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

32 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 has been refurbished in recent years, resulting in the loss of much historic fabric and compromise to its original character, though it retains sufficient interest to represent a good example of small village houses from this period. The house has group value with the adjoining building (HB17/03/010A), which has undergone similar alterations.

The house has a rectangular plan with a two-storey hipped return and a single-storey flat-roof porch to the rear. The roof is pitched natural slate with blue and black angled ridge tiles and rendered chimneystacks with terracotta pots. Rainwater goods are cast-iron half-round on drive-in brackets. The walling is painted smooth render.

The principal north-east elevation faces the street and features two 6/3 timber sliding sash windows to the first floor. The ground floor has a four-panelled timber door with a geometrically designed overlight to the left, and a 6/6 timber sliding sash window to the right. Windows are a mixture of replacement double-glazed timber sliding sash with horns and exposed sash boxes, and uPVC windows, all set on projecting granite sills.

The south-east elevation is abutted by the adjoining building. The north-west rear elevation has a diminutive six-pane uPVC window to the right at first floor level. A two-storey hip-roofed return abuts the left side, with uPVC windows at first and ground floor level; the left cheek is blank, and the right cheek is abutted by a single-storey flat-roof porch incorporating a modern timber door. The north-east gable has a diminutive window to the right at first floor level.

The house is set back from the street behind a smooth rendered boundary wall with coping stones topped by modern metal railings. A modern metal gate to the left provides access to a tarmacadamed yard to the front. A wrought-iron gate to the north gable encloses a side yard. An enclosed paved yard to the rear, accessed via a large modern metal gate from the south, has no defined boundary to the neighbouring property; a high smooth rendered wall forms the north-west boundary. A two-storey rubble stone outbuilding stands to the south-west.

Historical Context

The present semi-detached pair was built around 1850 on the site of earlier thatched buildings documented on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 and in the Townland Valuation of 1828–40. Number 30 is listed in that valuation as the residence of William Thompson, valued at £3.8s, comprising a house, offices and yard with thatched roof and single-storey return. Number 32 was exempted as not being deemed of sufficient value at that time.

By Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), the valuation had risen to £14, indicating a rebuild or remodel. The house was then listed as a single dwelling and was slated rather than thatched. The tenant was recorded as leasing from John Barclay.

From at least 1893, Dr William Tweedy was a resident of the house and used some of its rooms for his general medical practice. From 1903, the two dwellings are listed separately at £4 each, suggesting some remodelling took place at that stage to divide them. Dr Tweedy was succeeded by Mary Cromie in 1908, listed in the 1911 census as a 71-year-old widow. Subsequent residents included Mary Turley (1916), Constable Anthony Ruddy (1919), Margaret Ledlie, William O'Keefe (1938), William Collins (1942), William Corbett (1943) and Eugene Maguire (1952).

At the First General Revaluation of 1933–34, the house was valued at £10, lowered to £8 on appeal, with £1.10s for agricultural buildings. The semi-detached pair was purchased in 1930 for £590. The house came with a plot of land outside the village area, with rent at £18 per annum plus taxes. The accommodation comprised a reception room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a scullery housed in a return. The lease was said to run for 934 years from 1857, suggesting that date as the likely construction period.

The house continues in domestic use. It remains one of a significant pair of village buildings in Loughbrickland, with enough character retained to hold local and architectural interest.