36 Drumlegagh Road North, Newtownstewart, Co Tyrone, BT78 4HE

A detached three-bay two-storey former rectory built around 1870, located on the south side of Drumlegagh Road North, Newtownstewart. The house is distinguished by its asymmetric layout and late Victorian well-proportioned design and detailing, remaining largely intact both externally and internally and enhanced by its mature setting. It is of social interest within the locality as a former rectory and has group value with the listed Baronscourt Parish Church.

The building is rectangular on plan facing south with a two-storey projecting gabled bay at the south side; a two-storey lower return to the north. The return north elevation abuts a single-storey wing aligned east-west. Roofs are pitched natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles. Brick corbelled party wall chimneytstacks feature decorative octagonal clay pots. Deep overhanging timber eaves with exposed rafters support replacement ogee profile cast aluminium rainwater goods. Decoratively carved timber bargeboards and moulded finials ornament the roofline.

Walls are constructed of squared-and-snecked rubble stone with flush ashlar quoins, window surrounds and projecting plinth course. Windows are replacement double-glazed 2/2 timber sliding sashes with flush chamfered ashlar cills, except where otherwise noted.

The principal south elevation contains a central entrance with a window over it, diminished in size. A two-storey projecting gabled bay projects at the left; a single window appears at each floor on the right. The gabled bay is abutted at ground floor by a single-storey ashlar bowed bay with a leaded roof containing three segmental-arched-headed window openings with 1/1 timber sliding sashes. A tripartite 1/1 timber framed sliding sash at first floor has stone ashlar mullions. The entrance door is recessed beyond the front wall through a pointed-headed opening with an ashlar keystone. The porch has tiled flooring, painted plastered walls and moulded ceiling cornice. A decorative single-leaf timber four-moulded-panelled door with Gothic panels and iron door furniture stands in the opening, flanked by sidelights with slender colonettes and a pointed-arched-headed fanlight over; it is accessed by a single masonry step.

The left west elevation is abutted by a single-storey ashlar three-sided canted bay containing three square-headed 1/1 timber sliding sashes and a continuous decorative ashlar cornice, with a single window at the right. The rear north elevation is abutted at left by a two-storey lower return; a gabled bay projects at right. The gable is abutted by two two-storey lower gabled returns at left and a single-storey lean-to at right. An exposed gable section at first floor contains a single window contained within a stepped brick surround. The left gabled extension's north gable contains a single window at each floor, with the right cheek abutted by a second gabled return, of which the north gable contains an entrance door at ground floor and a single window at first floor. The lean-to on the north elevation is abutted at right by a random rubble boundary wall which forms an enclosed yard to the north of the house, accessed by a timber sheeted door from the garden. An exposed section at left contains a single window; the right cheek is blank. The right east gable contains two windows at ground and first floor, with the first floor window dipartite. An exposed section at left contains a single window at ground floor and two windows at first floor.

The north return is two-bay two-storey and detailed as the main block. The right bay is gabled and contains two windows at each floor. An exposed section at left contains a single window at ground floor and two windows at first floor. The north elevation abuts a single-storey east-west aligned wing containing a side entrance. The west elevation faces an enclosed courtyard and contains a single window at each floor, with that at first floor diminished.

A single-storey wing now used as a utility room, aligned east-west, has detailing complementary to the main house and is accessed from the east gable through a replacement timber sheeted door with timber framed sidelights contained within a cream clay brick surround. A single pointed-arched-headed 1/1 timber framed sliding sash appears at first floor. The north elevation is entirely abutted by a single-storey lean-to garage with brick walling and corrugated metal sheeted roof, of little interest. The west gable is abutted by a single-storey lean-to extension with random rubble walling and a slated roof; the exposed section is blank.

The house is set within mature gardens to the south of Drumlegagh Road North, Newtownstewart, and is preserved within its original setting, containing traditionally constructed outbuildings to the north. The dog-leg section to the east was constructed in 1893 according to an inscription in the south gable, and the remainder was constructed in similar style by the current owner. These buildings are constructed of partially squared rubble stone walling with natural slate roofs and painted timber windows and doors.

The house is the Rectory for Baronscourt Church and first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1905 captioned 'Rectory'. On the fourth edition a hydraulic ram is also captioned. The house first appears in valuation records in 1874 on a site formerly occupied by James Kilpatrick and leased from the Marquis of Abercorn. A previous house on the site is valued at £1.5s. In 1874 the occupier is Rev. William Henry Wynne. The house is valued at £22.15s in 1874 and £24.15s in 1879 due to the addition of a 'new office'. In 1890 the occupier is Rev. William O'Neill Lindsay and in 1899, Rev. Frederick Hamilton. After 1934 the occupier becomes Canon A.P. Chamberlain and the lessor is no longer the Duke of Abercorn but the Baronscourt Estate Company. At this time, the house comprises four rooms, a kitchen, pantry, scullery, wash house, five bedrooms, one dressing room, a box room, water closet and bathroom with hot and cold water. Contemporary notes record that the house is "Free to Duke's Chaplain. House good. No electric light. Clean water fairly close. Rough water pumped to roof cistern. Garden attractive. Hydraulic ram, hot and cold."