Stone walling, Main Street, Armoy, Ballymoney, County Antrim

Stone walling on Main Street, Armoy

A long curving stretch of low rubble-built walling, possibly dating from the early to mid 1800s, which runs along much of the east side of Main Street in Armoy. The walling encloses the street from the steep river bank of the Bush River on the opposite side. It stretches from the end of Church Street in the south and curves in a north-east direction, ending some metres before the junction of Main Street and Drones Road.

The wall is relatively low, roughly 1 metre or less in height, and is constructed of random rubble with a rough rubble parapet. A significant portion at the south end has been reconstructed in relatively recent years, possibly the mid to later 1990s, using squared rubble. Close to the north end of the wall there is a small gap allowing pedestrian access to steps leading down to a path running alongside the river. A recently laid footpath made up of small square-ish paving stones runs alongside the wall.

The village of Armoy came into being in the latter half of the 18th century, its growth spurred on by the granting of a patent for toll-free fairs around 1780. According to later Ordnance Survey Memoirs, prior to this there were only 2 or 3 cabins on the roadside. The village is marked on Taylor's and Skinner's map of 1777 and John Lendrick's map of 1780. By the 1830s, Armoy largely consisted of rows of houses fringing the west side of the present Main Street, then part of the road from Ballymena to Ballycastle. The 1835 Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe the village as consisting of 43 houses, twenty of which were two-storey, with the settlement 'improving' and many 'good 2-storey houses…lately built'. The village population remained modest, numbering about 250 in 1835 and rising to just over 300 by the 1880s, remaining at that level into the early 1900s.

The exact date of the walling on the east side of Main Street is uncertain. As a safety measure to prevent pedestrians and vehicles falling down the steep bank of the Bush River, it may have a long history, though such walls are rarely indicated on Ordnance Survey or other maps. Walling is visible in a pre-1903 photograph of the village. It is possible that it was built in the 1830s, when the village was undergoing improvements. The southern end of the wall was reconstructed around the 1990s.