186 Newcastle Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Large, two storey hipped roof former farmhouse of perhaps c.1800- 1820, with long two storey outbuilding return. The property is set at the corner of a short lane to the E side of Newcastle Road, within the small village of Seaforde.

The long front façade faces S and is asymmetrical. Roughly to the centre of the ground floor is the front entrance which consists of a panelled door and plain fanlight. To the left of this are two widely spaced sash windows (vertical glazing bars- 2/2). To the right of the doorway are three similar windows, with six to the first floor in line with the ground floor openings.

The W façade faces out onto Newcastle Road and has three windows as before to both floors. To the left of these the façade merges with the long W façade of the rear outbuilding return. This has five small four pane windows to the first floor with a large flat arch vehicle doorway (with timber sheeted doors) to the ground floor.

The N façade has five windows with modern frames to the first floor and four windows, (with similar frames), and a partly glazed door to the first floor. Some of the windows have been slightly enlarged. The short E façade has a modern glazed door (with sidelight) to the ground floor. The E façade of the outbuilding return has two timber sheeted doors, the back end of the vehicle entrance and two windows, to the ground floor. To the first floor there is a timber sheeted door (reached from a timber staircase) with a window to far left. The (N facing) gable of the outbuilding has a timber sheeted door to the to both floors.

The S and W facades of the house are finished in painted lined render, the N and E facades in un-rendered random rubble. The E façade of the outbuilding is also in random rubble, with the gable painted and the W façade rendered and painted. The roof of the house is covered in natural slate with three rendered chimney stacks. The outbuilding is covered in fibre cement ‘slate’, with a Velux window to E. Cast iron rw goods.

Historical information

This house appears to be the building of the same dimensions recorded in the valuation of 1836 as the home of one John Neill. The present owner states that he has seen the original deeds which date from 1747 and concludes that the building dates from this time also. However, as deeds (and especially rural deeds) of this age are usually concerned with land rather than the buildings, one suspects that they may not be an accurate indicator of the building’s actual age. This is further supported by the evidence supplied by the aforementioned 1836 valuation in which the property is graded ‘A-’, i.e. a relatively new structure possibly under 30 years old, and the fact that the (albeit sketchy) Taylor and Skinner Road map of 1777 does not indicate buildings along a lane to this side of the Newcastle Road.

The dwelling and its immediate neighbour (184 Newcastle Road- now largely modernised) is believed to have served as the home for the farm managers working on the Forde estate. The building remained in the ownership of the estate until c.1912, when it was sold to a Mr Strain, a descendant of whom remained there until the early 1970s. In the later 1970s and early 1980s the property was vacant and fell into disrepair. The present owner acquired the building in 1984 and has carried out some renovation work.

The long outbuilding return (which was also present in 1836) housed a shoemakers workshop in the early 1900s, and was home to a cinema during the 1940s.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.366 Forde papers
2 ‘Taylor’s and Skinner’s Maps of the roads of Ireland’ (Dublin 1777), map 284
3 PRONI OS/6/3/37/1 OS map, Down sh 37, 1834
4 Deeds in possession of Mr Patrick Forde of Seaforde House
5 PRONI VAL/1B/387 1st valuation, Loughinisland, 1836
5 PRONI VAL/1D/3/19 Valuation plan of Seaforde, 1836-38
5 PRONI 2nd valuation, Loughinisland, c.1860 [in print]
6 PRONI VAL/2D/3/14 Valuation plan of Seaforde, c.1860
7 PRONI OS/8/152/1 OS plan of Seaforde, 1904
8 PRONI VAL/3G/95/1 Valuation plan of Seaforde, 1935-56

Secondary sources
1 ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings….East Down’ (Belfast UAHS 1973), p.28

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Good example of a large, two storey hipped roof former farmhouse of perhaps c.1800, with long two storey outbuilding return.