2 Marlacoo Road, Hamiltonsbawn, Co Armagh

2 Marlacoo Road, Hamiltonsbawn

This is a single storey, gabled, three bay lobby entry vernacular house built in the late 18th century, positioned prominently in the centre of Hamiltonsbawn. It is an increasingly rare example of a detached urban vernacular dwelling and remains largely unchanged externally, with the original interior layout preserved including the hearth jamb walls intact and an interesting mix of vernacular and more classical detailing.

The walls are rendered and covered with layers of lime wash. The front elevation faces south and is asymmetric, with two windows to the right and one to the left of a projecting porch with curved walls and a monopitch corrugated iron roof. The door is flush and painted. All windows are similar 1/1 timber sliding sash with painted stone sills. The west gable has a single timber window at attic level. The east gable features a single storey lean-to rendered store with a steel faced flush door and a small three paned steel window to the left. The rear elevation of this lean-to has a similar three paned steel window and a 3/3 top hung window. At attic level there is a closed up square window opening to the right. The rear elevation of the main house has an off centre flush door with a single 6/6 timber sliding sash window to the left with stone sill and two windows to the right, one top hung and the other a fixed light. The roof is covered in corrugated iron and there are three rendered chimney stacks, one at each gable and a third serving the main hearth.

The house sits roadside and has a substantial grassed garden to the north and west with a rendered boundary wall and some mature trees. To the rear is a large rectangular open fronted shed with cast iron columns and corrugated sheeting to the walls. A further single storey outbuilding stood to the east but was demolished in 2007.

A dwelling is shown on this site on a series of Hamilton and Gosford estate maps of Hamiltonsbawn dating from circa 1700, 1722, 1785, 1817 and circa 1820, and a building also appears on John Rocque's County Armagh survey of 1760. On the circa 1700 map a single storey gabled dwelling is depicted in the general area, seemingly set back from the road side. Similar buildings appear on the maps of 1722 and 1785 set close to the road side, with a simple block representing a dwelling shown in the same location on that of 1817, and a gabled structure on that of circa 1820. On the 1785 and circa 1820 maps another building is shown attached to the eastern side of the house; on the latter map this structure is clearly set forward from the line of its neighbour, a position occupied until recently by an outbuilding. On the same map the tenant is marked as Will Greer. A tenant of the same name, most likely a descendant, is also recorded in the valuation of 1861. Continuity of occupation supports the idea of continuity of built forms.

The house appears on a circa 1834 valuation plan of Hamiltonsbawn and both it and the attached outbuilding are shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1835. The property is not recorded in the near contemporary first valuation, as it was below rateable value. In the second valuation of 1861 William Grier, possibly the son of the Will Greer of circa 1820, is noted as the occupant with the rateable value of the dwelling and outbuilding £3 10s. John Robert Grier took over the tenancy in 1874. In 1902 the annotation "all down" appears in the valuation book. At first glance this would seem to imply a complete demolition; however the more detailed valuer's office notebook, which documents in detail any changes to buildings that would have affected their rateable value, does not support this. It merely records an "old house" with a thatched roof and mud walls measuring 49 feet by 19 by 11 feet, and a rubble masonry slated roof outbuilding measuring 51 by 16 by 12 feet, dimensions which match those of the present structures. Demolition is not corroborated by map evidence either, as there is no discernible change in the footprint or positioning of either building after 1902. Observations made on site suggest that the phrase "all down" is likely to be a reference to the dismantling of the roof structure and its replacement with a new one, and perhaps some internal changes, for the present roof is made up of corrugated iron on machined timbers. John Robert Grier acquired the freehold in 1904. The house remained in the hands of his descendants until at least 1957. The outbuilding was demolished in early 2007.