Carnew Cottage, 107 Katesbridge Road, Dromara, Co Down, BT32 5HA

Carnew Cottage is a symmetrical one-and-a-half storey three-bay gentleman's residence built around 1820, located on the east side of Katesbridge Road approximately half a mile south of the junction with Enagh Road near Dromara.

The house is rectangular in plan form with additions to the sides and rear dating to around 1990. It has a pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles, smooth rendered chimneys with moulded cornices and clay pots, and aluminium rainwater goods. The walls are finished in ruled-and-lined rendered finish with long-and-short quoins. The windows are replacement double-glazed timber sliding sash windows with masonry cills and plain stucco reveals.

The principal elevation faces east and is symmetrically arranged. The entrance comprises a stucco voussoired segmental arched opening with long-and-short surrounds to cill level of the sidelights, a replacement panelled front door, and modern sidelights and fan light. A central door is positioned with single windows either side. Modern roof lights sit on the front roof pitch.

The left gable is abutted by a modern single-storey gabled extension with timber casement windows, with diminutive windows at attic level either side. The rear elevation is abutted by a modern one-and-a-half storey return with matching eaves and ridge level, featuring a dormer window to the right cheek with a segmental arched window and door opening at ground floor level. The gable contains two ground floor segmental arched windows with two first floor square-headed windows directly above. A single-storey pitched roof porch with a single window and door abuts the left cheek. The right gable is abutted by a single-storey gabled replacement bay with single and paired windows, with diminutive attic windows either side.

The house sits prominently on an elevated site overlooking the surrounding rural landscape. The entrance to the site is addressed by a replacement wall. A terraced garden lies to the front with a yard to the rear containing a linear range of outbuildings. These outbuildings have natural slate roofs and partially galletted masonry to the lower level rising to random rubble, with red brick surrounds to openings and a bricked central portion laid to English garden wall bond, with unfinished timber sheeted openings.

The building was first recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, depicting the current one-and-a-half storey Georgian house and a single-storey barn to its west side. In the 1830s, the cottage was occupied by William Crosby Esquire, described as a Gentleman, and was valued at £6 15s in the Townland Valuations. By 1861, Carnew Cottage had passed to William Meeke, a local farmer, who leased the site from Andrew Cowan, a local landowner. Griffith's Valuation of 1861 valued the cottage at £7, with Meeke subletting three small houses on his land to other tenants, though these minor dwellings were subsequently demolished.

William Meeke Senior continued to reside at Carnew Cottage until his death around 1879, when his son William Braidy Meeke took possession. In 1885, the value of Carnew Cottage was raised to £7 10s, possibly due to the construction of an additional small outbuilding to the south of the single-storey barn between the second and third editions of the Ordnance Survey maps (1859 and 1903).

The 1901 Census recorded William Meeke aged 49 (Presbyterian) residing at Carnew Cottage with his widowed mother Rachel, his wife Martha Jane, and their children. The census building return described the cottage as a second-class dwelling consisting of nine rooms and possessing a stable, cow house, piggery, dairy, and barn amongst its out offices in the outbuildings to the west. By 1911, the census building return noted the cottage consisted of only four main rooms.

In 1915, William Meeke purchased Carnew Cottage from the estate of Andrew Cowan and continued to reside there until his death in 1932, when his widow Martha took over possession.

The building was listed in 1977. The First Survey image notes that the cottage formerly possessed a single-storey lean-to extension abutting the north side of the dwelling, which was replaced around 2000 when extensions were added to the sides of the house and a one-and-a-half-storey return was constructed to the rear. This work resulted from discussions in the late 1990s. Following planning consent for restoration and extension, the interior was completely stripped out, leading to a partial collapse. A compromise was eventually reached and an alternative scheme was accepted. In recent years, a large modern shed has been erected to the north-west of the site.

The building no longer retains sufficient historic authenticity and integrity to meet the statutory and policy tests as a building of special architectural or historic interest. Very little of the original historic fabric survives; the exterior detailing has been altered, the interior has been completely changed with little historic reference to the original building, and the setting has been compromised by changes to the landscaping.