Straw House, 21 Straw Road, Dungiven, Co Londonderry, BT47 4PA

Straw House is a mid-Victorian farmhouse built on the foundations of an early house of mid 17th century origin, constructed between 1760 and 1779. Located one field back from Straw Road in Dungiven, the property is now derelict but retains a pleasing principal façade with neo-classical ornamentation. It is historically significant for its association with the Edwards family.

The main structure is three bays wide and two and a half storeys high, with gabled roof, natural slate covering, and gable chimneys. The entrance on the east side features a central segmented arched doorway with double doors, each having two panes in the upper part, framed by a moulded unpainted plaster architrave with square head above the segment. On either side at ground floor are window openings with square-headed plaster surrounds, each with two scrolls beneath the cill set on a plinth line. The first floor has three openings above these, each with a moulded pediment and plaster scrolls under the cill resting on a moulded short course. These windows are treated as aedicules, emphasising a non-existent piano mobile. Only the centre window retains its sliding sashes of four panes; the other windows on ground and first floors are without sashes. The façade displays good proportions with dominant solid over void, stone plinth, bold stone quoins, and a small moulded cornice under the gutter. The wall is currently devoid of plaster, exposing redbrick beneath. The roof is clad in natural slates with a plain roll ridge and smooth rendered gable chimneys.

A two-storey back return reduces to single storey, aligned with the south gable without setback. The south gable contains two sliding sash four-pane windows at ground floor, a single four-pane sliding sash at first floor smaller than those below, and two larger two-pane sliding sash windows under the barge at attic level. The gable is defined by quoins on each side—that to the west rendered in plaster—with straight moulded plaster barges returned across the base of the chimney and at eaves line. This wall is smooth rendered with plaster plinth. The south side of the back return has two two-pane sliding sash windows at ground and first floors directly aligned, with walls treated similarly to the south gable. Central and gable chimneys are present, the roof being slated with red ridge tile. Beyond the back return is a short single-storey return in line with a single-sheeted door of recent construction.

The north gable of the main block has two window openings with sashes. The walls here are devoid of plaster, exposing rubble stone with brickwork at attic level. Quoins appear at the north-east corner only, but the gable has moulded barges as at the south end, with plinth returning on this gable. The rear walls of the main block and back return have retained some former harling. There are few windows, particularly at ground level. A window at the first landing of the main stair has been built-up. The walls of the main block are constructed of stone with brick at attic level, where a window at the stair is blocked off with an old door. The walls of the back return are built mainly of redbrick with some stone at ground level. The exterior is in poor condition, with repair work abandoned four years ago when the current owner's son attempted restoration.

The property is sited on flat ground, one field back from Straw Road, approached by a straight avenue that turns at right angles to the house. Presently accessed through the farmyard, historically the approach was different, with the front of the house oriented towards the River Roe across several fields. A two-storey long outbuilding with single-storey return stands on the property. Openings in the outbuilding have been altered. There is little evidence of former gardens or orchards.

Historical Context

The property belonged to the Edwards family in the 17th century, who were granted six townlands in Bovevagh in 1666 on Cromwellian Settlement. Edward Edwards was Alderman and Sheriff in Derry in 1671; his son Hugh Edwards was Mayor in the same year and later served as parliamentary representative in 1661. Hugh Edwards was a merchant in the city and erected the Edwards wall tablet in the north aisle of St Columb's Cathedral in 1674 to the memory of his father. Dr Henry Edward Edwards, great-grandson of the original grantee, later lived at Straw House.

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs records Mrs Edwards (formerly Boyle) in residence at 'Strath' in 1834. She died in July 1836 and is buried with her husband and his mother within the walls of Old Bovevagh Church. In Griffith's Valuation Book, the occupant is listed as John Semple with a valuation of £18 for house and gatehouse. No gatehouse remains at present; Dean's Gate Lodges of Ulster refers to one opposite the gates, now demolished. An article on the Semples of Strath House, published in Benbradagh No. 6 (1975) by John Boyd, whose grandfather married Matilda Semple of Strath House in 1863, includes an illustration of the house from that period showing it intact and occupied, with the avenue approaching from the south rather than through the farmyard. Boyd records the existence of a cellar with a tunnel running to the River Roe, which his grandmother partially explored by candlelight. A ghostly story is attached to the house. Some members of the Semple family fought in the American Civil War—brothers George and Robert, one for the Confederates and one for the Federals, both of whom returned to Strath House. A Semple married Tom Mercer and inherited Straw House. For some time it was occupied by tenants, including Maconachy, a retired sea captain. The current owner's wife is a Mercer.