Kelp Store, Ouig, Rathlin Island

Kelp Store, Church Bay, Rathlin Island

This is a plain vernacular early 19th-century storehouse for kelp and grain, reflecting its utilitarian function and the importance of these commodities to the local economy in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is the best-preserved of several such stores on the island and is of significant local importance.

The building is a two-phase single-bay, single-storey structure aligned east-west on the wave-swept shoreline at the south end of Church Bay. The walls are constructed of random rubble limestone, brought to courses and snecked around some of the larger stones, with roughly-squared limestone quoins and oversailing brick eaves. All openings have flat heads, though no original doors or windows survive. The pitched roof is now completely missing except for the gable apexes. A brick chimney stands on the west (seaward) gable. No rainwater goods remain, and may never have existed.

The principal entrance is on the east gable, accessed down a sloping grassy track from the road. It comprises a large timber-headed doorway with concrete jambs and a shallow brick relieving arch on its outer face. This entrance has been enlarged in the past; the timber head probably dates from repair work undertaken in 2012, having a fresh appearance with cement-rich mortar above it. A small wrought-iron hitching ring is present on the left jamb.

A clear wall break to the right of centre on the south elevation marks the division between the original phase of construction (left) and a later addition (right). An infilled window opening of first-floor height is visible in the later phase immediately to the right of this break. The west gable is blank except for an infilled first-floor window at its centre, the original timber head replaced with a course of bricks. The position of the chimney breast behind this window indicates it is a later addition.

The north elevation shows a wall break just left of centre. The original building (right side) has a ground-floor doorway flanked by two windows on each side, with four first-floor window openings in line with those below. Timber heads survive only to the ground-floor openings. The later addition (left side) has a ground-floor doorway and window to the left and right respectively, with two first-floor window openings above. All openings in the later phase have timber heads, with the timber heads and associated brickwork to the two first-floor windows likely dating from 2012 conservation work. A narrow platform runs across the north elevation with access steps at its west end, continuing as a rubble masonry wall at its east end.

Field evidence shows the original building measured approximately 44 feet by 22½ feet. The present building measures approximately 69½ feet by 22½ feet, corresponding with the 1834 Valuation Book dimensions of 70 feet by 22 feet, indicating that the enlargement took place before then. The building is depicted on the 1832–33, 1856, 1904 and 1922 Ordnance Survey maps.

Historical records indicate the store was erected by the Gage family, probably in the later 1700s by Robert Gage (died 1801) or in the earlier 1800s by his son, the Reverend Robert Gage, who came of age in 1811 and took over management of the estate. The 1830 Ordnance Survey Memoir describes how trade on the island operated: two storehouses were built, including this one at Church Bay, each equipped with a weighing machine and a keeper to account for all stored goods and their owners. The principal produce stored was barley not required for immediate domestic use, held until trading opportunities arose, usually with Scottish merchants who brought coal in exchange for grain and kelp. Kelp (burnt seaweed) was stored inside the building to prevent its alkali content being leached by rain. The 1834 Valuation Book identifies it as a store belonging to the Reverend Robert Gage, the local landowner. How long the storehouse remained in commercial use is uncertain, and the later Valuation Books provide no further detail beyond describing it generically as one of several 'offices' in the locality.

All materials are entirely authentic, with no later replacements save for minor consolidation work. In 2012, the National Trust undertook conservation work on the building's shell to stabilise it for the foreseeable future.

The building is located on the seaward side of the coastal road, with enclosed fields to the east of the road. Approximately 20 metres to the north-west is an opening in the rocks which served as a small landing place for the store.