Rectory, Spring Road, Drumnakilly, Omagh., Co Tyrone, BT79 0LA

Rectory, Spring Road, Drumnakilly, Omagh, County Tyrone

A detached symmetrical three-bay two-storey-over-basement house built around 1844, located on the east side of Spring Road. The house remains largely unchanged in form and layout, with the main architectural details largely intact. Although locally significant, it is not among the best examples of its type.

The main house is rectangular in plan, facing east, with a two-storey-over-basement extension to the south gable (the basement is visible only at the south gable). The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles. Two brick corbelled party-wall chimneystacks rise from the roof, and corbelled eaves support original U-profile cast-iron rainwater goods. The walls are roughcast rendered with stepped tooled quoins.

The principal elevation faces east and contains a central square-headed double-leaf timber panelled entrance door within a pedimented canopy supported on projecting piers and stone corbels. The door is flanked by a single window on each side, with three windows at first-floor level. The entrance is accessed by a single masonry tiled step. Windows throughout are square-headed 6/6 timber sliding sashes with projecting stone cills unless otherwise stated.

The south elevation is abutted by the two-storey-over-basement lean-to extension at the left; the exposed section at left contains a dipartite timber casement window at basement level. The rear (west) elevation contains three windows at each floor. The north elevation contains a small blocked opening at the left.

The two-storey-over-basement lean-to extension at the south was built around 1900. It has a natural slate roof and red-brick walling laid in stretcher bond. Windows are square-headed 6/6 timber sliding sashes with painted masonry cills and brick voussoirs. The east elevation of this extension is splayed to a right re-entrant angle and contains a single window at ground-floor level and two windows at first-floor level. The south elevation has the basement level exposed, containing a single window at ground-floor level. The basement level is abutted by a random rubble outside water closet, accessed through an arched opening with a replacement timber casement door and window. A timber sheeted door at basement level is located at the right.

The house is accessed by a lane from the north. An adjacent outbuilding to the east is traditionally constructed with a corrugated tin roof, lime-rendered random rubble walling, and brick surrounds. It contains round-arched-headed openings with timber sheeted doors.

Historical Context

The building is first shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1853, captioned as "Parsonage". It appears captioned as "Rectory" on the 1906 map, and the extension to the south gable is also first shown on this edition. Griffith's Valuation of 1858 records the property as a "house, offices and land", occupied by the Reverend Edward Moore and leased from Alexander McCausland. The building valuation at that time was £5. Valuation Revisions valued the property at £9 in 1860. The occupier was revised to the Reverend John Porter in 1879 and to the Reverend Robert Briscoe in 1896. In 1892 the valuation decreased to £5 because the offices were recorded as "dilapidated". By 1906, the Reverend Robert Briscoe became the occupier in fee. The Reverend W. Johnston was the occupier in 1909.

According to the Diocesan history, the Glebe house, situated on an 18-acre glebe provided by Mr McCausland, was built around 1844. When the parish of Drumnakilly was grouped with Clogherny, the rectory became redundant and was sold in 1986. Drumnakilly was formed as a perpetual curacy in 1844, with the Reverend Robert George Dickson as its first perpetual curate.