8 Purdysburn Village, Ballycowan, Belfast, County Down, BT8 8LJ

8 Purdysburn Village is a Grade B2 listed building originally constructed around 1830 as a one-and-a-half-storey, single-bay end terrace house, located in Purdysburn Village to the north of Ballycoan Road in Ballycowan, Belfast. The building was extended in 2013 to include a second bay with gable.

The house forms part of a symmetrical group of four Purdysburn Estate worker's cottages of similar style and detailing, with the two central houses being larger two-bay structures. The buildings were originally constructed to house servants and farm labourers employed on the adjoining Purdysburn Estate, which was owned by Narcissus Batt from 1811 onwards. The village first appears on the 1834 First Edition Ordnance Survey map and is recorded in the contemporary 1833 Ordnance Survey Memoirs as a predominantly Protestant settlement. The 1844 Parliamentary Gazetteer notes the village originally comprised 28 single-storey cottages, while an 1886 directory records it consisted of about 30 houses occupied chiefly by farm labourers.

Externally, the building retains several original features. The roof is pitched natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles, deep overhanging eaves with exposed rafter ends, and painted bargeboards supported on exposed timber corbels. A single rectangular red-brick chimney stack with two plain clay pots rises from the east gable. The walling is smooth rendered. The windows are replacement painted timber lattice casements within square-headed openings with plastered reveals and painted projecting masonry sills, though replacement uPVC casement windows are present at the rear. The original timber sheeted entrance door remains at the north elevation, with a replacement glazed timber sheeted door at the south. The rainwater goods are replacement uPVC u-profile.

The 2013 extension features a natural slate roof, a new red-brick chimney, painted timber lattice and uPVC windows, and smooth rendered walls. The principal north elevation contains the principal entrance at right, flanked by a window to the left, with a dormer window featuring a natural slate pitched roof and replacement lattice casement window above. The new gabled two-storey extension at the right displays reproduction timber lattice windows at ground and first-floor levels. The rear elevation is abutted at right by a one-and-a-half-storey return and at left by the 2013 extension, which extends from the new red-brick chimney and includes double-glazed doors at ground level and a rooflight at roof level. The original wall section directly left of the one-and-a-half-storey return contains a single ground-floor window and two new rooflights. The west gable of the 2013 extension features three new painted timber windows.

The one-and-a-half-storey return is detailed as the main block, with the south gable containing an enlarged window at ground floor and diminished at first floor. The west cheek contains a replacement entrance door at left and a window at right, whilst the left cheek is blank.

The building is situated within Purdysburn village, part of an Area of Village Character. It is accessed by vehicle from the south through an area of modern development, with pedestrian access also possible at east and west. The property includes a small enclosed garden at north, west and south, enclosed by timber fence.

The house was originally built as part of a workers' village associated with the Purdysburn Estate. It maintains its original plan layout and character despite minor alterations including replacement glazing. In the mid-1970s, the village came into the possession of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, which expanded the site with the construction of 19 new cottages. The building continues to be occupied and is in good state of repair. It has significant group value with the other listed buildings in the terrace and contributes to the architectural and historic interest of the Purdysburn Area of Village Character.