Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB02/13/003

Address :
29 Roe Mill Road Limavady Co Londonderry BT49 9BB

Townland:
Newtown Limavady

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
28/03/1975 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
29/5 NE

IG Ref:
C6705 2247

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Large storey and a half brick house facing west across a steep drop to the flood plain of the River roe. A central entrance portico supported by a timber beam and sandstone Doric columns is flanked by two canted bays which project out from the building to align with the portico. The portico has a semi-circular window with sandstone cill. The overhanging soffit above has a crenellated pattern of mutulae. Each bay is topped by a timber dormer with finial. On either side of the canted bays the house has been extended by one bay and the roof drops 200mm approximately. The extensions are constructed in Flemish Bond and the original house in Garden Wall Bond. There are natural slates on the roof. Brick chimneys on the ridge align with each bay. One is diamond shaped on plan the other standard. The entrance door in the centre of the composition is a modern replacement. It is flanked by a timber door-case of Doric pilasters supporting an entablature. There is no fanlight. Three steps rise to the arcade. The top step is sandstone and the others are concrete paving and brick. At the base of the bays is a sandstone string course and a window lighting a basement below. The south gable drops to a lower eaves level at the back of the building. It has two aligning Georgian sash windows to the front, a lower 12 pane sash on first floor to the back, and below, a wide glazed screen to a sun room inside. A return sits out from the building in line with the former south gable. It has two interesting projecting small timber bays at first floor reminiscent of those in Lady Tyler’s summer house at Umbra (HB02/09/022). Below is a wide 20 pane sash, a 12 pane sash and a modern glazed door. To the rear of the return are four sash windows. A smaller return sits out two metres from the central portion of the house. It has a round headed window in a Georgian glazing pattern on the gable and adjacent a similar sized blank recess. To the back of the north side of the house is a 12 pane sash at first floor and at ground floor a door and a sash window. On the north gable of the house are two windows near the front exactly as on the south. The extension however, does not extend the full depth of the house and two windows to the rear are on the original gable. A high wall extends from this gable to a long two storey brick barn on Roemill road. Together they enclose a courtyard to the rear of the house which is completed by a single storey barn to the south. To the courtyard the main barn is quite tall with a central segmental arch flanked by a second lower arch with door to one side. Openings at first floor are approximately square. The natural slate roof is sagging badly. There are two circular windows (similar to those behind the Alexander Arms Hotel HB02/12/003) and the owner has inserted a similar one in the lower barn. To the north of the barn on Roemill Road are the entrance gates. 700mm square brick pillars have a sandstone coping and the wall curves back from the street. The drive is through a sloping garden along the north side of the house curving round to a tight semi-circular gravelled yard in front of the house. The timber work on the building, mostly original, is in urgent need of maintenance.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

Does not appear on Ordnance Survey Map of 1831 and is not mentioned in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1833-5. Placed by Girvan at circa 1835. Shown on 1848 map. Built and lived in by the Cather family who owned and operated a distillery further north along Roemill Road (related to the Cathers of Carrickhue House, Ballykelly and the Cather Vault in Walworth Graveyard see HB02/10/001) One badly altered building of this survives. Along with the Tylers and the Moodys of Roemill House (HB02/13/006) the Ordnance Survey Memoirs record that they built a holiday house at Umbra (HB02/09/021 and 022). The Tylers later inherited this house and combined the two at Umbra. They lived here until the inter-war period when it was acquired by a Mr Semple. After this it was owned by J T Irwin presently of Glen Mills,Drumsurn Road. It was bought by the present owner in the mid 1970s. Historic buildings files show drawings of a renovation scheme of 1976 prepared by Ralph White and supervised by Gerard Loughery architect in 1982. In this scheme the return was converted and the timber beam on the porch reduced in length (it originally extended across the canted bay windows). The alteration of the chimneys must have been part of an earlier renovation. The side extensions and the bays to the return were added during the ownership of the Tyler family. In 1975 planning permission was refused to convert the barn on the south side to a DIY shop. References: OSS Map 1848 Owner (1998) Rev T E Mullan- Limavady and the Roe Valley Girvan- U A H S Buildings of North Derry p.11 Historic Buildings Records

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An interesting house in a late Georgian style. Its architectural elements consciously arranged to impart a feeling of grandeur. Scale is abstracted on the main facade to make a two storey house over basement appear as a single storey building. It is sparsely but adequately ornamented and the fine original astragals of the windows complement the quality of the design. The side extensions add to the original particularly inside in the main internal rooms. The plan is an interesting variation on the normal treating the stair hall as another room.Apart from fireplaces fine interior details survive. The house is nicely located and given the reputation of Umbra the garden was probably worth seeing during the Tyler’s time. It is of local interest for the association with its inhabitants and as an interesting piece of architecture.

General Comments

Date of Survey

29 January 1998