5 Purdysburn Village

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A symmetrical one-and-a-half-storey mid-terrace, built c. 1830, located in Purdysburn Village to the north of Ballycoan Road. Central house in a terrace of three, comprising a symmetrical one-and-a-half storey block aligned east-west, abutted at east and west by single- storey L-plan terrace house of similar style and detailing.

Roof is pitched natural slate with blue/black clay ridge tiles; deep overhanging eaves with exposed rafter ends; decorative painted bargeboards supported on exposed timber corbels. Two rectangular red brick gable chimneystacks each with two tall decorative clay pots. Rainwater goods are replacement u-profile uPVC. Walling is smooth rendered. Windows are painted lattice casements within square headed openings with plastered reveals and painted projecting masonry sills, (replacement uPVC casement windows at rear).

Principal symmetrical north elevation contains central timber sheeted vertically divided half-door surmounted by natural slate pitched timber canopy supported on timber brackets. Entrance flanked by single window at each side. First floor comprises two wall head dormers with pitched natural slate roofs and decorative painted bargeboards.

East gable is abutted by single-storey block, No.6 (HB19/23/024C).

Rear elevation is abutted at centre by later single-storey extension with natural slate lean-to roof, detailed as main house with replacement uPVC window at south. Extension flanked by replacement uPVC door at left and right; abutted at far right by narrow single-storey boiler house with natural slate lean-to roof. First floor contains two wall head dormers each with replacement windows and plain timber bargeboards.

West gable is abutted by single-storey block, No.4 (HB19/23/024A).

Setting:

The terrace is part of Purdysburn village, located to the north of Ballycoan Road. Vehicular access is at east and pedestrian access is possible also at the south-east through an area of modern development. This house has a small enclosed garden at south small paved forecourt at north opening onto area for shared parking.

Roof Natural Slate
Walling Smooth render
Windows Lattice glazed casements
RWG Replacement u-profile uPVC

Historical information

No. 5 Purdysburn Village, a one-and-a-half-storey cottage, first appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map for the Parish of Drumbo (1834) where it is depicted as the central building in a terrace of three cottages (HB19/23/024A-C). The contemporary Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1833 record that Purdysburn Village was located at the south wall of the Purdysburn estate which was occupied by the Landlord Narcissus Batt at that time; the memoir states that this village was predominantly a protestant settlement in which 120 out of a population of 125 persons were of the protestant faith (Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down II, Vol. 7, 1833, p. 60); the 1844 Parliamentary Gazetter tells us that Purdysburn Village originally consisted of 28 single-storey cottages. There was little alteration to the site over the later editions of the Ordnance Survey maps; in 1886 Bassett’s Co. Down Directory recorded the village in similar terms, consisting of ‘about 30 houses, occupied chiefly by farm labourers’ (Bassett). An unknown newspaper cutting, held in a collection of the Purdysburn Estate at Downpatrick Library, records that the village was originally constructed to house those servants and farm labourers that worked on the adjoining Purdysburn Estate.

Rankin tells us that the Purdysburn Estate had lain vacant for a number of years before it was purchased in 1811 by Narcissus Batt. Dean records that a Mr. Thomas Hopper constructed three gate lodges at the Purdysburn Estate c. 1825 and it is possible that the village may have been constructed at a similar time although this cannot be confirmed. Purdysburn House continued to be occupied by the Batt family until it was sold in 1895 and established as a ‘lunatic asylum’ (Rankin, p. 95; Dean, p. 90).

No. 5 Purdysburn Village was formerly used as the village Post Office and a grocery shop. The building was first recorded as a post office in 1877 when a Mr. William Murray was noted as Postmaster and Grocer in the Ulster Town Directory of that year. By 1880 the property had passed to a Mr. John Martin who continued to carry out both duties (Ulster Towns Directory – 1880). In 1901 a Ms. Mary Hutchinson McAleese took over possession of the post office although she resided in No. 1 Purdysburn Village (HB19/23/022A - located at the entrance to the village) until 1908 after which time she moved into the post office. The Census Building returns records that No. 5 Purdysburn Village was a 2nd class shop and dwelling which possessed six rooms and a store as its only outbuilding. Mary McAleese continued to reside at the post office in Purdysburn Village until her death in April 1934 (PRONI Wills Catalogue – 7 April 1934). No. 5 Purdysburn Village is now used solely as a private dwelling; field research conducted at the site has found that the interior layout of the cottage remains largely unchanged.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/9/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map 1834
2. PRONI OS/6/3/9/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/9/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1901-1902
4. PRONI OS/6/3/9/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1920-1921
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/25C – Griffith’s Valuation 1861
6. Ordnance Survey Memoirs, Co. Down II, Vol. 7, 1833
7. Parliamentary Gazetter (1844)
8. Bassett’s County Down guide and directory (1886)
9. Ulster Towns Directory (1877, 1880, 1901, 1908, 1910)
10. Census of Ireland 1901 / 1911
11. PRONI Wills Catalogue (1934)
12. Belfast Telegraph (1977)

Secondary Sources

1. Dean, J. A. K., ‘The gate lodges of Ulster: A gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1994.
2. Rankin, J. Fred, ‘The Heritage of Drumbo’ Ballycairn Presbyterian Church, 1982.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Z. Rarity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A symmetrical one-and-a-half storey mid terrace estate cottage, built c. 1830, located in Purdysburn Village to the north of Ballycoan Road. Located in a small terrace of three houses of similar style and detailing, the house was formerly used as the village post office and grocers shop. The building retains many original features externally including original lattice glazed windows at north and remains largely unchanged from its original form and layout, except for some alteration and replacement windows and doors at south. As a former labourers cottage for the Purdysburn estate, it has group value with No.4 (HB19/23/024A) and No.6 (HB19/23/024C) and the other estate terraces on the street, HB19/23/022 and HB19/23/023, which as an intact group make a significant contribution to the character of Purdysburn village.

General comments

In Purdysburn Area of Village Character.
This record is part of a group. (Refer to HB19/23/024A and C)
This record was completed without access to original source material held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
Criteria U, R & S also apply.
In the first survey numbers 4-6 were recorded as numbers 13-15 Purdysburn Village.