50 Drumcullan Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Description on 29.07.2005. As on 17.07.200 except that the building has been refurbished and all of the windows are now PVC. The interior layout has also been altered and the barn has been converted to living accommodation. The works have been carried out to a high standard but unfortunately they have eroded some of the architectural character.

Description on 17.07.2000. Small single storey vernacular house of c.1840-50 with attached two storey outbuilding, now vacant, and used as a store. The property is set on the SW side of Drumcullan Road, c.2.5 miles SW of Downpatrick.

The front façade faces NE and is asymmetrical. To the left (SE) side is the former dwelling house. This has a left of centre timber sheeted door with a dilapidated sash window to the left with margin panes and segmental arch head to frame. To the right of the door is a similar window. To the immediate right of the door there is a vertical break in the coursing of the stone, suggesting the at this house was built in two stages.

To the NE façade of the attached outbuilding there is a large flat arched carriage door to the left on the ground floor, with a pedestrian door to the right. Directly above this is a loft door (reached via a stone staircase set at 90 degrees to the façade), with a small window-sized opening to the left of this. All these openings have timber sheeted doors / boarding. To the far right the façade is abutted (at a right angle) by a small single storey shed section with a door and window to its SE face.

To the SE gable of the house there are two small upper level window openings, now boarded. The NW gable of the outbuilding is blank. To the rear (where the ground level is much higher) there are no apparent openings, save a window to the right side of the house façade.

The façade of the house and outbuilding has been harled at one stage, but much of this has fallen away revealing the rubble construction. A large section of the rear façade of the outbuilding has been patched in breeze block. A small section of the front façade of the house where there was once a post box, (to immediate left of the door), has been filled in relatively recent years. The roofs of both sections are covered in natural slate, but large number of slates have fallen off the rear of the outbuilding roof. The house has two small chimney stacks.

Historical information

A building is shown on this site on the revised OS map of 1858, suggesting that the present structure was built after 1834 (the date of the original OS map). In the mid 20th century (at least) the building contained a small post office. The property appears to have been abandoned some time after 1978.

the building was refurbished between 2000 and 2005

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/6/3/37/2 OS map, Down sh 37, 1858
2 PRONI 2nd valuation, Loughinisland, c.1860 [in print]
3 PRONI OS/6/3/37/3 OS map, Down sh 37, 1901

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Small single storey vernacular house c.1840-50, now with attached two storey outbuilding converted to living accommodation. The recently refurbished building is now of limited architectural or historic interest.