School House, Near 55 East Road, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 ONW

This is a simple, mid-Victorian school building, likely constructed between 1840 and 1859. It originally served as a school for approximately 70 years and is situated within the farmyard of Carrick East Threshing Mill. While the roof, chimneys, and interior fittings have been replaced, the building remains reasonably intact in terms of its original plan. Its unusual location within a farmyard, contribution to the area’s educational history, and rarity as a surviving vernacular structure are of interest. Alterations to the roof and the removal of the flue have lessened its significance as a heritage asset.

The building is a long, low structure built of natural slate stone, aligned northwest to southeast, and situated behind the farm wall of Carrick East Threshing Mill. The end gables are finished with concrete coping. The walls are constructed of rubble stone with butter-pointed mortar, but there are no quoin stones. The entrance door is off-centre on the southeast gable (facing the mill) and consists of a low, matchboarded door with a draw bolt, flanked by some brickwork. The southwest elevation, facing the farmyard wall, has no openings. A brick kneeler course runs high under the eaves. Very little cast iron guttering remains.

A circular gatepost adjoins the northwest end of the wall, but there is no gate. The northwest gable has a wide garage door opening and external rails for sliding doors, although one rail is missing. The apex above the opening has been rebuilt with concrete brickwork, with brick jambs to the opening. The northeast side, facing an open steel barn, has a chamfered corner at the northwest end and five high-level windows spaced equally apart; these windows lack cills and retain their original timber frames.

The building does not appear on the 1830 Ordnance Survey Map, but it is marked as "Carrick School" on the 1848 map. References in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1835-7 mention a Carrick School, although it is likely the same as the ‘Carrick West School’ noted elsewhere. A later reference mentions two Carrick schools including a “Carrick Evening School, Pay School, School House – a tolerable good room,” suggesting a construction date of around 1837. The building is no longer marked as a school on the 1905 Ordnance Survey Map.