Lough Moronay

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Lough Moronay is a large two storey gabled former farm house, situated on a slight rise at the end of a long lane S of the Old Belfast Road, c.1.5 miles W of Newtownards. The house is possibly of eighteenth century origin and probably began life as a one and a half storey dwelling but has had its roof raised at some point and extensions added to the rear. The house was renovated recently.

The front NE facade has a left of centre ‘Ards’ doorway with panelled pilasters, panelled and glazed door and semicircular ‘spoked’ fanlight. To the left of the doorway are paired sash windows. To the right of the doorway is a single sash window, with paired sash windows to the far right. The first floor has four unevenly spaced sash windows.

The SE gable has a glazed door to the left on the ground floor.

The NW gable is blank.

The rear is dominated by an extremely large return which has been extended on various occasions in fairly recent times. The SE facade of the return has a hipped roof projection to the left with a large modern window to the ground and first floors. To the left of the projection are two modern window to the first floor and one to the ground floor. The rear of the return is blank. The NW facade of the return has been extended recently and now slopes down to become single storey. To the right of centre on this single storey facade is a projecting gabled porch with semicular headed doorway. To the right of the porch is a sash window, with two to the far left of the porch and a small modern window to the immediate left of the porch.

To the rear of the main house is a sash window to the left on the ground and first floors, with a small single pane window to the far left on the first floor. To the far right (i.e. to the right of the return), is a sash window to the first floor.

The entire facade is finished in rough cast with plain quoins and chamfered base. The roof of the main house is hipped with a slight overhang, whilst that to the return is hipped and slopes down to a single storey section to the NW. All roofs have Bangor blue slates. Four rendered chimney stacks to main house, two yellow brick stacks to return. PVC rw goods. Two large Velux windows to NW side of return roof.

Historical information

A building is shown on this site on the 1833/4 and 1858-60 OS Maps. The Valuation records state that in c.1833 the dwelling house on this site belonged to a William Creighton. The name William Creighton is also mentioned as a landowner in Greengraves on a map of this area dating from 1803(from the Londonderry Papers). The present owner (undoubtedly correctly) stated that the roof of the house had been raised at some point and that he had been informed that the building was originally entered on what is now the rear. Judging from the ‘Ards’ door surround and the ‘Georgian’ paned sash windows the house possessed until fairly recently, the main section of the building may have taken its present form in c.1850-60. The return was probably added in the early twentienth century.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.654/M26B/9 Londonderry Papers- a map showing James Chamber’s and William Creighton’s farms in Greengraves townland, 1803. [This section of the Londonderry Papers also contains maps of Greengraves dating back to 1775 and section LE26B/1-8 contains leases relating to Greengraves from 1724 to 1747.]
2 PRONI VAL 1B/322 p.17 1st valuation, parish of Newtownards, townland of Greengraves, c.1833.
3 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down sheet 5.
4 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps, 1st rev. 1858-60, Co. Down sheet 5.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Large two storey former farm house of pre 1834 origin which probably began life as single or one and a half storey but has had its roof raised, possibly in the mid 1800s, and large extensions added to the rear during the twentieth century.