Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB08/10/005

Address :
14-16 Bridge Street (aka Bridge house) Castledawson Magherafelt Co. Londonderry BT45 8AD

Townland:
Shanemullagh

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
22/07/1982 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
Thatched House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
Yes

Thatched:
Yes

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
78/16

IG Ref:
H9292 9330

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

The house faces north-east a short distance behind a hedge and forecourt that borders Bridge Street that is accessed from an intersection with Main Street. The hedge terminates at the south-east end in a square pillar from which proceeds a railing at right angles to enclose the forecourt. The right-hand (north-west) gable of the house overlooks the Moyola River and the street continues past Christ Church to Moyala Park. A pair of curved-headed, spearheaded flat iron gates hung on large square pillars with rough stone tops, give access to the yard. A two storey five bay direct entry thatched house with roughcast or harled coloured finish. Originally a pair of two storey houses with attics that have been converted into one dwelling. Raising of the road in front of the premises necessitated the formation of a brick-vaulted structure to permit access to the houses. The thatched covering is dressed over the gables and is finished with a deep fascia at the front and at the rear. Each gable rises to a chimneystack with corbelled and flaunched top and there is a similar feature over the present dining room fireplace position. Each stack is provided with two black fireclay pots. The elevation to the roadside has two four panelled entrance doors each with Chippendale style fanlights that divide the frontage into three sections to contain a 6/6 vertically sliding window without sash stops and with sills of intermediate depths. The dressings to the openings are plain. The south-east gable contains a 6-pane casement window and the opposite gable has a fifteen-pane and a twelve-pane casement at ground floor level and with a four-pane and a two pane casement window at the upper level. The rear of the building that has a harled and coloured finish exhibits a variety of window types at varying levels. Lighting the ground floor there are two 6/6 vertically sliding windows and a twelve-pane casement window without a sill. Above this at landing level there is a six-pane casement. The first floor is lighted by a 8/8 vertically sliding window, without sash stops or a sill and with the framing exposed and set at the face of the building together with two 6/6 vertically sliding windows that on the right having exposed frames set on the face of the building and with the head level lower than the others. The sashed windows are not provided with sash stops and the sills are of varying depths at the leading faces. The windows above at landing level are a six-pane casement with narrow sill and a four-pane light that is without a sill. The right-hand (south-east) gable is heavily buttressed at the rear. A single storey annex with natural slated roof abuts the south-east gable of the house with in front a lean-to corrugated iron roofed lean-to store.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

A building matching the plan of the present one, but with a projection to the northwest, is shown on the OS map of 1830 and the valuation town plan of Castledawson of c.1838. This building is noted in the valuation of c.1833 as a very old house, (the valuers use the virtually unheard of quality letter ‘e’ as opposed to the usual a, b or c!), with a shingled roof, measuring 34½ft x 25½ x 20, with an addition of 13½ x 16½ x 8, cellar of 18½ x 25½ x 7½, and an office 28 x 20 x 14. The property was occupied by a Robert McRory and possessed the relatively high rateable value of £5-12-0. The revised valuation town plan of 1858-59 shows a similar sized structure now containing two properties, but minus the projection to the northwest. The accompanying valuation book records both with the quality letter ‘1a’, suggesting that both were slated structures which had been built within the previous twenty years or so. The smaller property to the north end is recorded a rent office -with ‘caretaker’s residence’- for the Dawson estate, and rated at a respectable £7-5-0. Its dimensions are listed as 6yrds x 8yrds 2ft x 1 (storey), with a basement of 11yrds 1ft x 8yrds 2ft x 1, as well as a detached single-storey office and single-storey stable. The larger southern property, the local Constabulary barrack, is recorded as measuring 12 x 8yrds 2ft x 1, with an attic storey ‘addition’ of 6 x 8yrds 2ft x 1/3 of a storey, a basement of 6S x 8yrds 2ft x 1, and a single-storey office of 5yrds 1ft x 5yrds 2ft. Although the 1858 valuers regarded the building as relatively new, it is clear from the combined measurements that it was exactly the same length and breadth as the house of c.1833. This may indicate that the latter was remodeled, (with the roof altered), rather than completely demolished, and that the house we see today, (which was formed by combining the two 1858 properties), probably contains the fabric of a pre 1830s dwelling. No.14 served as a Constabulary barrack until 1877, after which it remained vacant until 1880 when it was let (as a dwelling) to a Robert McLarnon. The following year the property passed to Matthew McLarnon, then to a Dr William Duncan in 1891, John Kinnelly in 1895, and George Hunter in 1905. In 1908 the lease of both No.14 and the neighbouring rent office (no.16) was taken up by Thomas Tipping Jnr., who sub-let the ‘under part’ of the building to a Mrs Beattie (this basement area had been valued separately since 1881, but does not appear to have been tenanted on a long term basis). In 1922 the freeholds of both properties were acquired by James Wood. By this stage no.16 appears to have ceased to have acted as a rent office, and both it and its neighbour may have been amalgamated in some form. James Wood was still in residence in 1929. The roof remained slated until the early 1990s. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI OS/6/5/42/1 OS map (6in), County Londonderry sheet 42 (1830-c.38) 2 PRONI VAL/1B/535 First valuation, Magherafelt (c.1833) 3 PRONI VAL/1D/5/10 Valuation town plan of Castledawson (c.1838) 4 PRONI VAL/2B/5/37H Second valuation, Magherafelt (1858) 5 PRONI VAL/2D/5/9 Valuation town plan of Castledawson (1858 / 59) 6 PRONI VAL/12B/34/9A-G Annual valuation revision books, Castledawson ED (1864-1929) 7 PRONI VAL/12E/143/1 Valuation town plan of Castledawson (1905[-09]) 8 PRONI OS/8/7/1 OS town plan of Castledawson (1906) 9 PRONI VAL/3G/117/1 Valuation town plan of Castledawson (1936[-54]) Other
references 1 EHS Survey of Thatched Buildings, report by Colin Hatrick, 1992 2 EHS Monitoring of Thatched Buildings, report by Colin Hatrick, 1994 3 Various reports in EHS file.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest V. Authorship Z. Rarity Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

This house faces north-east and is located on Bridge Street adjoining the (listed) bridge over the Moyola. It is a two storey five bay direct entry thatched house with roughcast or harled wall finishes. The roadside entrance is of formal appearance with two entrances. A considerable amount of ingenuity has been employed to convert the two units into one dwelling and to bring the amenities up to modern standards at the same time retaining the layout and as much of the early detail as possible.

General Comments

Date of Survey

06 February 2001