7 Cottage Hill (formerly known as 1A Cardy Road)

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small single storey, folly-like, Gothick 'summer house' of c.1800, enlarged at the north end in the 1990s. The property is located on top of a wooded hill on the NW outskirts of Greyabbey.

The walls are finished in plain render; the roof is gabled with Bangor blue slates and several Velux windows.

The (original) front gable faces roughly S. It has corner pilasters with battered plinths which rise to tall pyramidal pinnacles which flank the crow step gable parapet. Four steps with ‘slate seat’ features lead to a narrow central door which is flanked by matching windows. The door/windows each have tall glazed upper portions over small timber panels. Directly above is an equilateral arch recess with medieval cross mock arrow loop features. To the gable apex is a quatrefoil recess.

The N gable is blank.

The window and door openings to the long side walls have been altered recently and contain a mixture of timber frames.

The rear (N) end has been extended recently and is slightly taller than the original section.

Historical information

This building is believed to have been constructed by Hugh Montgomery, the then owner of Rosemount House, in c.1800. It appears to have served as a sketching house or summer retreat, with members of the Montgomery family, or guests at Rosemount, sitting in the Gothick room at the front, whilst food was prepared at the rear. For much of the time, however, it may have been the home for an estate worker and his family.

The building is shown on the 1834 OS map as ‘The Cottage’. It has recently been extended and renovated, with the Gothick room to the front awaiting restoration.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/1B/33 1st valuation, Greyabbey, c.1834-38
2 'Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II', ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), pp.67-72
3 PRONI VAL/1D/3/17 Valuation plan, Greyabbey, c.1838
4 PRONI VAL/2B/3/4 Second valuation, Greyabbey, c.1859
5 PRONI VAL/2D/3/10 Second valuation plan, Greyabbey, 1859
6 PRONI OS/6/3/11/2 Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st Revision, c.1860 Co. Down 11
7 PRONI VAL/12B/23/16a-f Annual valuation revision books, Greyabbey, 1866-1930
8 PRONI VAL/12E/99/1 Valuation plan, Greyabbey, 1906-35

Secondary sources
1 Bob Trayte, "The Greyabbey and village" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.16' (1992), pp.2-4

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Small single storey, folly-like, Gothick 'summer house' of c.1800, enlarged at the north end in the 1990s.