8 Bushfield Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A large two-storey three-bay Edwardian dwelling dated 1909; L-shaped plan form with various additions to the rear. Located at the road side of Bushfield Road, approximately 1.5 miles east of Maghaberry.

Pitched natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles and finials; plain timber bargeboards and fascia board. Yellow brick chimneys with dog-tooth course, cornicing and clay pots. Cast metal rainwater goods. Ruled-and-lined cement smooth rendered walling; projected plinth and quoins. 15/1 timber sliding sash with horns; moulded surrounds and stone cills. Replacement timber door in wide semi-circular headed opening, with six-panels; bolection moulded, raised and pointed. Flanked by etched side lights and round-headed fanlight; hood moulding and moulded head-stops.

The principal elevation is asymmetrically arranged. The front door is centrally located with a single window over to first floor, rising to a narrow segmental pediment date stone, breaking through the eaves. To the right is a two-storey gabled canted bay; to the left is a two-storey gabled box bay with two windows to the front flanked by narrow side windows.

The left gable is asymmetrically arranged and demonstrates the different roof pitches between the front and rear. Centrally located projected chimney stack breaking through eaves level; single windows to the ground and first floor levels at left.

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged. The right is abutted by a single-storey lean-to extension; two windows to the north face. The left side is abutted by a two-storey return; the right face comprises an irregular arrangement of various window types; the left face is flush with the right gable and arranged as a set piece (see below). The north gable end to the return is further abutted by a subservient two-storey three window deep extension; modern construction matching in style and proportions.

The right gable is asymmetrically arranged with a central projected chimneystack breaking through at eaves level; four openings wide uniformly extending across the façade of the return to the right; secondary entrance comprising replacement timber door located right of centre, with shallow canopy over corbel brackets.

Setting:

The dwelling is prominently located at the road side; bounded to the east by a low parapet wall surmounted by decorative iron-railings; cast-iron piers to gates. Low rubble stone walling and coping with matching raillings and gate opposite house on east side of road. Well maintained gardens to the east and south with an expansive yard to the rear with modern stable block and agricultural units, beyond which is open rural landscape.

Roofing: Natural slate
Walling: Cement rendered
Windows: Timber sliding sash
RWG: Metal

Historical information

This Edwardian house was constructed in 1909; it replaced an earlier dwelling which first appeared on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832-33 where it was depicted as an oblong building situated in the townland of Moyrusk. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1837) tell us that this holding was occupied by a Mr. John Wardle and that the house was originally built near the site of a fort which at that time had been long destroyed and was lying under Wardle’s meadows (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Antrim VII, Vol. 21 pp 105-106).

In 1832-33 the house possessed two small out offices but these appear to have been taken down by the second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps in 1858 when the house is shown as a single oblong building. The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation of 1859 indicates that the building was let to a number of occupants at this time. The main building, recorded as ‘caretakers house’ in 1859 was valued at £6 10s. and was in the care of a Mr. Alexander Crawford who let the house from the Marquis of Hertford. Crawford in turn let three smaller ‘houses’ to lodgers; the smaller houses were valued between £1 5s and 10s.

Alexander Crawford occupied this dwelling at Moyrusk until 1876 when a Mr. Thomas Young came into possession of the house and the smaller dwellings which he continued to let to a number of different occupants until the end of the century. In 1879 Young erected a new office at the site raising the value of the property to £8; he continued to reside at the property until 1893 when the house fell vacant. The smaller houses continued to be occupied by lodgers; however the main house lay empty until a Mrs. Isabella Young came into possession c. 1895. The house continued to change hands until a Mr. Henderson Ritchie took over possession c. 1905, and purchased the house outright in 1906. Under Henderson the original house was taken down c. 1906 and replaced with the current Edwardian Dwelling which was constructed in 1909 and named ‘Moyrusk House.’ During this period a number of the smaller dwellings were lying vacant and had fallen into a state of dilapidation, however by 1905 they were taken down so that only the main house remained.

The original house was not recorded on the 1901 Census, however the census does tell us that Henderson Ritchie resided in the townland of Moyrusk in that year where he worked as a farmer. Ritchie occupied Moyrusk House from c. 1905; in 1912 the farm once more changed hands and came into possession of a Mr. Henry Hunter, a Presbyterian farmer who lived at the house with his wife Mary and their infant daughter Catherine. The 1911 census building return describes Moyrusk House as a 1st class dwelling which consisted of 15 inhabited rooms and possessed six out offices including a stable, coach house, dairy, a potato house and a store indicating that this was quite a modest farm in 1911. However, in 1912 Hunter proceeded to build a large L-shaped out office to the rear of the house (which can first be seen on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map 1920-21) resulting in the expansion of the farm and an increase in its value to £14. Hunter continued to occupy the farm until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1928. The large L-shaped out building has since been replaced with a modern stable block and also a barn which are located to the north-west of the house. An extension was added to the rear return of the house between 1920 and 1973 when it can be first seen on the current Ordnance Survey map.
Moyrusk House continues to be occupied and is in a good state of repair.

Primary Sources

1. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/67 – Field Map c.1830
2. PRONI VAL/1/B/174 – Townland Valuation c.1830
3. PRONI OS/6/1/67/1 – First Edition OS Map 1832-33
4. PRONI OS/6/1/67/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858
5. PRONI OS/6/1/67/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900
6. PRONI OS/6/1/67/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-1921
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/62B – Griffith’s Valuation 1859
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/13 A – Annual Revisions 1863-1865
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/13 B – Annual Revisions 1869-1881
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/13 C – Annual Revisions 1881-1894
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/13 D – Annual Revisions 1895-1908
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/8/13 E – Annual Revisions 1909-1928
13. Ordnance Survey Map – 164-11 (1973)
14. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Antrim VII, Vol. 21.
15. Census of Ireland – 1901 / 1911.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A well proportioned and detailed two-storey three-bay Edwardian dwelling, dated 1909, replacing an earlier building on the site. Retaining its original Edwardian character externally and most of its interior. Originally built as a house for a modest farm business it represents an unusual farm house type in this rural location. With a largely unspoilt setting and ornate gates and railings to the boundary, it contributes to the architectural heritage of the local area.

General comments

Additional Liasting Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity