Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB10/04/013

Address :
Woodbrook, 61 Deerpark Road, Birnaghs, Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone, BT78 4LB

Townland:
Birnaghs

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
15/04/1981 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:
88-13

IG Ref:
H3750 8647

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Five-bay two-storey over basement rendered house, built c.1765, facing north-east, situated on the west side of Deerpark Road within landscaped grounds, including a large irregular-shaped walled garden to the rear. Rectangular on plan with a two-storey return to rear and a single-storey wing to the west side elevation at basement level. Pitched artificial slate roof with black clay ridge tiles, pair of rendered chimneystacks rising from both gable ends and lead-lined fractibles to the gable, three metal skylights to rear pitch. Cast-iron guttering on iron drive-through brackets and cast-iron downpipes, some plastic downpipes to rear elevation. Walling is roughcast cement render. Windows are square-headed with painted stone sills, projecting reveals and original timber sash windows with some cylinder glass; tripartite to ground floor, 6/6 to first floor and 12/12 replacement side-hung sashes to basement. Front five-bay north elevation has a symmetrical composition with five windows to the first floor, and a single tripartite sash window to the ground floor flanking a central square-headed door opening with painted stone ashlar Gibbs surround and stepped keystone. Original five-panelled timber door of raised-and-fielded panels, iron door furniture and three-paned rectangular overlight. Door opens onto semi-circular stone platform and seven semi-circular steps. The semi-exposed basement contains a pair of large window openings with 12/12 side-hung timber sash windows, inserted c.2000. East gabled side elevation is mostly blank except for a pair of small openings to the attic with replacement 4/4 timber sash windows and painted stone sills. A further square-headed window opening to the basement has a four-pane timber casement window with painted stone sill. South rear elevation is generally three bays wide with an exposed basement giving it the height of three storeys, with an off-centre single-bay two-storey gabled return. 6/6 timber sash windows to ground and first floors with four and six pane windows to the basement. Square-headed door opening to the east cheek of the return with a replacement timber glazed door opening into the cement paved basement area. A low cement rendered retaining wall encircles the rear elevation with concrete steps and concrete balustrade leading to the raised area to the east. West gabled side elevation is blank with the single-storey west wing aligned to the front elevation with a raised parapet and small bellcote. A lean-to natural slate roof falls from the screen wall with a door opening to the front screen wall and a pair of four-pane timber casement windows to the south elevation. A further square-plan rear entrance porch is aligned with the rear elevation having a pitched artificial slate roof, multi-pane timber window facing west and a door opening to the left cheek. A bitmac area to this elevation forms the main parking area to the house. Roof Artificial slate Walling Rough-cast cement render Windows Timber sash RWG Replacement metal Setting: Set back from the road with its east side elevation facing the road and set within its own grounds enclosed from the road by a cement rendered wall and a pair of rendered piers with ball finials supporting a pair of original wrought-iron gates. A short bitmac drive ascends to the front bitmac area which extends to the north-west as a large lawn with mature trees and a rendered retaining wall to the west. To the south-west corner of the house is a T-plan single-storey outbuilding with corrugated iron roof with vehicular roller-blind door opening into the side yard. To the south is a linear range of outbuildings, single-storey to the north end with corrugated iron roof, two-storey to the north end with pebbledash rendered walls, pitched natural slate roof and iron casement windows, possibly originally built c.1770. Standing opposite is a further two-storey multi-bay outbuilding with pitched natural slate roof, pebbledash rendered walls and steel casement windows, built c.1910. Off Deerpark Road to the north of the front lawn is a small road which gives rear access to the farmyard, and is the location of a previous mill complex, since demolished.