Chapel Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A derelict single-storey three-bay vernacular cottage pre-dating 1830; hearth-lobby plan form with byres under a single roof to either end. Located at the end of an overgrown lane off Chapel Road 1.5 miles NE of Aghalee.

Pitched tin roof over vestiges of thatch and unsawn truss. Lime rendered walling, largely weathered exposing rubble masonry. 2/2 timber sliding sash window with horizontal glazing bars; masonry cills. Timber sheeted doors.

The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged. The windbreak porch is located centrally; two windows to the right (one replacement) and one to the left. Timber sheeted doors to the byres at either end.

The right gable is blank.

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged with various sized windows to the three central bays. Blocked up doors to the far left and right. Rooflight located to the right of the chimney. Red brick upper courses at eaves level.

The right gable is completely deteriorated.

Setting:

The dwelling is well secluded from public view, located at the end of a short overgrown lane lined with hedge rows; some modern outbuildings located mid-way. To the front are remains of outbuildings and a single-storey lean-to roof outbuilding to the north of the site; corrugated iron barns to the rear. The site is generally bounded by hedgerows and overgrown vegetation, beyond which is open rural landscape.

Roofing: Corrugated tin (some thatch remains)
Walling: Lime rendered field stone
Windows: Timber sliding sash
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

This dwelling is first shown on the 1832 edition of the Ordnance Survey maps for Ballinderry where it is depicted as an oblong building which possessed two small out offices. In the early 1830s this was the property of a Mr. John Haddock. By the time of the Townland Valuation (c.1833-37) the building had passed to James Haddock, a local farmer. The valuation indicates that this farm house was valued at £1 19s. 4d. and was described as a 2b class, single-storey dwelling measuring 37ft by 19ft. The house possessed a number of farm buildings amongst its out offices including a barn, stable and potato house; the entire site was valued at £2 13s.

James Haddock continued to occupy the house until his death c. 1879. The house was revalued at £2 10s. in 1859 and remained at this value until the end of the Annual Revisions for the area in 1928. With James Haddock’s death, his relative, John Haddock, took over possession of the house from c.1879 and remained there with his family until the end of the revisions.

The 1901 Census shows us that Haddock (43) lived at the farm with his wife Mary Kirk (42), who he had married c. 1884, and their four sons and three daughters. The census building return tells us that the house possessed a thatched roof and consisted of three rooms; the house was described by the census enumerator as a 2nd class dwelling. Between 1832 and 1920 the Ordnance Survey maps show very little discernible change to the site except that the farms smallest out office, a square-shaped building located south-east of the house, does not appear on the c.1900-01 edition of the maps; however by the fourth edition in 1920-21 a larger L-shaped building appears. By 1901 the farms out office buildings were used as a stable, cow house, two piggeries, a fowl house, potato house and a barn. Little had changed by 1911 when Haddock, his wife and five of his nine children were recorded in the census of that year.

With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 at least three of John Haddock’s sons, George Martin (born c. 1888), William Henry (c. 1886) and Robert (c. 1893) volunteered. They survived the war and are commemorated on a Memorial plaque located in Ballinderry Memorial Hall (HB 19/01/060). The memorial also lists a James Haddock amongst those that died during the conflict, although it is not known whether this may have been another of Haddock’s sons (Glenavy History).

The house has currently fallen into a state of disrepair and has been vacant for some time, the former outbuildings have fallen into a similar dilapidated state; originally thatched this vernacular dwelling has been covered with a corrugated tin replacement although some original thatch remains.

References
Primary Sources

1. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/63 – Field Map c.1830
2. PRONI VAL/1/B/167 – Townland Valuation
3. PRONI OS/6/1/63/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832
4. PRONI OS/6/1/63/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1857
5. PRONI OS/6/1/63/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-1901
6. PRONI OS/6/1/63/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-1921
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/58 B – Griffith’s Valuation 1859
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 A – Annual Revisions 1867-1879
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 B – Annual Revisions 1880-1894
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 C – Annual Revisions 1894-1905
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 D – Annual Revisions 1906-1912
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/9/3 E – Annual Revisions 1913-1928
13. Census of Ireland 1901 / 1911

Online Resources

1. Glenavy History Website - http://www.glenavyhistory.com/index.html

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A derelict single-storey three-bay vernacular cottage pre-dating 1830. Although a good example of a linear development hearth lobby dwelling, once common to the area, it has suffered loss of character due to the decay of original detailiong. Some thatch remains under the corrugated tin in the northern byre, along with an unsawn truss. It is not considered to meet the criteria for listing and there are better examples of vernacular dwellings listed in the area.