30 Scarva Street, Loughbrickland, Co Down, BT32 3NH

30 Scarva Street, Loughbrickland

An asymmetrical two-storey three-bay semi-detached house built circa 1850, located on the west side of Scarva Street in the centre of Loughbrickland. The building is Grade B2 listed.

The house has a rectangular plan with a full-height return and single-storey mono-pitched extension to the rear. The pitched natural slate roof features blue and black angled ridge tiles and rendered chimneystacks with terracotta pots. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods are mounted on drive-in brackets. The external walls are painted render.

The principal elevation faces north-east with two windows to the first floor. To the left of centre at ground floor is a four-panelled timber door with geometrically designed overlight, accessed via two stone steps. A pair of 6/6 timber sliding sash windows with margin panes flank the entrance door. Windows throughout the property are a mixture of replacement double-glazed timber sliding sashes with horns and exposed sash boxes, timber casements, and uPVC windows, all set on projecting granite sills.

The south-east gable contains two 4/4 timber sliding sash windows to the first floor and one to the ground floor left. The rear south-west elevation has an 8/8 uPVC stairwell window to the left, adjacent to the full-height return. The return comprises a 6/6 timber sliding sash window to the first floor and a 6/3 with margins to the ground floor right at the south-east elevation. The north-west elevation has two uPVC windows to the ground floor left and a modern timber door to the ground floor right. The south-west gable is abutted at ground floor by a modern mono-pitched extension of no architectural interest.

The setting comprises a boundary wall of smooth rendered finish with coping stones topped by modern metal railings. To the left of centre, a modern metal gate provides access to a tarmacadamed yard to the front. The south-east gable and return face onto the road. An enclosed paved yard occupies the rear, accessed from the south via a large modern metal gate. A two-storey rubble stone outbuilding stands to the south-west. The house has group value with the adjoining building at 32 Scarva Street, though both have been similarly altered in recent years and much historic fabric has been lost, compromising original character. The pair nonetheless remains significant in the locale and retains sufficient architectural interest to represent a good example of small village houses of this period in a good setting, alongside other buildings of note in Loughbrickland.

Historical context

The house is one of a semi-detached pair constructed around 1850 on the site of earlier thatched buildings recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 and in the Townland Valuation of 1828-40. At that period, the property comprised a house, offices and yard valued at £3.8 shillings, described with dimensions for both the main house and single-storey return, both thatched. The tenant undertook repairs himself and the property was held year to year.

By Griffith's Valuation, the valuation had risen to £14, indicating a rebuild or remodelling. The house was then listed as a single dwelling and recorded as slated, with the tenant John McKean leasing from John Barclay. From at least 1893, Dr William Tweedy occupied the house and used some rooms for his general medical practice. By 1903, when both dwellings were valued separately at £4 each, some remodelling may have been undertaken to divide the two houses.

Early twentieth-century tenants included several police constables: Constable Sproule (1903), Bernard Sands (1905), Ramsay (1908), and Elizabeth Hudson (1910). The 1911 census records Elizabeth Hudson, a 63-year-old widow, living in the house with Joseph S Boyd, a national school teacher. Subsequent occupants through 1929 included Sarah J McKain (1920), William Ledlie (1921), Mary J Thomas (1924), Constable Horace Thompson (1925), Constable R D Lennon (1927), and George Carson (1929). The McAvoy family leased the property for several years up to 1957.

In the First General Revaluation, the house was valued at £12.10 shillings, reduced on appeal to £11, with £1.10 shillings for agricultural buildings. As with many village properties, the house included a plot of land outside the village area. The rent was £18 per annum plus taxes, with accommodation comprising two reception rooms, three bedrooms, a kitchen, scullery, and pantry. The lease was stated to run for 934 years from 1857, a plausible construction date for the house itself. The semi-detached pair was purchased in 1930 for £590.

A 1935 inspection noted a stove and flagged floor in the kitchen. The property included outbuildings with stabling, a byre, lofts, an outdoor toilet, and refuse pit. The house continues in use as a domestic dwelling.