Broom Cottage

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single-storey two-bay vernacular house, pre-dating 1830. Located on a small wedge-shaped plot, midway along the main Bangor to Donaghadee Road, on the south side, west of Hawe Road and east of Kylestone Road.

Pitched corrugated fibre cement roofing c.1950, over thatch remains and gable skews. Cast-iron rainwater goods, semi-circular gutters with circular downpipes. Brick chimneys, white-washed (one on south-east gable one positioned centrally on ridge with clay pot). Cement-rendered and white-washed mud walling; partial stone construction; concrete block to north-west gable end. 1/1 single-glazed timber sliding sash with large stone cills. Replacement timber sheeted door with salvaged cast-iron ironmongery.

The principal elevation faces north-east and is asymmetrically arranged. The front door is located on the right hand side with two single windows located to the left. Deep overhanging eaves course installed c.1950; as part of thatch replacement.

The left gable (south-east) elevation is abutted by a single-storey white-washed stone lean-to projecting south-east with external door to the north-east face; varying sized window openings in the south-east face; blank north-west face; alterations to the height and pitch c2000.

The rear elevation (south-west) has three varying shaped and sized window openings. Window on the far left installed c.1975

The right gable (north-west) is blank. Replacement concrete block with cement render c.2008

Setting

The dwelling is located in a rural
setting with a road running adjacent to the north gable. Immediately to the east of the site is a modern single-storey dwelling; other farm dwellings and outbuildings can be observed from a distance. Part of the plot has been cordoned off to the east to enclose a small vegetable garden. Adjacent to the road, at the rear of the site is a partially gravelled area for vehicles. The site is bounded by hedge rows and a timber fence.

Roofing: Corrugated fibre cement
Walling: Cement rendered and white washed mud/stone
Windows: Timber
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

A house is shown on the site on the First Edition OS map of 1833, situated in a rural landscape dotted with farms that has changed little in the intervening years. The dwelling was not of sufficient value to be listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40).

Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) shows that the house comprises two separate dwellings occupied by William Lightbody and John Gibson who rent the house from Alex Kinnaird. Kinnaird is a smallholder with a farm to the west and his descendants continue to own the house to this day. The two dwellings with gardens are valued at 12s each, each availing of 25 perches of land. (Griffith’s Valuation)

The Lightbody and Gibson families remained in residence until 1900 when Jane Moore and Jane Finlay moved into the house. The 1901 census reveals that Jane Moore was the unmarried mother of an eleven-year-old boy and was unable to read or write, the census form being completed on her behalf by the census enumerator. Jane Moore worked as a seamstress as did her co-tenant, Jane Finlay. Jane Finlay was able to read but not write and her census form was also completed on her behalf. The house is described as comprising three rooms with two windows on the front facade, and because of its size and construction is nominated as second class. Third and fourth class accommodation was also recorded by the census, so it can be seen that the house, although simple, was deemed to be comfortable accommodation at the time. (Annual Revisions, 1901 census)

By 1911 Jane Moore had moved out of the house and had gone to live with her daughter and her family elsewhere in the Townland. Jane Finlay continued to live in the house, and at the age of 66 still worked as a seamstress. However, the house appears to have deteriorated somewhat since the 1901 census, now having only one window and a single room for her use and the roof, formerly of slate, iron or tiles, now being categorised as thatch, wood or other perishable material. The house was now classified as third class. (Annual Revisions, 1911 census)

By 1915 the house was occupied by Alexander Savage, and no further changes are recorded in Annual Revisions.

The current owner states that the building was inhabited until the 1950s when the thatch was sheeted over with corrugated fibre cement. The house was then used as a scout hall in the 1960s. A window was replaced in the 1970s and repairs carried out c2000. Between 1973 and 1995 the house became a studio for local artist John Kane. Currently, the house is used by a family that work the vegetable garden as an allotment. (Owner information)

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/2/1 – First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/2/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/2/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1901
4. PRONI OS/6/3/2/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-26
5. PRONI OS/6/3/2/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1939
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/1C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/23/7A-K – Annual Revisions (1866-99)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/23/8A-C – Annual Revisions (1894-1923)
9. 1901 census online
10. 1911 census online

Secondary Sources

1. Owner information

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
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A single-storey two-bay vernacular house with partially surviving roof structure beneath asbestos sheeting, pre-dating 1830. The direct-entry close to the gable-end with central hearth to left is a rare plan form which has remained largely unaltered. Although there have been some alterations, the building has retained much of its character and proportions. The structure of the building is combined mud and rubble stone. This small dwelling constitutes an increasingly rare example of vernacular tradition in North Down and the survival of the roof structure with remnants of the thatch is of note.