ground floor with a small four pane [?fixed light] window to the first floor. To the N face of the return there is a relatively recent looking, single storey, flat roofed extension with two squat modern windows to its N side. To the first floor of this face of the return are two small four pane windows (as S face).

The rear façade of the main building has a timber sheeted door to the right on the ground floor with modern ‘window’ sidelights and fanlight. To the first floor right is a sash window (as before). To the left of this is a window which lights the stairwell (and is set at a slightly lower level). This window has a sash frame with stained glass.

The N and S gables, the return and the rear façade are all finished in unpainted rough cast, with the ground floor level at all largely covered in thick ivy growth. The main roof is gabled but has been reconstructed in recent times and now has an unsuitable overhang to the gables (with plain barges). The roof is covered in natural slate. The main gable chimneys have also been rebuilt and are now in red brick with concrete coping. The return roof repeats the style of the main roof except that it has a small (recently rebuilt) concrete chimney to the ridge.

To the N of the house is a large complex of one and two storey outbuildings, constructed in fieldstone rubble with red brick dressings to openings and gabled roofs with natural slate. These buildings which are arranged around a courtyard have been completely renovated in recent times, largely sympathetically. A large arched gateway in brick which leads into the courtyard from the NW, this gateway was recently completely reconstructed.

Historical information

Buildings are shown on this site on the OS map of 1834, however, none matches the style and positioning of the present house, or even most (if not all) of the present outbuildings. The valuation records tell us that the 1834 buildings were the home to Robert Harper and consisted of a ‘store, carhouse, barn, machine house’ and ‘cowhouse’ as well as a dwelling. The site was still in Harper family hands at the time of the second survey (1861), but by this stage a building had been constructed on the site of the present house, which is marked on the 1859 OS map as ‘Maymore House’. Thus it appears that this property dates from the mid 1800s, possibly prior to 1851 as in a letter from Lord Dufferin in June of that year to John Harper (who appears to have been his agent), the recipient is noted as of ‘Maymore’ (i.e. the name given to the house) and not ‘Moymore’, the name of the townland.

The return may not be original and may date from the later 19th century. Most of the outbuildings appear to be post 1859.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/1/3/24 OS map, 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 24.
2 PRONI VAL/1B/336 p.33 First valuation, Killyleagh, 1837.
3 PRONI D.1071/A/H2/60/28, 29 Dufferin Papers- Letters from Lord Dufferin to John Harper (‘Maymore’), June 1851.
4 PRONI OS/6/3/24/2 OS map, 1st rev., 1859, Co. Down 24.
5 PRONI Second valuation, Killyleagh, 1861. [In print in PRONI search room and Linen Hall Library.]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Substantial two storey rubble built farm house of c.1840 whose recently replaced roof has a very slight, but unsuitable, overhang to the gables. The rear return, which may be later 19th century, has had a modern single storey extension added.
There is a large complex of outbuildings to the north of the house which probably date mainly from the later 1800s and which were (largely) sympathetically renovated in the 1990s.