Former Smithy (Aghyaran Post Office), 21 Aghyaran Road, Aghyaran, Castlederg, Co Tyrone, BT81 7YA

Former Smithy at 21 Aghyaran Road, Aghyaran, Castlederg, Co Tyrone

This attached single-cell single-storey former blacksmith's shop was built around 1860 and stands on the east side of Aghyaran Road. It is a Grade B2 listed building of vernacular character with simple construction and detailing.

The building is rectangular in plan with walls of lime-rendered rubble stone, though the render has partially fallen away exposing the rubble beneath. The roof is corrugated metal. To the south is attached a three-bay two-storey house, and a single-storey lean-to extension projects to the south-east.

The principal elevation faces west. At the left is a horseshoe elliptical entrance opening containing original double-leaf vertically-sheeted timber doors set within a granite surround. A single replacement square-headed metal casement window stands to the right. The north gable is blank with exposed rubble walling visible. The east elevation has a square-headed entrance opening at its centre (now without a door) flanked by single windows on either side; the lean-to extension abuts this elevation on the left. The south elevation is abutted by the adjoining house.

The attached house and post office to the south has been extensively modernised with a replacement natural slate roof and red brick chimneys. Its walls are finished in roughcast render over a smooth plinth, and it has replacement uPVC casement windows. This house is abutted on the west by a single-storey gabled porch and on the east by a large single-storey gabled extension.

Rainwater goods comprise replacement aluminium half-round gutters and round downpipes, with a few cast-iron rainwater goods remaining. The buildings sit within private grounds bounded by recent smooth rendered walling with concrete saddleback coping, accessed through a pair of square rendered piers.

Historical Context

The building first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1905, captioned 'Smithy', with the adjoining building identified as 'Aghyaran Post Office'. The Revisions fieldbook of 1864–78 records the property as 'house, offices, forge and land', occupied by Thomas Irvine and leased from the Earl of Caledon. The building's valuation was £1 10s, revised upward to £3 10s in 1897, an increase likely reflecting the construction or extension of the adjoining dwelling. The only other recorded change was a change of occupancy to Elizabeth Irvine in 1919.

The adjoining house follows the same linear arrangement and fenestration pattern as the smithy, suggesting the two were built as a group, though the house has subsequently been extended and modernised extensively. The smithy represents a simple vernacular form typical of rural industrial buildings erected on the Caledon estate.