7 School Lane

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A 1 ½ storey, three-bay, modified hearth-lobby type vernacular dwelling, predating 1830. Linear plan form development running parallel to School Lane, approximately 2.5 miles east of Upper Ballinderry.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; cast-iron rainwater goods; smooth rendered and brick chimney stacks. Ruled and lined rendered walling. 1/1 timber sliding sash with horns; stone cills. Front door embraced by plain flat roofed porch; door four-panelled with glazed upper panels; brass ironmongery.

The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged. Front door centrally located with two windows to the left and a single window to the right. Four diminished windows at first floor level.

The right gable is abutted by single storey outbuildings with cement rendered walling and slate roofing; furthest block partially demolished.

The rear elevation is fully abutted by single-storey extension (c.1950) with catslide roof. Centrally located flat roofed rear entrance porch flanked by cat-slide extension; window openings of various sizes.

The left gable has a single window located to the left at first floor level.

Setting:

Large modern dwelling located adjacent to the north of the site; modern agricultural buildings to the west. Extensive views across open rural landscape to the west and south. Modern garden to the front with gated piers and low rise wall abutting the north elevation.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: Ruled-and-lined render
Windows: Timber sliding sash
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

This dwelling situated in the Townland of Ballymave first appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of the area for 1832 where it is depicted as an oblong building, although it is unclear whether the currently adjoining office block had been constructed at this time. The house was not recorded in the Townland Valuation of the 1830s; however Griffith's Valuation tells us that a Mr. William Dawson let the house and its offices from the Marquis of Hertford in 1859. By 1857 the Ordnance Survey map clearly depicted the adjoining single-storey outbuilding which may have been let out to lodgers or farm hands. Griffiths Valuation records that Dawson’s house and offices were valued at £3 10s. whilst the second smaller dwelling occupying the same site was valued at 10 shillings.

In 1883 a new stable block was constructed to the rear of the house raising the value to £4. William Dawson purchased the house from the Marquis of Herford in 1893 and continued to occupy the site until his death in 1901 at the age of 79. The 1901 Census tells us that in his final year Dawson, a Presbyterian Farmer, lived in this farmhouse with his wife Jane (75) and two of their children. The census building return of that year describes the house as a 1st class dwelling which consisted of five rooms and possessed a slate roof. The farmbuildings to the rear of the house housed a cow house, fowl house, boiling house, a barn and a turf house as well as the surviving stable block. On his death Dawson left effects of £99 10s. to his son George Dawson who took over ownership of the house. The 1911 Census tells us that George Dawson (49) occupied the farm with his sister Agnes and continued to reside there until the end of the Annual Revisions for the area in 1923. Between 1900 and 1921 George Dawson constructed an additional outbuilding to the rear of the farmhouse, although this has since been replaced.

Members of the Dawson family continued to occupy this dwelling on School Lane until c. 1930s. The farm was occupied by a family named Davidson who extended the rear of the dwelling c. 1950. The house continued to be occupied until 2004 when it fell vacant. The exterior of the house is in a good state of repair however part of the single-storey extension adjoining the house has fallen into disrepair and has been partially demolished. The outbuilding to the rear of the dwelling formerly used as a stable still survives however the outbuilding erected between 1900 and 1920 has been replaced with a modern iron farmbuilding. The interior of the farmhouse has little original features as it has been refurbished a number of times and now lies abandoned and falling into a state of disrepair.

The farm has been occupied since at least c. 1830 and had been modified and expanded between 1830 and 1920 to establish an extensive farm.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/63/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey maps 1832
2. PRONI OS/6/1/63/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey maps 1857
3. PRONI OS/6/1/63/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey maps 1900-01
4. PRONI OS/6/1/63/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey maps 1920-21
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/62B – Griffiths Valuation 1859
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/6A – Annual Revisions 1863-1866
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/6B – Annual Revisions 1868-1881
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/6C – Annual Revisions 1881-1889
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/6D – Annual Revisions 1890-1904
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/6E – Annual Revisions 1905-1918
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/6F – Annual Revisions 1918-1923
12. Census of Ireland 1901 / 1911

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A 1 ½ storey, three-bay, modified hearth-lobby type vernacular dwelling, predating 1830. Although retaining most of its verncular style and proportions externally, the rear of the house and its interior have been significanltly altered, resulting in loss of character. The setting has also been compromised by the erection of a modern dwelling close by. The building was not considered to meet the criteria for listing.