Hillside,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Substantial two storey gabled farm house of 1840, now derelict. The building is set on a slight rise at the end of a long lane to the W of the Ballystockart Road, c.2 miles NW of Comber.

The front (S) facade is symmetrical. To the centre of the ground floor is a doorway with sandstone pilaster surround with lintel with keystone and cornice. There is no actual door. To the left and to the right are two window openings, three no longer have any frame whilst that to the immediate right of the doorway has the remnants of a sash frame with Georgian panes. To the first floor are five smaller windows, four with remnants of frames as ground floor.

The E gable has a window opening to the left on the ground floor and two to the first- none have frames. The W gable is blank. To the right of centre at the rear is a small two level gabled return. To the E side this return has a ground floor doorway and a window opening, with a tiny window to the upper level (with the remains of a sash frame). To the W side there is a single ground floor window. To the main rear facade there is is a window to the ground floor to the far left and one to the far right. To the first floor are two to the left and centre. There appears to be another to the far right, but this area is covered in greenery.

The front facade and gables are finished in rough cast, The rear is now largely unrendered, revealing sandstone rubble and brick construction. Crude datestone on E gable which reads 'T-M, Y AD 1840'. The roof has lost almost all of its slates and its timbers are exposed. The main chimney stacks have collapsed, though that to the gable of the return has survived.

Remains of a large collection of outbuildings to the rear, now in ruins. Beyond these outbuildings a small stable block has recently been built. Covered well to rear also.

Historical information

Though there is a building on this site on the 1834 OS map, it is not noted in the contemporary valuation records- suggesting it was a probably a humble single storey dwelling. As the datestone claims, the present house appears to have been built in 1840, probably by a family named Murphy (hence 'M,Y' on the stone) who held most of the farmland in the immediate area in this period and who owned the large house to the south (then named 'Hillhead' now the much altered 'Standfield House'). The building is marked 'Hillside' on the OS map of 1858 and was in the possession of a John Gracey in 1863, when it had a rateable value of £6.

When surveyed in November 1973 this building was already derelict.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL 1B/316A 1st valuation, Comber.
2 PRONI OS/1/3/10 OS map, 1st ed. 1834, Down 10.
3 PRONI OS/6/3/10/3 OS map, 1st rev. 1858, Down 10.
4 PRONI 2nd valuation, Comber.
5 PRONI OS/2/3/10 OS map, 2nd ed. 1901, Down 10.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Substantial two storey gabled farm house of 1840 now derelict and in poor condition.