Manor Farm, 106 Moat Street, Donaghadee, Co Down, BT21 0ED

Manor Farm is a largely two-storey farm complex situated to the south of Moat Street, north-west of Donaghadee town centre, County Down. It consists of a rubble-built quadrangle dating mainly from around 1840 to 1865, containing a dwelling house and outbuildings, together with additional rubble and brick-built outbuildings to the north, probably dating from around 1860 to 1880. The farm originally belonged to the landlords of Donaghadee, the De la Cherois (also recorded as Delacherois) family. It ceased operating as a working farm around 1990. The outbuildings to the north are now occupied by a yacht repair business, and one small former outbuilding has been converted to a dwelling.

THE QUADRANGLE

To the south side of the complex is the original farm quadrangle. It is two storeys on the north, east and west sides, and single storey on the south. The east and west wings are likely the oldest parts, as structures are shown on their sites on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834. The south wing appears on the 1858 map. The north wing, which is set at a slight angle (a squint) relative to the rest of the quadrangle and contains the main portion of the farm dwelling, is probably the newest section, likely dating from around 1860. Ordnance Survey evidence suggests that a building of slightly different orientation occupied this site by 1858 to 1860, implying the present north wing is a later rebuild, perhaps from the early 1860s.

North Wing — Outer (North-Facing) Façade

The outer north-facing façade of the north wing is built in rubble and partly covered in creeping plant growth. To the left on the ground floor is a mainly glazed gabled porch. On the east face of the porch is a panelled door, with mullioned and transomed windows to the right of the door and to the other faces of the porch, some of which are top-hung. The lower half of the porch is rendered, the gable is timber-sheeted, and the roof is slated. To the left of the porch is a sash window with Georgian panes in an 8 over 8 arrangement. Directly above this at first-floor level is a similar but smaller window in a 6 over 6 arrangement, with an identical window to the right of this (directly above the porch) and another at ground-floor level to the far right of the porch. At the left-hand (east) end of this wing, where it meets the east wing, the façade is bevelled and a tall chimney rises from eaves level. Close to the right-hand end are two very small ground-floor openings set at a high level. The west gable of the north wing has an upper-level loft doorway, now without its door. The gable is topped with a stone bellcote with weathervane; the bell has been removed and was apparently given to Millisle Presbyterian Church.

North Wing — Inner (South-Facing) Façade

The inner south-facing façade of the north wing has three large former vehicle archways to the left side at ground-floor level, all with brick dressings. The first archway (from the left) is now largely blocked up in brick; the second is half-blocked in brick to form a pedestrian door; the third has two pedestrian doors inserted into it. Between the second and third openings is an original pedestrian doorway with a timber-sheeted stable door. To the right of the third archway is a similar door with a fanlight, and to the right of that is a more modern-looking window opening, with both the door and window belonging to the dwelling. At first-floor level there are five similarly sized window openings. The first and fourth are blocked but fitted with a large diamond-pattern vent; the second and third are frameless; and the fifth, belonging to the dwelling, has a sash frame with Georgian panes in a 6 over 6 arrangement.

West Wing

The west wing is a large two-storey outbuilding. It is not physically connected to the north wing; a gateway with wrought-iron gates sits between the gable of the north wing and the right-hand end of the inner (east-facing) façade of the west wing. The outer façade of the west wing could not be fully observed, but much of it appears to be single storey, the building having an uneven gable, with some window openings to the two-storey right-hand (south) side. The north gable has an upper-level loft door and a ground-floor window, now largely blocked, with brick dressings to both openings. The south gable was obscured by heavy plant growth. The east-facing inner façade has five large windows at ground-floor level, now largely filled with timber boarding. To the right of the first window (from the left) is a large segmental-arched vehicle doorway without doors. Between the fourth and fifth windows is a timber-sheeted pedestrian door with a three-pane fanlight. At first-floor level are six window openings of similar size to those on the ground floor. The first, third, fourth, and sixth windows are bricked up but fitted with diamond-pattern vents matching those on the south façade of the north wing. All openings on this façade have brick dressings. At the far left edge, the façade is abutted by the single-storey south wing.

East Wing

The east wing is two storeys and contains much of the dwelling, with an outbuilding to the south end. The outer east-facing façade is slightly lower at its left-hand (south) end. This end is almost entirely covered by a large and mainly open lean-to shed with a corrugated iron roof. To the left of the lean-to is a timber-sheeted door. To the right of the lean-to, on the taller dwelling section, there is a recently inserted French window, with three sash windows to its right, all with Georgian panes in an 8 over 8 arrangement. At first-floor level, to the left above the French window, there is a small sash window in a 4 over 4 arrangement, then two windows matching those on the ground floor, then a tall narrow stairwell window with a pointed arch head and a gothick traceried frame, then a small window with a modern frame.

