136 Windmill Road, Aghnaleck, Hillsborough, Co Down, BT26 6NP

Former forge and stable block, built around 1880 and around 1910 respectively, forming an unusual linear complex adjacent to a two-storey farm dwelling near a prominent crossroads due east of Hillsborough, County Down. The complex is characteristic of the modest mixed-use rural building type that once combined small-scale farming with rural industry across the Ulster countryside, but is now rare. Although the dwelling has been substantially altered, the forge remains largely intact and complete with its furnace, making it relatively scarce in a national context. The stable block, robustly detailed in variegated brick, represents the continuing evolution of a typical rural smallholding and significantly enhances the quality of the rural setting. The group is further enhanced by surviving examples of ironwork forged on the premises in the early 20th century. The complex is currently used as a store.

LAYOUT AND GENERAL ARRANGEMENT

The complex is arranged in a linear form from west to east along the south side of Windmill Road. It comprises a symmetrical two-storey, three-bay house (rebuilt around 1900 and subsequently remodelled) at the western end, an attached single-storey, single-bay rendered forge built around 1880 in the centre, and a lofted two-storey stable block built around 1910 at the eastern end. The house has been extensively refurbished and is not of special interest.

THE FORGE

The forge is rectangular on plan. Its roof is pitched natural slate with a red brick chimneystack to the east. Rainwater goods are uPVC fixed to a painted timber fascia. The walls are painted roughcast render over random rubble stone.

The principal elevation faces north and is symmetrically arranged, with a window to either side of a pair of large timber-sheeted vehicular doors — the right-hand door being a stable door — fitted with hand-forged iron hinges and set under a painted timber lintel. The windows on the north elevation are ten-over-ten timber sliding sash with horns, resting on projecting rendered cills. The east gable end is blank. The rear south elevation has two replacement four-light fixed timber windows with unpainted bull-nosed brick cills, and a timber-sheeted door to the left side.

THE STABLE

The stable is L-shaped on plan, with a return projecting to the east side of the rear south elevation. The natural slate roof is gabled to the south and west and hipped to the east. Rainwater goods are plastic. The walls are built in variegated orange-red, buff, and dark red brick laid in English garden wall bond. Openings are generally segmental-headed with double-header arches and fitted with tongue-and-groove sheeted doors or shutters, unless otherwise noted. All openings on the front elevation are painted red and have hand-forged strap hinges.

The principal elevation faces north and has three openings on each floor. At ground floor level, there is a stable door to the right and centre; the opening to the left has been enlarged and now contains a pair of vehicular doors under a concrete lintel, though remnants of the original double-header arch survive. The loft level has three loading doors aligned directly above the ground floor openings.

The east elevation is blank except for a single door. The south elevation is abutted to the right by a gabled return, which is in turn adjoined by a single-storey mid-20th-century cement-rendered lean-to with a corrugated metal roof, metal windows, and a four-panelled timber door. Above the lean-to, there is a three-light timber window serving the loft. The west cheek of the return has a timber door and a small fixed-pane window with a triangular ventilation opening above. The remainder of the south elevation is blank except for two triangular ventilation slots. The west elevation is abutted by a flight of external steps built in random coursed rubble masonry, partially rebuilt in brick and tile, which lead up to the loft, accessed by a door detailed in the same manner as those on the main elevation.

SETTING

The linear group sits adjacent to a rural crossroads, set slightly back from the road with an open forecourt in front. The main house is fronted by a small garden bounded by original hand-forged iron railings, likely made on site. To the rear is a lawned garden and gravelled yard giving access to a large field. The garden contains a large protruding rock inset with two hand-forged iron eyelets. Two modern houses stand opposite.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

A narrow linear building is first recorded on the site on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, with a small projection to the north-east. The footprint remained largely unchanged by the second edition map of 1858. By Griffith's Valuation of 1862, however, the property had been subdivided into three dwellings on land leased to a William Irvine by William Mussenden: the western house and garden were occupied by Matthew Ferguson at a rateable value of £1 5s, the central house and small garden by Robert Bowers at £1, and the easternmost house by Sarah McDonnell at £0 10s, although this last dwelling had been removed by 1875 according to the Annual Revision records.

By 1885, the Annual Revision records show the site had consolidated into a single house with offices, a forge, and surrounding land, occupied by a Robert McCandless at a combined rateable value of £1 15s. The forge is first shown on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1902–03, with the central portion of the building captioned "Smithy." The valuation records show no indication that any of the buildings were replaced or rebuilt during this period. James Dunlop replaced Robert McCandless in 1893, with the rateable value remaining unchanged until 1920.

The 1911 census records James Dunlop as a blacksmith residing on the property with his wife and five children. The building at that time comprised five rooms with two windows at the front of the house and six associated outbuildings, including a forge, stable, cow house, and piggery. The L-plan red brick stable first appears on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map of 1919–20 and was likely constructed in the early 20th century.

By 1921, the Annual Revision records show that the original house had been replaced by the present two-storey structure, reflected in a significant increase in rateable value to £9 10s. A valuer's sketch dated 1921 shows the footprint of the newly erected L-plan house with the abutting forge and detached stable to the east. By 1931, the buildings and land were owned outright by James Dunlop, who remained there until replaced by Heron Dunlop in 1947. Although the rateable value fell significantly to £2 10s in the First General Revaluations of 1935, the valuer noted a "Good Farmhouse" and recorded no evident changes to the buildings. In 1948, James Dunlop leased a garage to a William Edgar; given that no value was recorded, it is likely the stable building was being used as a garage at that time.

The current owner has provided additional historical context, noting that the forge was one of three in the vicinity and the last to remain in use, with none of the others believed to still be standing. He recalls that horses were shod at the forge for the nearby Down Royal racecourse, and some of those shoes remain in the forge today. The forge is recorded in the valuation listing until at least 1957 and ceased operation in the latter part of the 20th century, possibly during the 1960s or 1970s according to the owner. The footprint of the group has remained unchanged on contemporary maps.