29-31 Glenloughan Road, Scarva, Craigavon, Co Down, BT63 6NQ

A linear group of three single-storey, two-bay direct-entry vernacular dwellings with outbuildings, built before 1833 and located at the end of a long lane to the north side of Glenloughan Road, west of Banbridge. The buildings are of historic and architectural interest as an example of a vernacular group, and much of the original character and setting have survived, though they are not among the finest examples of the type.

All three dwellings are rectangular on plan. The dwelling to the west has a windbreak porch to the front and a modern return to the rear. All three have corrugated metal roofs and cast-iron half-round rainwater goods. Chimneysstacks are of varying red-brick and rendered materials with raised stone verge to the west gable. The walling is painted roughcast render. Windows are mainly 1/1 timber sliding sash in contrasting reveals with projecting painted sills; some modern timber casement windows are present to the rear.

The principal elevation faces north. The dwelling to the centre has a timber-sheeted door to the left of centre, with 1/1 windows to left and right; the east and west gables are abutted by adjoining buildings. The south elevation has three windows. The dwelling to the west has a windbreak porch to the left containing a modern timber door, with two windows to the right; the east gable is abutted by the adjoining building. The south elevation has a tripartite modern casement window to the right and a 1/1 window to the left, abutted to the left of centre by the modern return. The west gable is blank. The east gable of the easternmost dwelling was not viewed.

The group is situated at the end of a long lane north of Glenloughan Road, accessed by a mud track leading to a yard. A modern concrete outbuilding stands to the west of the lane. The linear group of dwellings with a single-storey outbuilding to the north is enclosed by a roughcast rendered wall with coping stones. To the centre are two square roughcast rendered gate piers with pointed caps supporting original wrought-iron field gates, leading to an inner yard in front of the house. To the rear is a lawned garden with mature trees, bounded to the lane by a modern timber fence. A square rendered gate-pier and wall mark the entrance at the rear return. Rubble stone and lime-rendered outbuildings to the north have corrugated metal roofs and openings to the south; the west gable is partially of red-brick and has a timber-sheeted door at the left.

The three dwellings are shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, set in a rural agricultural landscape to the east of Scarva that has changed little since, except for the construction of a branch-line railway between Scarva and Banbridge in 1859. Outbuildings to the north are also shown on the first edition and have survived to the present day. A return to the rear of the westernmost dwelling does not appear until the Ordnance Survey map editions of the 1960s–70s.

The buildings did not reach the valuation threshold for inclusion in the Townland Valuation (1828–40) but are listed in Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), all leased from the same landlord, the Reverend J H M Johnson. Working from west to east, the first house, valued at 10 shillings, was set in an acre of land and occupied by Edward Goodfellow. The second, valued at 15 shillings, was leased by Daniel Small. The third, part of a farm of 13 acres, was the home of Bridget Burns with a valuation of £1 5 shillings.

The 1901 and 1911 censuses reveal that the two dwelling houses inhabited at that stage were thatched, and the earlier 1901 census suggests the walls were of perishable material such as mud or wood. By 1911 both houses are recorded as stone, brick or concrete, although still thatched. Each dwelling had three rooms in 1901; by 1911 Daniel Small's house had acquired a further room. Daniel Small was a farmer living with his wife and four children, the oldest of whom worked as a farm labourer. A 6-year-old nephew also resided there. In the second dwelling lived Patrick Byrnes and his sister, both in their seventies, with their niece, 35-year-old widow Susan Conlon, who was a domestic servant. Patrick Byrnes was unable to write and made his mark on the census form. By 1911 Daniel Small's two eldest sons were working on the railway and his younger son as a general labourer. The second house was occupied by William Joseph Lavery, a farmer, and his 22-year-old sister who worked as a seamstress.

Over the ensuing years changes in occupier occurred, but by 1921 Daniel Small had become the occupier of all three dwellings. In 1922 he became the owner under land purchase legislation introduced in the early twentieth century. The First General Revaluation of 1933–34 lists three dwellings on the site, all the property of Daniel, then James P Small, all now roofed in corrugated iron. Working from west to east, the first dwelling remained in use as a house and was revalued at £2 10 shillings, plus 5 shillings for agricultural outbuildings. The accommodation comprised two bedrooms and a kitchen with a scullery extension of concrete block construction. The next dwelling was no longer inhabited and was revalued as an agricultural outbuilding at 15 shillings. In 1946 it was renovated for use as a dwelling, valued at £2 8 shillings. The occupier was Ellen McArdle, followed by Jean Mulligan from 1953. The accommodation was a kitchen and one room with a rent of 2 shillings per week, later raised to 6 shillings. The easternmost dwelling was also in use as an agricultural outbuilding valued at £1 5 shillings, with accommodation comprising a parlour, kitchen and bedroom with an attached outbuilding. In 1946 the house was renovated and used as a dwelling once more, revalued at £3 10 shillings with a rent of 3 shillings per week. A concrete block outbuilding was added to the site in 1946 and appears to have survived to the present day.