Former workshop, Near 66 Knockaduff Road, Aghadowey, Coleraine, BT51 4DB

Former Workshop near Knockaduff Road, Aghadowey

A large derelict two-storey former forge and carpenter's workshop of later 19th-century date. Although notable for its somewhat uncommon function and makers' names on some of its construction materials, the building is not of special architectural or historical significance.

The two-storey block is aligned north-west to south-east and comprises two separate buildings. Building 1 occupies the north-west end and is the earlier of the two, with its south-east gable abutted by Building 2.

Building 1 is a two-storey, single-bay structure with a pitched natural slate roof, many slates now missing. A brick chimney in poor repair sits on the south-east gable. The walls are constructed of random rubble field stones with brick eaves and vestiges of whitewashed lime render. Half-round rainwater goods, partly missing, run around the building. The south-west elevation, facing the river, has four window openings on the ground floor, all with flat brick heads and jambs. Window cills, where surviving, are stamped with clay tiles reading "Clayton's/Agivey/Patent". The window at left retains remains of a 3x1-pane timber-framed window. Five first-floor window openings are detailed and aligned with those below but have shallow segmental heads. A small rectangular opening at the bottom left corner of the fourth window from the left probably facilitated the handling of long lengths of timber inside the first floor; a corresponding opening appears on the north-east elevation.

The north-west gable is abutted at ground floor by a single-storey continuation with no wall break, though its roof has since collapsed and is now inaccessible. The gable above on the main building has completely collapsed.

The north-east elevation, fronting the yard, is five openings wide. On the ground floor are a pedestrian doorway with timber half-door, three window openings to left and middle, and a much wider double-leaf timber door at right. The first floor has four windows and a wide double-leaf timber loading door at right, with openings in line with and detailed as those on the south-west elevation. The second first-floor window from left has a rectangular opening at its bottom right corner corresponding with the opening on the south-west elevation.

Building 2 is a two-storey, single-bay structure that abuts the south-east gable of Building 1 and is slightly lower in height. Its ground floor forms a continuation of Building 1, but the first floor is a later addition, marked by a clear wall break at this level. The pitched roof is covered with clay pantiles, and rainwater goods are missing. The walls are constructed of random rubble field stones with brick to the eaves and partly to the quoins.

The south-west elevation has two window openings on both ground and first floors. The ground-floor ones are obscured by dense overgrowth. The left opening at first-floor level is trimmed with brick, whilst the other is of stone and has been infilled with concrete blocks.

The south-east gable is abutted at ground floor by a now-ruinous single-storey with pitched roof, now collapsed, though its outline remains discernible in the gable. Two 3x1-pane windows appear at first-floor level and a metal door at the gable apex.

The north-east elevation has a pedestrian doorway at left and a wide opening at right on the ground floor. The latter is trimmed with a pre-cast concrete head and concrete block jambs. At first-floor level is a window at left and a double-leaf loading door at right.

Historical Development

Although a small building is shown at the north-west end of this block on the 1832 and 1852 Ordnance Survey maps, the premises are not depicted in their present configuration until the 1904 map, and appear similarly on subsequent editions. According to the present owner, the workshop was established by Mr Forbes Arthur and was succeeded by his son John Forbes Arthur, who then passed it to his sons John Forbes and James, although they never operated it.

The building housed a blacksmith's shop on the ground floor used for the shoeing of horses and the fabrication and repair of agricultural implements and machinery. A carpenter's shop occupied the first floor, where cartwheels and wooden implements were fabricated.

It is impossible to determine from the valuation revision books when the workshop was exactly erected. However, an F Arthur is first cited in 1879 as occupying an "office" at this location. He probably established the workshop in the 1880s before handing it over to John Forbes Arthur around 1891. The first explicit mention of a forge in the valuations does not appear until the 1936 valuation revision entry, which records John Forbes as occupant of a house, forge and offices, all rated at five shillings.

The Building Materials

Some bricks bear the legend "Clayton's Patent", referring to Henry Clayton of the Atlas Works, London, who patented machines for producing tiles, bricks and drain pipes. He exhibited these machines at the 1851 Great Exhibition in London and at the London Exhibition of 1862. The bricks were actually made in Agivey, probably at the former brickworks just north-west of Brickhill Bridge.

Loose brick discovered in the yard is stamped "P & M Hurll Ltd", referring to Peter and Mark Hurll, a firm of Scottish brick makers who established their partnership around 1887 and operated until 1980. Their brickworks were located at Drumchapel (Glasgow), Glenbogie (North Lanarkshire) and Bo'ness (Falkirk).

Setting

The premises overlook the Macosquin River to the south-west and are enclosed on all sides by open fields. The block partly delineates the south-west side of a small yard containing a derelict single-storey, single-bay shed with corrugated-metal roof supported on timber uprights and open sides. A gate at the north-west corner of the yard provides access to an unsurfaced laneway from Knockaduff Road. This lane, now partly overgrown, formerly continued over the river on a footbridge which was apparently removed when the river was dredged.