Castle Bawn, 17 Maghereagh Road, Randalstown, Co Antrim

Castle Bawn is a substantial mid-Victorian house of distinctive character, standing in rural farmland near Randalstown. Although its precise construction date is uncertain, it appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1858 and stylistically dates to the 1840s or early 1850s, with later Victorian or Edwardian modifications. It is reputedly built by the O'Neill family of Shane's Castle.

The building is a two-storey gabled house of asymmetrical plan with rendered walls, a Tudor-arched porch, and prominent octagonal stone chimneys. The main entrance faces west. The west elevation comprises a two-storey three-bay block to the right, with a lower 1½-storey single-bay wing set back slightly to the left, and a single-storey wing set back further to the left. The roofs are laid in Bangor blue slates in regular courses, with red terracotta ridge cresting and finials. Moulded timber barge boards project beneath overhanging eaves, with plain wooden soffits and moulded PVC gutters with PVC downpipes. The walls are smooth cement rendered, lined and blocked, with raised quoins to the extremities and a projecting plinth, all painted white.

Two rectangular chimney stacks rise from the front, and two from the rear, all visible from the front elevation. The front stacks each carry two tall octagonal stone chimneys with tall original octagonal pots, painted white; the rear stacks each carry three similar tall octagonal stone chimneys. Windows throughout are rectangular timber sliding sashes set in plain reveals, surmounted by moulded rectangular labels, with projecting stone cills painted green.

The two-storey block features a slightly projecting two-storey gable to the right of the porch, and a large gabled dormer to the left. The right-hand gable contains a tripartite ground-floor window comprising 4 over 4 central sashes with horns flanked by narrower side lights of 2 over 2 without horns; the first-floor window is 2 over 2 sashes with horns. To the left of the porch the ground-floor window is 8 over 8 sashes without horns. The large dormer above contains a tripartite window comprising 6 over 6 central sashes without horns flanked by narrower side lights of 2 over 2 without horns. The porch contains a Tudor-arched chamfered doorway with an original arched timber Gothic panelled door, approached by a flight of three sandstone steps with a sandstone doorstep. Each side wall of the porch contains a Tudor-arched timber window, a 2-pane fixed light with margins incorporating Gothic heads to the glazing bars.

The 1½-storey wing has similar roofing and walling to the main block with PVC rainwater goods, a cast iron soil pipe, and PVC waste pipes. Its ground floor contains one 2 over 2 sashed window with horns, with a smaller 2 over 2 window without horns in a gabled dormer above. The dormer cheeks and front are rendered, lined and blocked. The single-storey wing to the left has similar roof and walling with a PVC gutter with short PVC outlet into a cast iron hopper and downpipe. It contains two windows, rectangular timber 4-pane fixed lights in exposed frames.

The south elevation has roofs and walling similar to the west elevation with PVC rainwater goods. It comprises a slightly projecting two-storey gable to the right and a wall-head dormer to the left, with windows of similar detail to those on the entrance front.

The rear elevation is of similar character but contains an inappropriate large modern replacement window with rectangular fixed lights and vents. The north elevation is multi-gabled of similar character, but contains a later flat-roofed porch with a later rectangular fixed light of decorative leaded glass and an inappropriate recent modern door incorporating a radially glazed panel. The rear yard is enclosed by single-storey white-painted outbuildings; a larger yard to the north is surrounded by basalt rubble outbuildings raised to a storey by concrete blockwork.

The building stands within its own area of farmland, approached from the west by a main driveway marked by rendered gate piers and screen walls of no special interest. A modern two-storey house within the grounds adjacent to the gateway replaces an earlier cottage or lodge. A secondary rear driveway or lane runs to the north.

The building is believed to have originally had ornamented barge boards similar to those of two gate lodges to Shane's Castle dating from approximately the same period. Late Victorian or Edwardian modifications are evident in the form of the terracotta ridge tiles and finials, and replacement fireplace work internally.