Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB24/07/056

Address :
6 Millisle Road Donaghadee Co. Down

Townland:
Donaghadee

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
132/4

IG Ref:
J5923 7971

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Plain two storey gabled terrace house of possible 18th century construction. The building is set at the N end of the Millisle Road, just S of the centre of Donaghadee. This house is attached (to the N) to the much larger and grander Prospect House, itself dating to the mid 1700s. To the E is Rosebank House an even grander dwelling probably originally built in the late seventeenth century. . Front SW facade is symmetrical. To the centre is a modern panelled and glazed door with a c.1950s style surround with broad fluted ‘pilasters’ and a projecting flat concrete hood/roof. To the left is a large (square) window with PVC frame and simple surround, with a similar window to the right. To the first floor are three smaller windows, with PVC frames and surrounds as previous. The SE gable is blank and has a flat roofed garage attached to the ground floor. To the rear are a myriad of PVC windows of various sizes, some of whose openings have undoubtedly been enlarged in recent times. To the far right on the ground floor is a single storey kitchen extension with a mono-pitched roof and a PVC door and window to its SE facade. The entire facade is finished in rough cast. The roof is gabled and covered in asbestos slates. There are no chimney stacks. Cast iron and PVC rw goods.

Architects

Historical Information

All of the available maps of Donaghadee (of which the earliest appears to be of 1700) indicate a house on this site. The earliest reasonably accurate map (dating from c.1780), however, indicates that the building on site at that time may have been smaller than that we see today, though this cannot be stated with any great degree of certainty. The 1834 and 1858 OS maps show a house whose plan matches the present. The fact, however, that this building has been substantially renovated in the [?] 1950s and again in fairly recent times, has largely obliterated any obvious clues there may have been to its age. The valuation records of c.1836 state that the house on this site was in the then possession of Captain Leslie, the then occupant of near by Rosebank House. The present owner of this house believes it may once have functioned as some sort of ‘gate lodge’ for Rosebank. References- Primary sources 1. Map of Donaghadee [?1700]. [This map is curious. It belongs to the owner of the Manor House, Donaghadee, and was believed to have been drawn up by one James Dillon for Daniel De la Cherois in 1780. However, the overall crude style of the piece and the fact that the representations of the buildings (especially the Church) contradict what we know of them at this stage, suggests it is much earlier . This theory appears to be borne out by the fact that the actual date on the map is probably ‘1700’ rather than ‘1780’, a stroke from the ‘7’ passing through the first ‘0’ giving it the appearance of a figure 8. The map has been reproduced for several publications (notably John Stevenson’s Two centuries of life in Down 1600-1800 republished by White Row Press in 1990) each of which have accepted the date of 1780 at face value, yet questioned the contradictions in the style and positioning of the buildings.] 2. ‘A map of the town of Donaghadee...’ [c.1771-90]. [This map was prepared for Daniel De la Cherois, who inherited much of the town and its hinterland in 1771. As Daniel died in 1790, the map can thus be dated to some time between 1771-90. At some point someone has written on the map ‘about 1780’, a date which may be accurate.] 3. PRONI VAL 1B/32 p.3 1st valuation, Donaghadee parish, Donaghadee., c.1836. [See also accompanying town plan.] 4. PRONI OS Maps 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 3. 5. PRONI OS Maps 1st rev. 1858-60, Co. Down 3. 6. PRONI 2nd (‘Griffith’s’) valuation Donaghadee parish, Donaghadee, 1863. [The town plan for the 2nd valuation is not available at PRONI and therefore it is difficult to match the properties listed in the valuation with actual buildings.]

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Plain two storey house of possible eighteenth century origin. This building has been greatly renovated in recent times.

General Comments

Date of Survey

12 May 1998