Carmavy Graveyard, Carmavy Road, Nutts Corner, Crumlin, Co Antrim

Carmavy Graveyard is a burial ground of at least 17th century origins, containing monuments of considerable historical significance. The graveyard is walled and entered from the south through a gateway set in a concave recess, formed by a pair of tall circular rubble stone piers with humped smooth rendered caps, mounted with an original looped iron gate with ball-and-spike finials. The boundary walls are constructed of basalt rubble and field stones with smeared and reticulated cement pointing, topped with an overhanging smooth cement rendered coping. The walls appear in their present configuration on the Ordnance Survey map of 1857.

The graveyard contains three prominent burial vaults of special architectural interest (designated HB20/13/020A, B, and C), numerous headstones spanning the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, and cast iron plaques predominantly from the 19th century. The earliest recorded headstone dates to 1703, located at the midpoint of the western boundary, though the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of the 1830s reference an even earlier stone dated 1696. The ground slopes upward toward the rear of the burial ground.

The eastern boundary wall contains a rectangular enclosure projecting eastward, closed along its front by original iron railings on a low plinth wall. The rear face of this enclosure is finished with large basalt rock copings laid flat and overhanging slightly outward. Within the graveyard stands a gabled rectangular vault on the south side of the eastern boundary.

A two-storey gabled house abuts the south-east corner of the graveyard. This structure, known as No. 30 Carmavy Road and serving as the caretaker's house, was built in 1897–1898 to designs by Samuel Kirker, Civil Engineer, with plans accepted on 10 January 1897 and construction undertaken by Henry Thompson & Son. A predecessor dwelling is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832–1833.

The caretaker's house is constructed with smooth cement rendered walls, lined and blocked, with rusticated quoins at the extremities. The roofs are covered in Bangor blue slates laid in regular courses, with timber barge boards. The main entrance faces south. The entrance elevation features three windows to the first floor: a semi-circular arched timber sliding sash with 1 over 1 panes and horns (though the left-hand window has been replaced by a 2-light fixed light), each with moulded arched stucco surrounds and faceted keystones. The ground floor contains rectangular timber sash windows, 1 over 1 with horns, similarly detailed. The main entrance comprises a rectangular glazed and panelled door with bowed glazing surmounted by a plain semi-circular fanlight, set in a surround matching the windows. The west elevation is similar to the east, incorporating a small plain semi-circular window to the first floor in a matching surround, together with scalloped timber eaves board and cast iron downpipe. The rear elevation displays two first floor windows (rectangular timber sliding sash, one 2 over 2 and one 2 over 1 with horns, set in plain reveals) and two modern ground floor windows of rectangular timber with fixed lights and vents, along with a modern flush timber glazed door in plain reveals. The east elevation is blank. A chimney rises from the apex of the gable, constructed of modern rustic brick with two modern pots. A PVC extension to the downpipe returns from the side wall. The east side of the house has a driveway leading to a yard at the rear, with garden beyond.

Historical records indicate that the graveyard formerly contained the foundations of a church, reputedly destroyed during the Rebellion of 1641, though any traces had been removed or lost from view by the early 19th century. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of the 1830s describe the burial ground as enclosing "a quadrangular area of 57 by 54 yards" and being "well enclosed by a good stone and lime wall, with an iron gate." The memoirs further record that "the respectable family of Shaw, formerly of Ballytweedy House, in the parish of Killead, and still the proprietors of the grange, and the family of Thomas Ludford Stewart of Belfast, Esquire, have handsome vaults here," and note a tradition that the church, together with those of Dundesert and Ballykennedy in the parish of Killead, were "burned and battered down upon the rebels who either took refuge or made a stand in them in 1641."

The graveyard and house have no connection with any church or other organisation beyond the graveyard committee. The site stands in a rural setting near a crossroads, surrounded by agricultural land, and is designated as Historic Monument ANT55:47.