Islet Hill Farm, 21 Bangor Road, Groomsport, Co Down, BT19 6JF

Islet Hill Farm is a symmetrical two-storey three-bay farmhouse with attic, built circa 1835, located on an elevated site to the north side of Bangor Road west of Groomsport, County Down. The house stands on farmland with views over Groomsport to the east and the Copeland Islands to the northeast.

The farmhouse is rectangular on plan with a single-storey rear return and associated outbuildings. The roof is pitched natural slate with angled ridge tiles, cement rendered skews, and ruled-and-lined cement rendered chimneystacks to the gables, finished with octagonal clay pots. Rainwater goods are uPVC on a timber eaves board. The walls are ruled-and-lined cement render throughout.

Windows are timber sliding sashes with plain reveals and painted masonry cills. Those to the ground floor of the principal elevation are 1/1 sashes set within arched recesses. The first floor and east elevation windows are 8/1 with diminished top panes. West elevation windows are 1/1. Rear windows are mostly 6/6 of various sizes, with 8/1 to the ground floor left. The front door is narrow with four raised-and-fielded panels, cast-iron knocker and knob, surmounted by a radial fanlight with hub. The door is set in a painted masonry surround with corniced imposts and keystone, details that elevate the farmhouse above vernacular status and demonstrate the influence of polite architecture.

The principal elevation faces south and is symmetrically arranged with three openings to each floor flanking the central entrance. The west elevation has a first floor window to the left side and a small plain glazed attic window. The ground floor is abutted by a corrugated tin roofed lean-to outbuilding. The rear elevation is abutted by the single storey return, with irregular fenestration including a mid-level stairwell window. The return contains various multi-pane replacement timber casement windows and a half-glazed replacement timber door. The east elevation has a window to each main floor.

The setting is of particular significance. The house sits on an elevated side surrounded by farmland. To the rear is a gravelled courtyard enclosed to north and west by two storey outbuildings which have been extensively renovated. The front of the house is bounded by a rubble stone garden wall with a small iron gate on circular rubble stone piers to the south end. The house is accessed by a long farm lane from the south.

Historical background

A house was first built on this site circa 1790. The land, comprising fifty-seven acres and one rood, was let to the Agnew family from 1731. A lease dated 16 October 1787 between the landowner Sir John Blackwood and farmer John Agnew contained a covenant requiring the construction of a 'sufficient dwelling house of stones and mortar' 60 feet in length and 8 feet high and thatched by 1791. The Townland Valuation records a building of approximately this size, valued at £3 17 shillings.

Two simple rectangular structures are shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833. The Townland Valuation (1828–40) notes a 'house in progress of building' with dimensions of 38 by 27 by 17 feet—the current building. The former house was converted to use as outbuildings, and map evidence suggests that the range of outbuildings currently to the rear of the house may contain surviving historic fabric from the original dwelling.

James Clarke purchased the farm at auction in 1832 from Patrick and James Agnew and built the new house. On the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1858), the house is captioned 'Islet Hill', and it is listed by this name in Griffith's Valuation (1856–64). At that time Ellen Clarke was the occupier and the property was leased from Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye, with a valuation increasing from £12 to £16.

The house remained in the Clarke family until 1886 when John Robb became owner. The property had been sold at auction in 1882 and an advertisement in the Newtownards Chronicle for March 1882 recorded the farm as comprising about 79 acres plus one coastguard house, with 12 let cottages. The farm also had two lime kilns and the right to collect seaweed along its coastal perimeter. John Robb was proprietor of Robb's Department Store, Castle Place, Belfast, a successful wholesale and retail silk mercer and woollen-draper. Samuel Kingan became lessor in 1894 and occupier in 1906.

A trapdoor was discovered during kitchen ceiling repairs by Denis Payne; it provided the only entrance to a servant's bedroom and would have been accessed via a 'monkey ladder' in front of the range.

During the Second World War, four gun emplacements were built between the farmhouse and the shore, with Nissen huts erected nearby to accommodate approximately 150 men, intended to defend the entrance to Belfast Lough against naval attack. During the 1950s, an underground bunker functioning as an observation post was constructed on the gun site by the Observer Corps. In 1957, the Nissen huts were used as a transit camp for refugees from the Hungarian uprising.

The extent of listing includes the house, garden wall, garden gate and piers. The property also holds status as a monument.