69 The Longshot, Ballyclare, Co Antrim, BT39 0QX

69 The Longshot, Ballyclare, County Antrim

This building has been demolished as of December 2019 and replaced with three new build houses. The description below records the structure as it existed at the time of survey.

The building was a detached, single-storey former thatched dwelling, built around 1800, rectangular on plan and facing south. It was four bays wide. The pitched roof was covered with corrugated iron over the original straw thatch, supported by unsawn timber trusses (not visible). Three red brick chimneystacks rose from the structure, with metal rainwater goods to the south elevation only, mounted on drive-through wrought-iron brackets.

The walling was rubblestone, rendered in cement rough-cast. Window openings were square-headed without sills. The windows consisted of timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes (some single-pane, others two-over-two), with steel-framed casement windows at the east end. The front door was vertically-sheeted timber.

The front elevation to the south was four bays wide and contained a central square-headed front entrance. The west gable elevation faced onto The Longshot Road, with a red brick chimneystack rising from the gable. The rear elevation to the north was four bays wide but featured smaller window openings. The east elevation was also gabled.

The property occupied a small front yard to the west, enclosed by a low rendered wall and timber gate. By the time of survey, the house was set within a small rural hamlet of later single-storey houses and was no longer used as a dwelling, instead serving as a collector's store.

Historical records show the site had several buildings from at least 1832, when the first edition Ordnance Survey map records multiple structures. By 1857, the second edition map shows additional L-shaped and rectangular buildings. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 records two L-shaped buildings to the south as houses, offices and land, later revised to houses and stables. The property was occupied by Robert Hutchinson and leased from Thomas Gregg Esquire, with a building valuation revised from £3 to £4 10 shillings. Two rectangular buildings to the north are also documented: one occupied by Matthew McMurtray, valued at £1 15 shillings, and another occupied by Alice Ross and leased from McMurtray, valued at £1.

The building does not meet the criteria for listing as a vernacular structure that has been demolished.