Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB19/07/033

Address :
29 Hill Road Dromore County Down BT25 2AH

Townland:
Mullaghdrin

---

Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
Yes

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
Partially

---

OS Map No:
203/08

IG Ref:
J3037 5197

---

Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

A two-and one-and-a half-storey farmhouse with attached byre and outbuildings originally built c. 1800 with alterations mid-19th century. Located down a lane east of Hill Road near Dromara. Rectangular on plan with projecting porch to front and attached byre to south. Pitched natural slate roof with rendered chimneystacks; tin roof to byre. No rainwater goods. Walling is rubble stone with roughcast render to front elevation and lime render to rear elevation. Windows are boarded with smooth rendered surround and projecting sills. The principal elevation faces east and has two openings to each floor framing single-storey gable porch located to right of centre. The elevation is extended to right by a one-and-a-half-storey extension with window and gabled half-dormer over. The south elevation is abutted to ground floor by a lower rubble stone byre with window opening to ground floor and attic of gable; east elevation has door and window opening; west elevation has a large opening to left covered with corrugated metal door. The west elevation has a single opening to centre at first floor; three windows to ground floor. The north elevation is abutted by the extension; gable is blank; west elevation has single opening to left of centre. Variety of slated roughcast outbuildings to front of house creating yard. To south is former stable-block with replacement timber doors and two window openings. To north is one-and-a-half-storey barn with two timber–sheeted doors and single window opening to south elevation; east elevation has diminutive window to attic; west elevation has door opening. Setting: Set in a largely unspoiled rural
setting down a long lane off a country road; replacement dwelling to west. Rubble stone boundary wall with modern timber fence to north; rubble stone and rendered round gate piers with original wrought-iron gate leads to rear yard. Enclosed by mature trees to south. Roof: Natural slate Walling: Rubble stone and roughcast render Windows: Boarded RWG: None

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

In the year 1759 the Marquis of Downshire signed a 75 year lease with ‘William Gray of Mullaghdrin,’ a local farmer, for an 18 acre plot of land in the Townland of Mullaghdrin at yearly rent of £2 17s. Under the terms of the agreement Gray was required to construct a single-storey dwelling (30ft by 14ft) and a single-storey barn (14ft by 14ft) by 1762. The farmhouse and stable block of Gray's Farm in Mullaghdrin first appears on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map of Dromara Parish. In 1834 the farmhouse occupied its current site and was depicted as an oblong building situated off the Hill Road; the stable bock is also depicted in its current position. It is not known whether this farmhouse and outbuilding were the same buildings recorded in the 1759 lease, however it is clear that at some stage in the mid-19th century this single-storey vernacular farmhouse was formalised and a second storey added. The current barn located to the north-east of the farmhouse first appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1859; the contemporary Griffiths Valuation of 1861 records that the farm had passed to a Mr. William Gray Jnr. who continued to let the property from the Marquis of Downshire. In 1861 the farm was valued at £2 and from 1859 until the fourth edition of the Ordnance Survey map there were no discernible alterations to the layout of the farm, although the one-and-a-half storey extension currently abutting the north elevation may have been added during this period. William Gray Jnr. occupied the farm until his death in 1899 at which time the farm passed to his son John Gray and effects of £285 3s. 1d. were administered to his widow Jane Gray and their four other children (PRONI Wills Catalogue – 11/07/1899). The 1901 Census tells us that John Gray (39), his sister Agnes (34) and brother Thomas (34) occupied the farm after their father’s death; Jane Gray does not appear in either the 1901 or 1911 Census. Gray and his brother were recorded as Presbyterian farmers, whilst their sister was employed as a housekeeper and domestic servant; the census building return describes the farmhouse as a 2nd class dwelling which consisted of five inhabited rooms and which possessed a slate roof. Aside from the stable block and barn, the farm possessed a piggery, a surviving byre (abutting the farmhouse) and a fowl house amongst its out offices. The Ordnance Survey map of 1975 shows no alteration to the layout of the site although it is not clear whether the farmhouse continued to be occupied at that time. The farm is now abandoned and has fallen into a state of neglect as a replacement dwelling was built to the west of the former house, occupied by the current owner. The windows and door of the original farmhouse and its outbuildings have been boarded up and the slate roof of the dwelling has suffered minor damage; the stable block has suffered similar damage to its roofing slates. Further, research conducted at the site has found that the roof of the rubble-stone byre, which abuts the south elevation of the farmhouse, was replaced with a tin roof at an unknown date. A farmhouse on this site has been inhabited by members of the Gray family, local Presbyterian farmers, who first constructed a dwelling in the area in the mid-eighteenth century. Although the farm has fallen into a state of dilapidation the general layout of the farm which dates from 1834 has been preserved. References Primary Sources 1. Lease of land from Lord Hillsborough to William Gray, dated 1759. 2. PRONI OS/6/3/22/1 – First edition Ordnance Survey Map 1834 3. PRONI OS/6/3/22/2 – Second edition Ordnance Survey Map 1859 4. PRONI OS/6/3/22/3 – Third edition Ordnance Survey Map 1902-03 5. PRONI OS/6/3/22/4 – Fourth edition Ordnance Survey Map 1919-20 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/35 – Griffith’s Valuation 1861 7. PRONI Wills Catalogue (1899) 8. NIEA Ordnance Survey map - 1975

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Not listed

Historic Interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Gray’s Farm is a modified two-and one-and-a half-storey abandoned farmhouse with attached byre and outbuildings originally built c. 1800 and raised to two-storey mid-19th century. Located in a rural setting situated at the end of a long lane; a modern replacement dwelling to west. Although of historic interest in relation to its alterations and development, it is not one of the better examples in the Lisburn area and is not considered worthy of listing.

General Comments

Date of Survey

20 November 2010