The inner west-facing façade of the east wing has a blocked former window opening at ground-floor left, with another at first-floor left. To the right, at ground-floor level, is a sash window matching those on the east façade. Directly above at first floor is a smaller plain sash window. To the right of these windows is the lower outbuilding section. On the left side of this section a stone stair with rendered sides leads to an upper-level timber-sheeted door. To the right of the stair at ground-floor level is a small window opening now covered in corrugated iron. To the right again is a similar-sized opening, now blocked, and to the far right is a doorway with a wrought-iron gate. At first-floor level, to the right of the doorway, is a large blocked opening set beneath a small gable, and to the right of that is a similar-sized opening with louvering.

South Wing

The long south wing is single storey with a mono-pitched roof. The outer south-facing façade could not be observed but appears to be covered in heavy plant growth. On the inner north-facing façade there are two timber-sheeted stable doors to the left, then a four-pane window, then two more stable doors with a small window to the far right. A doorway between the first two left-hand doors has been blocked, with another blocked opening to the right of the second door.

Materials and Roofs

The entire quadrangle is built in random fieldstone rubble, with brick dressings to many openings and sandstone headers to some. A small section of the east façade of the east wing is rendered. The largely gabled roofs are slated. The dwelling section has two tall chimney stacks: one at the bevelled north-east corner, rendered, and the other to the south of it in brick.

OUTBUILDINGS TO THE NORTH

To the north of the quadrangle is a large collection of outbuildings, all post-dating around 1860, all largely built in rubble with brick dressings and slated gabled roofs. Compared to the quadrangle, these buildings have a slightly sharper, fresher appearance. The entire group (excluding the mid-to-late 20th century corrugated iron sheds) is shown on the 1901 Ordnance Survey town plan of Donaghadee.

The largest building in this northern collection lies directly north of the quadrangle and is two storeys. At its north end is a double-gabled section with gables facing out onto the long east and west elevations; to the west is a formerly open single-storey shed section. The long west façade has an even line of windows and doors at ground-floor level, with a row of loft doorways at first-floor level. The loft doorways have timber-sheeted doors with two small hole openings to each. At ground-floor level the openings are largely timber-sheeted, with the windows boarded to their lower halves and with six Georgian panes to the upper half. To the far left is a large timber-sheeted pedestrian door, with a further large doorway to its right, now partly blocked up. At first-floor level to the far left a large corrugated iron-clad link stretches between this building and another two-storey outbuilding to the west. The south gable is blank. The north façade, being the north face of the double-gabled end section, has three boarded-over window openings at ground-floor level and three windows with recent-looking frames at first-floor level. Most of the east façade is covered by a long single-storey gabled shed that was originally fully open but whose sides have been largely boarded up in recent times, though its cast-iron supporting columns remain exposed. To the far right are the east gables of the double-gabled end section. At ground-floor level in this section a large vehicle doorway has been largely blocked up in brick. To the right of this is a pedestrian doorway with a recent metal-sheeted door, then a large window with a recent frame, and to the far right a former vehicle doorway now filled with a large mainly glazed door screen. At first-floor level are two large loft openings, the left-hand one retaining its timber-sheeted door, while the right-hand one has been fitted with a recent-looking window. Between these openings is a small roundel opening.

To the north-west of this large outbuilding is a slightly smaller outbuilding, also in rubble and brick with a slated gabled roof. Its south side has a series of openings similar to those on the larger building, with loft doorways at first-floor level and a combination of mainly pedestrian doors and windows at ground-floor level. Two of the upper-floor doorways are now blocked in brick with diamond-pattern vents, while a ground-floor opening is largely filled in breeze block. To the right at first-floor level is a vehicle doorway with a recent metal sliding door. The north façade of this building is abutted by a large corrugated iron shed structure. Two upper-floor window openings are visible on this side, both now blocked in brick with diamond-pattern vents.

To the south of this outbuilding is a small single-storey dwelling house that was originally another outbuilding, converted and extended in recent times (around 1998). The original section is in stone and brick, while a later extension to the north side is wholly in brick. To the west of this dwelling house is a long narrow single-storey building that may have been a piggery; this building appears to have been much altered over the years, with large sections rebuilt in breeze block. To the far east end of the site there are large, relatively recent corrugated iron sheds.