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The house dates from c.1765, with major improvement carried out c.1810. ‘Wood-brook’ appears on the 1833 OS map, rectangular in plan with an additional wing to the southwest. By the 1854 edition it is captioned ‘Woodbrook’ and a ‘Flax Mill’ and ‘Mill Pond’ are also captioned nearby. The river appears to have been diverted along a mill race to supply the mill. The house remains identical in plan from first to third editions, but the outbuildings vary considerably, both in number and plan. Townland Valuations record the ‘house and offices’ as the property of J Taggert Esq. They are valued at £16 9s. Griffith’s Valuation has the occupier as Robert Taggart and the lessor as the Lord Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. The buildings are now valued at £20. In Revisions of 1860 the house passes to James McFarlane but the value remains unchanged. OS Memoirs record that, “Woodbrook, the residence of William Tagert Esquire, is a good 2-storey house built of stone, situated in the townland of Birnaghs…It was built about the year 1765 by Samuel Tagert Esquire, the father of the present proprietor. There is a garden annexed and it has been improved and ornamented with planting by William Tagert Esquire within the last 20 years” (p.3-4) The Memoirs also note that William Tagert Esquire JP is a local magistrate. The mill, now gone, is also mentioned in the Memoirs, “Woodbrook flax mill, in the townland of Birnaghs north of Woodbrook House, extensive and in good repair, erected in 1765, changed from a bleach mill into a flax mill in 1835, proprietor William Tagert Esquire, breast wheel, 14 feet by 3 feet, diameter of cog wheel 7 feet, fall of water 6 feet, double geared, machinery wooden and cast iron, water supplied by the outlet of Lough Catherine, works during the whole year.” (p.4) Lewis describes Woodbrook as a “principal seat” of the parish and according to Mitchell the house was for a short time the ancestral home of the Buchanan family, of whom James Buchanan, U.S. President 1857-61, was the most famous descendant. Rowan comments, “Granted to the Buchanan family about 1624…Built by a linen merchant; there is a bleaching green behind the house.” A discussion with the current owner revealed that although the house was built c.1765, improvements were carried out in 1810 that have contributed to the current appearance of the house. The five bay composition of the first floor indicates the original overall composition with the tripartite windows inserted at ground level only during the 1810 improvements. Similarly, the basement windows would have been much smaller in the original façade, with larger side hung sash windows added during the above improvements. The return was added c.1910 at basement and ground floor level, while the west wing appears to have always occupied a similar footprint to the current structure. The rear porch to the west gable is a late 20th century addition. The boundary wall to the road was replaced c.1961 after a storm felled several trees causing substantial damage to this wall, however the original gates were retained. The farm yard to the south contains a single outbuilding to the east of the yard (directly south of the house), which would appear to have been built contemporaneous with the house itself, while the remainder of the structures date from the early 20th century. The mill to the north of the house was destroyed by fire c.1946. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/6/17/1 – First Edition OS Map (1833) 2. PRONI OS/6/6/17/2 – Second Edition OS Map (1854) 3. PRONI OS/6/6/17/3 – Third Edition OS Map (1905) 4. PRONI VAL/1A/6/17 – Townland Valuation Map 5. PRONI VAL/1B/637A-F – Townland Valuation Records (1828-1840) 6. PRONI Griffith’s Printed Valuation – Union of Strabane 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/42/12 A-F – Annual Revision Records (1860-1929) 8. PRONI VAL/12/D/6/17A – Annual Revisions Map 9. Day, A. and P. McWilliams, eds. “OS Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of County Tyrone I, 1821, 1823, 1833-36, Vol. 5.” Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1990. Secondary Sources 1. Gebbie, John Hewitt. “Introduction to the Abercorn Papers” 1972 2. Lewis, Samuel. “A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Comprising the Several Counties, Cities, Boroughs, Corporate, Market, and Post Towns, Parishes, and Villages, With Historical and Statistical Descriptions; Embellished with Engravings of the Arms of the Cities, Bishopricks, Corporate Towns, and Boroughs; Of the Seals of the Several Municipal Corporations.” London: S. Lewis & Co., 1837. 3. Lynsyl Logue “Strabane and West Ulster in the 1800s” 2006 4. Mitchell, C. J. Haldane, Ed. “Images of Omagh and District” Vol. 10. Omagh: Rotary Club of Omagh, 2002. 5. Rowan, Alistair. “North West Ulster: Londonderry, Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.” Buildings of Ireland Series. Dublin: Penguin Books, 1979.

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

A fine symmetrical Georgian house which would have originally had five bays to both ground and first floors. Improvements c.1810 gave the house its present appearance with its Wyatt style windows to the ground floor and a return added at a later date. While the recent refurbishments have removed some original internal fabric, the intact appearance of the exterior is matched to the interior with the retention of a fine staircase, and other fine fittings. The elevated site with its mature trees and vernacular outbuildings make this house of considerable importance to the architectural heritage of Newtownstewart and the surrounding area.

General Comments

Date of Survey

02 April 2009