23 Ballymoney Road, Ballymoney, Newtownards, County Down, BT23 4TG

23 Ballymoney Road, Craigantlet

A detached single-storey four-bay vernacular direct-entry house, pre-dating 1830, with outshot and contiguous outbuildings, located east of Ballymoney Road. The house is rectangular on plan with an outshot, flat-roof extension, and lean-to to the rear. The roof is pitched thatch under a tin roof (requiring verification), with stone verges and three roughcast rendered chimneystacks. Walling is painted roughcast render. The principal elevation faces southeast and is five windows wide, almost regularly spaced, with two windows to the left and right of a central timber-sheeted and glazed door (replacement). The door has a painted masonry surround with a lugged lintel featuring a slender keyblock. The southwest gable contains a window to the right surmounted by an unusual recessed bracket detail. The northwest (rear) elevation has windows to the left and left of centre; the outshot to far left has a window to the southeast elevation; a flat-roof extension to the centre has windows to both southeast and northwest elevations; the lean-to to the left has a window to the southeast elevation and a modern timber door to the southwest elevation. The northeast elevation is abutted at ground floor by a rendered lean-to with a timber-sheeted door to the southeast.

Windows throughout are replacements. Plastic rainwater goods are present.

To the southeast is a range of mainly slated outbuildings arranged in an L-shape around a front yard, with a modern agricultural shed to the northeast. A linear stable-block to the southeast has four replacement timber-sheeted half-doors with cast-iron hinges, diminutive timber-framed windows at the right side of the doors and at far left, and a multi-paned timber-framed window to the left of centre. The western range has a partial corrugated metal roof and has been recently refurbished with a large plastic conservatory to the west elevation; the east elevation retains traditional character with a replacement stable-door to the left of centre and two replacement windows to the right. Three corrugated agricultural sheds to the east are accompanied by a roughcast rendered lean-to abutting the central shed.

The house is accessed via a tree-lined lane to the north, sharing access with a one-and-a-half storey Georgian-styled house sited to the west. The setting is enclosed on all sides by mature trees and hedgerow with unspoiled farmland surrounding.

Recently refurbished, the house retains early proportions and some original character, though it has been compromised by modernisation and replacement fenestration throughout. It is not among the best examples of its type.

Historical context

The farm is situated in a rural area of the North Down hinterland that has remained largely agricultural since the 1830s. It appears uncaptioned on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 as a group of buildings arranged around a central courtyard. An outbuilding opposite the farmhouse shown on this map appears to have survived to the present day. The farm was not deemed of sufficient value to be included in the Townland Valuation (1828–40). The second edition Ordnance Survey map shows an additional outbuilding in the farmyard, at right angles to the farmhouse, which also appears to have survived. The farmhouse itself has gained an addition to the rear, possibly the outshot visible today.

Griffith's Valuation (1856–64) lists the occupier as James Spratt, who leased his farm of over 58 acres from the Marquess of Londonderry, the local landowner. The house was valued at £4 5s, indicating a rise in valuation since the 1830s. James Spratt died in 1892, bequeathing his right, title, and interest in two farms in the townland of Ballymoney to his son William Spratt, and bequeathing property in Newtownards to his daughters. William became owner in fee under land purchase legislation in 1894. The 1901 census records William Spratt as farmer and occupier, with his two sisters employed as housekeeper and assistant housekeeper. Spratt employed two resident farm labourers. The house is recorded as having three windows to the front façade and seven rooms, with numerous outbuildings including three cow houses and two piggeries. By the 1911 census, the farm had not substantially changed, though fewer outbuildings are listed and only a single farm labourer, from Scotland, was employed. Both censuses state that the house was roofed with perishable material, most likely thatch. The farm remains uncaptioned on historic maps but is captioned "Beech Hill" on modern maps. A new house has been built on the plot in recent times, and the old farmhouse is now unused.