5 Corbally Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

After 22/06/2004 this building was dismantled. The roof cruck truss was taken to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra , Co. Down.What follows is a description of the building prior to this date.

A single storey gabled rendered building with a small projecting porch at the entrance on the north elevation.

Walls of rubble masonry roughly cement rendered. Roof covered with corrugated iron sheeting, set between raised gable copings of cement render; no rainwater goods. One small chimney at an intermediate position on the ridge, smooth cement rendered.

North elevation: rectangular porch has cement rendered walls; roof of porch of very low pitch, covered with corrugated iron; wooden fascias. Doorway in east side of porch: rectangular ledged timber door in wooden frame. One small window in north side of porch: rectangular timber fixed light of translucent glass. West side of porch blank. One window in north elevation of house, to right of porch: rectangular metal 2-pane fixed light with 2-pane side-hung opening vent; projecting concrete cill.

Gables of house are blank.

South elevation has two windows: rectangular metal 6-pane fixed light with 6-pane side hung casement; projecting concrete cills.

SETTING: The building stands in a rural area, set back from the roadway at the end of a lane; grassed area to front and rear with a newly built house standing close by to the east, and a temporary dwelling to the north-west.

Historical information

A building matching the dismantled house is shown on this site on the OS map of 1832 / 33, but not noted in the near contemporary valuation. The property is recorded in the second valuation of c.1860, however, the confusing nature of
references on the accompanying map make it difficult to be certain as to which entry in the valuation book actually concerns this particular house. It is probable that the dwelling is that listed as occupied by George Whiteside, with Margaret McGivern the immediate lessor, with the rateable value calculated at 10/-.

Though the date of this house is uncertain, the antiquated roof structure, (reputedly a full cruck type composed of two continuous blades, an English form with only four or five surviving examples in Northern Ireland), has lead one expert to suggest that it was constructed in the late 17th century.

The porch was added in the 1940s, with corrugated sheeted put over the previously thatched roof in the late 1960s. The external walls were given their cement render finish in 1996 or 1997, when the new house was built to the northwest.

After 22/06/2004 the house was dismantled and the cruck truss removed to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra, Co. Down.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/1A/1/54 OS map, County Antrim sheet 54, with valuation references (1832 / 33-c.38)
2 PRONI VAL/2A/1/54 OS map, County Antrim sheet 55, with valuation references (1857-c.60)
3 PRONI VAL/2B/1/53A Second valuation, Killead (c.1860)

Secondary sources
1 Information supplied by the owner (1999)
2 Information supplied by Dr Philip Robinson of the Ulster Folk Museum. (1999)

The date of the building is not known but it appears on the first OS map, of 1833 A conjectural date in the late 17th century is based solely on the probable date for the antiquated roof structure. Porch added c 1940s. Corrugated iron sheeting was placed over the previous thatched roof in the late 1960s. Exterior walls of cottage previously whitened, but given cement render finish in 1996 or 1997, when the new house was built alongside it. The cruck is reputedly of the full cruck type, comprised of two continuous blades, an English form of construction of which probably only seven or eight examples now survive in Northern Ireland.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This was a plain and simple vernacular building which had lost some of its exterior features but retained a traditional layout.
It had a rare 17th century full cruck truss. It stood in a rural area, set back from the Corbally Road at the end of a lane. There is a new replacement house standing close by.

After 22/06/2004 the house was dismantled and the cruck truss was taken to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.