Outbuildings at Rademon House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Part single and part two storey, eclectic complex of outbuildings and dwellings at Rademon House, of mixed construction, age and appearance. The oldest sections of the grouping are mainly in rubble stone and probably pre 1834, however interspersed with these are late 19th / early 20th century portions mainly coursed rubble stone with brick dressings, with a separate block set to the E, much of it taken up with two large brick houses, possibly dating from c.1910-20.

The grouping is situated on sloping ground a short distance to the SE of Rademon House, roughly one mile W of Crossgar.

To the W side of the main section of the is a very long wing which is part two, part single storey, with a slated gabled and hipped roof. The wing mainly lies in a N-S direction, but to the N it splays off in a NE direction. Much of the long wing is rubble-built, whitewashed, and is probably pre 1834, it has been altered in recent years. To its E side of the long N to S portion of the wing there stretches a relatively long, two storey projection, which is part pre 1834 but has been greatly extended to the S side, probably in the early 20th century. To the S end of the N-S wing there is a lower, (roughly one and a half storey), section which is probably c.1890-1900.

To the E of this long wing is a shorter separate wing running N to S to the N end and then kinking to run NE to SW. Together with the long wing this forms a courtyard. This shorter wing is in a mixture of rubble and brick and is wholly post 1858, with a large chunk of it (to the S) a terrace of simple early 20th century red brick two storey houses.

THE LONG WEST WING
The W (‘outer’) façade of the N-S section of the W wing is rough cast rendered and white washed with a slated roof which is gabled (with bellcote) to the N and hipped to the S. To the left of centre of the W façade is a segmental coach arch with sandstone dressings and gable above. A small roundel is set within this gable. To the right (S) of this arch the ground falls away and the façade is two storey. To the left (N) of the arch it is mainly single storey. To the right of the coach arch is a similar large coach opening with timber sheeted doors. The windows to the left and right are randomly arranged and give a somewhat vernacular appearance however many of these (mainly to right) have been altered, (they have tell-tale patches of render around them), and a number of modern window frames added. Those windows to the left have Georgian-paned sash frames.

(between survey of 2000 and 2004 the buildings have had their render removed and stronework restored)

The E ‘inner’ façade of this long section of the W wing is finished as W façade and has retained its random selection of original openings, with timber sheeted doors and Georgian paned sash windows and a stone external staircase which rises to an upper floor doorway. To the far right the façade is finished in rubble and brick. To the far left the façade is abutted by the by a two storey gabled projection with finish and openings as previous to its N façade. To the S a long single storey flat roofed extension, with modern windows and doors and rough cast render, has been added [? in the early 1900s]. This extension covers the whole of this façade.

To the S end the long N-S section of the W wing there is an attached gabled outbuilding in dark stone rubble with brick dressings and large elliptical arched vehicle doorways to the E and W façades. To the immediate E of this building there is a stand alone barn with corrugated iron clad walls and curved roof.

The NE section of the of the W wing is single storey to the SW end and two storey to the to the NE end. In actuality the NE end is a large hipped roof house which looks as though it may date from c.1900, having a roof overhang, decorative barges and yellow brick chimneys. To its SE elevation there is a large full height off centre gabled bay. The windows throughout this ‘house’ section are all of uniform size, largely regularly arranged and filled with (mainly) Georgian-paned sash windows. The whole façade is finished in rough cast.

The single storey section attached to the SE side of the ‘house’ is finished in rough cast to the ‘outer’ NW façade (which is blank), and rubble and brick to the ‘inner’ SE façade. This façade has sash windows as the ‘house’.

THE EAST WING
As stated above, the shorter E wing is wholly post 1858 and probably dates from the early 1900s. To the N end it consists of a single storey, rubble and brick hipped roof stable / shed section, with timber sheeted doors to ‘inner’ (W) façade. The ‘outer’ E façade is almost completely in brick and is blank. To the S of this section the wing ‘kinks’ in a SW direction and beyond this it consists largely of a two storey section containing two relatively plain brick dwellings with gabled roofs and gabled porches to SE façade. These houses have mainly Georgian-paned sash windows, with some casement windows also in evidence.

Historical information

On the OS map of 1834 much of the long north-south section of the west wing is shown, along with the projection to the east side of the wing. A long separate building is shown on the general site of the north-east section of this wing, but its size and exact positioning do not match that of the present section, (moreover, the valuation returns suggest that it was wholly single storey- not the mainly two storey wing we see today). The revised OS map of 1858 shows the same arrangement as that of 1834.

Much of the present complex appears to date from c.1900 or slightly after, with much of the north-east section of the west wing, including the two storey ‘house’ portion, and all of the east wing (though the two red brick dwellings appear to date from c.1910-20). The rubble-built ‘outbuilding’ to the south end of the long north-south section may date from c.1890. The projection to the east side of the long north-south section was extended in the early 20th century, with the addition of the long flat roofed portion.

Much of the complex as it stands today is shown on the OS map of 1921.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/6/3/30/1 OS map, Down sh 30, 1834
2 PRONI VAL/1B/330 1st valuation, Kilmore, c.1836
3 PRONI OS/6/3/30/2 OS map, Down sh 30, 1858
4 PRONI 2nd valuation, Kilmore, c.1863 [in print]
5 PRONI OS/6/3/30/3 OS map, Down sh 30, c.1901
6 PRONI OS/6/3/30/4 OS map, Down sh 30, 1921

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Part single and part two storey, eclectic complex of outbuildings and dwellings at Rademon House, of mixed construction, age and appearance. The oldest sections of the grouping are mainly in rubble stone and probably pre 1834, however interspersed with these are late 19th / early 20th century portions mainly coursed rubble stone with brick dressings. The complex is well maintained and has a strong character which is complementary to that of the wider demnse of Rademon House.