Farmhouse, Mid Island, Greyabbey, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22

Farmhouse at Mid Island, Greyabbey

A long, single storey vernacular farmhouse of probable pre-1834 construction, situated on the north-east corner of Mid Island, a small wooded island just off the eastern shore of Strangford Lough west of Greyabbey. The island is attached to the mainland by a narrow rocky causeway.

The house is well preserved and built of rubble finished with roughcast and whitewash. The front façade, north-east gable, return and left side of the rear are roughcast finished; the remainder of the façade is painted except for the south-east gable. The gabled roofs are covered with roughly hewn Tullycavey slates on the main house and Bangor blue slates on the return. The main house has stone parapets and two rendered chimney stacks, with cast iron rainwater goods.

The front elevation faces roughly north-east and is asymmetrical. To the right of centre is a timber-sheeted house door with a sash window with horizontal astragals to the right and two to the left. To the left of the far left window are two plain timber-sheeted doors leading to byre or store areas. A further plain timber-sheeted door is positioned to the far right of the front elevation, presumably to another store room; above this door the roof level drops roughly 0.3 metres in stepped fashion. The north-west and south-east gables are blank.

To the rear is a small single storey gabled return with a sash window containing Georgian panes, and a rendered projection supporting a small iron water tank. A timber stable door is positioned to the south-east side of the return. To the right of the return is a small modern lean-to boiler-house and a tiny boarded window. To the left of the return is a sash window with a small boarded window opening to the far right at the rear of the stepped section. A small rubble-built outbuilding stands a few metres to the south-west of the main building, with foundation evidence suggesting it was once longer.

The house appears on the Ordnance Survey Map of 1834, corresponding with the building visible today. It was known as 'Jack McAvoy's farmhouse', named after a local man who lived there for much of the twentieth century. The property was formerly part of the Rosemount estate and was used as the Mid Island gamekeeper's residence. It is now owned by the National Trust.