Yard to rear of 51 Downpatrick Street, Accessed from Caddell's lane, Rathfriland, Co Down, BT34

Yard to rear of 51 Downpatrick Street, Rathfriland

A set of stone outbuildings enclosing a cobbled yard, accessed from Caddell's Lane. The complex consists of two main structures aligned west to east, with the outbuildings little altered and very attractive. Together with the house at 51 Downpatrick Street, they have high group value.

The front outbuilding fronting Caddell's Lane is two storeys with a pitched natural slate roof. Its front walls are line rendered and painted, continuing from the north wall of the adjacent house. At ground floor left is a pair of large tongue-and-groove doors filling a flat-headed vehicle entrance leading to the yard, with conical granite wheel stones to each jamb. To the centre at ground floor is a tongue-and-groove sheeted door. The street level rises to the right, obscuring part of the ground floor at the west end. At first floor are three tongue-and-groove sheeted doors, two in line with the ground floor openings and the third at the right end, with beam and pulley block above. The left (east) gable abuts the house gable; the right (west) gable is blank.

The rear (south) elevation is partly abutted at its centre and left by an open lean-to canopy with cast iron posts and corrugated iron roof. Within the canopy is a modern rendered blockwork shed with metal window and modern door. The remainder of the rear elevation is rubble stone painted, with (from left to right): a sheeted half door, a fixed two-paned window, a sheeted half door, a fixed two-paned window, and a vehicle entrance with timber beam overhead. Within the coachway are two small fixed windows and wall recesses on the right to accommodate the doors from the street when open. A hatch in the timber ceiling allows loading into the sugar loft above. At first floor, over the second doorway is a sheeted loading door with cantilevered timber platform. A second smaller loading door sits over the coachway at the right.

The yard is paved with rounded irregular cobbles, which have lifted in places. The west boundary is enclosed by a high painted and dashed rubble stone wall with an infilled coachway that once led to a rear paddock (now in separate ownership). The east end is enclosed by the blank rendered rear wall of No. 53 Downpatrick Street. The rear (north) boundary contains a modern lean-to stable of no architectural interest.

The rear outbuilding at the east end of the yard is two storeys, abutting the rear of No. 53. It has a pitched natural slate roof hipped to the abutting end, with eaves level below that of No. 53. A small wall head gablet to the centre of the yard elevation contains a cantilevered pulley wheel. Plastic rainwater goods are fitted throughout. The walls are lime rendered and painted with contrasting painted basecourse and advanced eaves course.

At ground floor, eight openings are arranged across the yard elevation. The second, fourth and seventh are timber half doors (the fourth now disused). The remaining openings are a pair of side-sliding six-paned windows (the eighth is missing and the left two are modern replicas), all with painted granite cills. At first floor, seven openings are arranged symmetrically about the gablet. The second, fourth and sixth are timber sheeted loading doors; the remainder are 2 x 4 paned side-sliding windows with granite cills. The right gable is partially abutted at ground floor by a mono-pitched stable block of no architectural interest and is otherwise blank except for a two-paned fixed window at first floor. The rear is completely abutted by a two-storey return to No. 53.

The outbuilding fronting Caddell's Lane dates from the mid-19th century, first appearing on the 1860 large-scale town map but not on the 1834 Valuation map. The rear outbuilding on the south side of the yard dates from 1881.

The listing extends to the outbuildings, boundary walls and cobbled paving.