Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB15/13/064

Address :
2 Marlacoo Road Hamiltonsbawn Co Armagh

Townland:
Mullaghbane

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
20/12/2007 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
Yes

Thatched:
No

Monument:

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
219-9NE

IG Ref:
H9490 4466

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Owner Category

Housing

Exterior Description And Setting

Single storey, gabled, 3 bay lobby entry vernacular house close to the centre of Hamiltonsbawn. Walls are rendered and covered with layers of lime wash. The front elevation faces South and is asymetric with two windows to the right and one to the left of a projecting porch which has curved walls and a monopitch corrugated iron roof. The door is flush and painted, the windows are all similar 1/1 timber sliding sash with painted stone sills. The West gable has a single timber window at attic level. The East gable has a single storey lean-to rendered store with a steel faced flush door and a small three paned steel window to the left. The rear elevation of this lean-to has a similar three paned steel window and a 3/3 top hung window. At attic level there is a closed up square window opening to the right. The rear elevation has an off centre flush door with a single 6/6 timber sliding sash window to the left with stone sill and two windows to the right. One is top hung and the other is a fixed light. The roof is covered in corrugated iron and there are three rendered chimney stacks, one at each gable and the third serving the main hearth. The house sits on the road side and has a substantial grassed garden to the North and West with a rendered boundary wall and some mature trees. To the rear is a large rectangular open fronted shed with cast iron columns and corrugated sheeting to the walls. There had been a further single storey outbuilding to the East but this was demolished in 2007 and the land is now cleared.

Architects

Historical Information

A dwelling is shown on this site on a series of Hamilton / Gosford estate maps of Hamiltonsbawn dating from c.1700, 1722, 1785, 1817 and c.1820*; a building is also shown on John Rocque’s County Armagh survey of 1760. On the c.1700 map a single-storey gabled dwelling is depicted in the general area, but, seemingly, set back from the road side. A similar building appears on that of 1722 and 1785 set close to the road side, with a simple block representing a dwelling shown in the same location on that of 1817, and a gabled structure on that of c.1820. Interestingly, on the 1785 and c.1820 maps another building is shown attached to the eastern side of the house; on the latter map this structure is clearly set forward from the line of its neighbour, a position occupied until recently by an outbuilding. On the same map the tenant is marked as Will Greer. A tenant of the same name (most likely a descendant) is also recorded in the valuation of 1861. Continuity of occupation supports the idea of continuity of built forms. The house appears on a c.1834 valuation plan of Hamiltonsbawn and both it and the attached outbuilding are shown on the OS map of 1835. Unfortunately the property is not recorded in the near contemporary first valuation, as it was below rateable value. In the second valuation of 1861 William Grier, (possibly the son of the ‘Will Greer’ of c.1820), is noted as the occupant with the rateable value of the dwelling and outbuilding £3 10s. John Robert Grier took over the tenancy in 1874. In 1902 the annotation ‘all down’ appears in the valuation book. At first glance this would seem to imply a complete demolition; however the more detailed valuer’s office notebook, (which documents in detail any changes to buildings that would have affected their rateable value), does not support this. Instead it merely records an ‘old house’ with a thatched roof and mud walls measuring 49ft x 19 x 11, and a ‘rubble masonry’ slated roof outbuilding measuring 51 x 16 x 12, dimensions which match those of the present structures. Demolition is not corroborated by map evidence either, as there is no discernible change in the footprint or positioning of either building after 1902. Observations made on site suggest that the phrase ‘all down’ is likely to be a reference the dismantling of the roof structure and its replacement with a new one, and perhaps some internal changes, for the present roof is made up of corrugated-iron on machined timbers. John Robert Grier acquired the freehold in 1904. The house remained in the hands of his descendants until at least 1957.** The outbuilding was demolished in early 2007. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI D/1606/6B/5 Gosford Papers ‘Map and survey of the Demesne of Hamilton’s Bawn belonging to the Hon. Hans Hamilton, surveyed by Matthew Black [*This map is undated and listed in the PRONI catalogue as ‘c.1750’, however if it is indeed a contemporary Hamilton map it must be pre-1704.] 2 PRONI D/1606/6B/1 Gosford Papers ‘Survey of Hamilton’s Bawn…April 28th 1722’ 3 Linen Hall Library ‘Survey of the County of Armagh by John Rocque’ 1760 4 PRONI D/1606/6B/8 Gosford Papers ‘Map of Hamilton’s Bawn Estate belong to Viscount Gosford. James Turner. August 1785’ 5 PRONI D/1606/6B/11 Map of Hamilton’s Bawn, 1817 7 PRONI T/1233/1 ‘Map of the Hamiltonsbawn estate’ [*This map is undated and listed in the PRONI catalogue as ‘c.1850’, however its style suggests it is considerably earlier. It depicts more buildings than the pre-1817 maps, but the extent of development is roughly similar to the 1834 OS map and valuation maps. It may date from c.1820.] 8 PRONI VAL/1D/2/8 Valuation plan of Hamiltonsbawn, c.1834 9 PRONI VAL/1B/213 First valuation, Mullaghbrack parish, 1834-38 10 PRONI VAL/1A/2/13 OS map, Co Armagh sheet 13, with valuation
references, 1835 11 PRONI VAL/2A/2/13A OS map, Co Armagh sheet 13, with valuation references, 1835 12 PRONI VAL/2B/2/12A Second valuation, Mullaghbrack ED, 1861 13 PRONI VAL/12B/10/24A Annual valuation revision book, 1864-81 14 PRONI VAL/12B/10/24B Annual valuation revision book, 1882-97 15 PRONI VAL/12B/10/24C Annual valuation revision book, 1898-1912 16 PRONI VAL/12A/3/2 Valuer’s office notebook, Armagh Union, 1902-04 17 PRONI VAL/12B/10/24D Annual valuation revision book, 1912-29 18 PRONI VAL/3A/2/13A OS map, Co Armagh sheet 13, with valuation references, 1933-52 19 PRONI VAL/3B/2/2 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Armagh RD, 1935 20 PRONI VAL/3C/2/3 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Armagh RD, 1936-57 21 PRONI VAL/4B/2/6 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Armagh RD, 1957-72* *The second general revaluation book was not available for consultation at the time of writing, therefore the sequence of occupants post 1957 is not known.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest Z. Rarity

Evaluation

This single storey 3 bay dwelling is an increasingly rare example of a detatched urban vernacular house. It has a prominent position in the centre of Hamiltonsbawn and has a good setting. Externaly it is little changed and internally the original layout remains with the hearth jamb walls intact, and an interesting mix of vernacular and more classical detailing.

General Comments

This record was previously numbered HB15/13/040 during the First Survey

Date of Survey

02 October 2007