The Rocks

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Long single storey dwelling, completely modernised in recent times, set at the end of a lane to the W of the Comber Road, half a mile NW of Killinchy (just N of the small hamlet of Balloo). The current owners acquired this property in late 1974 and have completely modernised it. The owner stated that experts from the UFTM informed her that they believed the house to be of great age, dating back to the early 1500s, when this area of the country was part of the O’Neill Lordship of Clandeboy!

Front E facade has a large lean to-like (but not technically a lean to as the roof pitch cuts into the main roof) projection to the right with a modern door to its S facade and a large modern window to its E face. To the left of this porch are three similar windows (with one a bow window), with a similar window to the right of the porch. Both gables are blank.

The rear is dominated by a large projection (similar to the porch at the front only much longer) which has three modern windows (similar to front) to its W facade and a similar window and modern door to the short N facade. The rear facade of the main house to the left has a similar modern window.

The entire facade is finished in rough cast and painted.

The roof is gabled and covered in pan tiles with a long wooden flat roofed dormer to the rear and several Velux windows at both front and rear. Two brick chimney stacks. PVC rw goods.

Outbuildings to SE and NE now largely untidily ‘renovated’.

When first surveyed in January 1974 this house had the appearance the classic Irish linear dwelling, with a thatched roof, small sash windows, sheeted doors and whitewashed facade, but today it is modern looking.

Historical information

A collection of buildings that would appear to equate to the present house along with several other structures to the immediate east are shown on this site on the OS maps of 1834 and 1859-60. On the OS map of 1920 it is captioned 'The Rocks'.

The valuation records of c.1835 state that the dwelling was then in the possession of ‘a cotter’ whose name appears to have been John Johnstone, whilst those of c.1861 tell us that by this time the leasee was an Andrew Baillie who rented the buildings along with 34 acres around them from the Londonderry estate.

The Baillie family held the property into the 20th century, with Thomas Baillie recorded as living here in the 1901 census with his three unmarried sisters, as well as a niece and nephew, with the house itself noted as a '2nd class' dwelling with four windows in front and four rooms. Thomas acquired the freehold in or before 1906 and c.1917 the house passed to the sisters, Mary Jane and Maggie Baillie, who seem to have retained it into the 1930s.

The building remained in largely original state until 1974/75 when the current owner's parents modernised and extended the building, removing the thatch and enlarging all of the window openings in the process.

The owner (in 1998) stated that the house had been inspected by experts from the UFTM before the renovations, and that they were of the belief that it was of considerable age, 'possibly dating from the early 1500s'.

References- Primary sources
1 OS maps, County series, Down sheet 17 - 1834, 1859-60, 1920
2 PRONI VAL1B/323 First valuation, Kilmood parish - c.1835
3 PRONI VAL2B/3/20 Second valuation, Kilmood parish - c.1861
4 PRONI VAL12B/23/18A-E Annual valuation revision books, Kilmood ED - 1866-1929
5 NLI Census of Ireland - 1901, 1911 [Online at https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/]

Secondary sources
6 Information from owner - 1998

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Long single storey house completely modernised in recent years and now with enlarged window openings, extensions, pan tile roof etc. This house is of considerable age perhaps (supposedly according to UFTM experts), dating from the early 1500s[!], however, today this assertion is entirely academic as the building is now, to all intents and purposes, a modern dwelling.