1 Church Hill

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Substantial two storey gabled house with late Victorian appearance, but which began life as a single storey dwelling of pre 1834 construction. The building is set right on the roadside, to the E of Church Hill Road, close to the junction with the Newcastle Road.

The front façade faces W and is assymetrical. To the left of centre is a small gabled porch with timber panelled door to front and a four pane window to each side. To the left of the porch is a relatively small sash window with sash frame (vertical glazing bars- 2 panes over 2). To the right of the porch are two similar windows, with four similar windows to the first floor set in (unevenly spaced) gabled half dormers.

Attached to the N gable is a part single part two storey (the road slopes downwards to this side), rubble-built outbuilding with two timner sheeted doorways to front, a multi-pane semicircular arched window to the N gable, and a timber sheeted door and modern upper level window to the rear (E) façade.

The S gable of the main house is blank. To the right side of the rear (E) façade is a large, two storey, part hipped, part gabled return. This has three windows with modern frames to the ground floor and three sash windows to the first floor, those to the right as front, and that to the left (which is set at a higher level) plain. The NE corner of the return is bevelled, for close to it there used to be a horse walk, the circular raised platform of which is still partly visible. To the S face of the return is a timber sheeted ground floor door.

The façade is finished in plain render and painted. The roof is covered in natural slate with four, evenly spaced, yellow brick chimney stacks to main ridge. PVC rw goods.

The attached outbuilding is unrendered. Further single storey outbuildings to E and S, partly rubble, partly brick built.

Historical information

This house began life as a single storey dwelling and is undoubtedly that shown on the OS maps of 1834 and 1859. The building was not recorded during the valuation of c.1835, but is listed in that of 1863 when it was in the hands of a Mr Stevenson. Through marriage the property later passed to a Mr Moore, whose desendants appear to have retained it until the mid 1900s.

Judging from its present appearance the building was probably raised in height in the latter decades of the 19th century, perhaps in 1872, when the attached outbuilding was ‘re-roofed’. Part of the rear return was probably added at this stage also, but its present appearance suggests that it was built in stages. To the rear of the attached outbuilding there used to be a horse walk which, the bevel to the corner of the return (to allow the horses to pass unhindered), suggests was operating in the late 1800s.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/1/3/43 OS maps 1st ed. 1834, Co Down sheet 43
2 PRONI OS/6/3/49/3 OS maps 1st rev.1859, Co Down sheet 49
3 PRONI Second (Griffith’s) valuation records, Kilcoo (1863) [in print]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Substantial two storey gabled house with gabled porch, half-dormers and overall late Victorian appearance, but which began life as a single storey dwelling of pre 1834 construction. To the north gable of the house is a large rubble-built outbuilding and to the rear is the is the raised outline of a former horse walk.