22 Brookside Road, Clontangullion, Ballynahinch, County Down, BT24 8LE

22 Brookside Road, Clontanagullion, Ballynahinch

This is an early 19th-century rural farmstead, dating from between 1820 and 1839, comprising an asymmetric three-bay, two-storey farmhouse with contiguous outbuildings. It sits in a largely unspoiled setting south of Brookside Road, Dromore, on an elevated site with laned access from a narrow country road. The property is a good example of an early 19th-century farmhouse in a relatively unaltered state, characterised by thick rubble stone walls, a pitched slate roof, and lime render. It almost certainly began life as a single-storey vernacular dwelling and is of particular interest for the way it developed over time, as well as for its wealth of traditional materials and techniques. The fenestration and early entrance doors survive intact, along with the early floor plan and some interior detailing. The farmhouse is currently in use as a store.

Architectural Description

The farmhouse is rectangular on plan, with an attached byre and two-storey barn to the west. The roof is pitched natural slate, with yellow brick chimneystacks fitted with clay pots. Walls are rubble stone finished with limewash, except for the gable which is cement rendered. Rainwater goods are cast iron. Windows throughout are timber-framed sliding sash: 8/8 panes on the ground floor and 4/8 panes on the first floor, with exposed box sashes unless otherwise noted.

The principal elevation faces north and is asymmetrically arranged on a gently sloping site. The first floor has four windows. On the ground floor, reading from left to right, there is a margin-paned window, followed by an early timber-sheeted double-leaf door with a multi-paned transom light, then two windows — the left one being 6/6 panes — and a further timber-sheeted door accessed by three stone steps. The east gable is blank. The south (rear) elevation was not inspected. The west elevation is abutted at ground floor level by the single-storey byre.

Outbuildings

The outbuildings are of similar quality to the farmhouse and contribute significantly to the integrity of the ensemble as a whole. They form a variety of slated rubble stone structures: an attached linear range to the west and to the front of the house, arranged around a sloping central yard. A roughcast rendered stable block to the northwest is a later addition.

The linear range to the west comprises a single-cell byre and a two-storey barn. The byre has an early timber-sheeted door to the right of centre, and a diminutive window to the left with early timber boarding to the opening. The barn has a multi-paned timber-framed casement window to the first floor left and an 8/4 timber-framed sliding sash window to the first floor right; at the centre is a timber-sheeted door. The ground floor has four irregularly spaced early timber-sheeted doors. The west gable has a diminutive 2/2 window. The rear elevation has three irregularly spaced window openings.

To the northeast, set on a slope, are two- and single-storey rubble stone barns. The two-storey barn has a timber-sheeted door to the right of centre on the south gable. The west elevation has a replacement timber-sheeted door to the left and a segmental-headed carriage entrance with replacement timber-sheeted doors; the first floor has a window opening with timber boarding to the opening. A split-level block at a lower level has a timber-sheeted door to the left accessed by two masonry steps, and a timber-framed window over a three-quarter timber stable door to the left. A single-storey block, also at a lower level, has a three-quarter timber-sheeted door to the right.

The rendered stable block to the northwest has two replacement stable doors and is abutted to the left by a lean-to with a further replacement stable door.

Setting

The farmstead sits on an elevated site approached by a lane from a narrow country road. A modern one-and-a-half-storey dwelling lies to the east, sharing the access. To the southwest is an overgrown lane lined by mature trees, reached through a rubble stone gate pier with a rendered cap supporting a modern tubular metal farm gate. To the northwest is a decorative wrought-iron farm gate set within a roughcast rendered wall with coping stones and gate piers with pointed caps. Further to the north are more modern ruled-and-lined rendered gate piers with pointed caps and a wrought-iron farm gate. A tubular metal farm gate is attached to the front of the house at the east. Extensive farmland to the north is bounded along the road by a hedgerow.

Historical Development

The farmhouse and its accompanying farm buildings first appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey map for the townland of Clontanagullion in 1833, by which date the two-storey farmhouse, the western outbuilding (now connected by a single-storey byre), and the northeastern range of outbuildings were already in existence. However, the Townland Valuation of around 1830 records that the farmhouse was originally single-storey, as were all its outbuildings at that time.

Around 1830, the farm was occupied by a Robert Campbell. It was described as a 1b+ class dwelling with a number of farm buildings, valued in total at £3 19s., with a deduction noted for poor access from the main road. By 1861, Robert Campbell still occupied the farm, but Griffith's Valuation records that the site had by then been divided between him and a Joseph Campbell — an unknown relative — who lived in separate dwellings. Robert occupied what is now the two-storey farmhouse, while the western outbuilding was let to Joseph Campbell; both dwellings remained single-storey in 1861. Robert Campbell held the farm from a David S. Kerr at a rent of £28 per annum; his house was valued at £3 10s. and Joseph Campbell's at £1 10s.

From 1877, Joseph Campbell was recorded as the sole occupant of the farm, though the property continued to be assessed as two separate records. By 1870 the total rateable value of the farm had risen to £9 (split as £3 10s. and £5 10s.), likely reflecting either the construction of the northwest stable block, the addition of a single-storey byre between the two dwellings, or the raising of the farmhouse and western outbuilding to two storeys — all of which were in place by around 1901, as confirmed by the census of that year and the 1903 Ordnance Survey map.

In 1900, Joseph's son Robert John Campbell took over the farm. The 1901 Census records him as a Presbyterian farmer, aged 42, living in the farmhouse with his widowed mother Mary, aged 64, and employing two farm labourers. By this date the farmhouse had been raised to two storeys and was described as a first-class dwelling with ten rooms, roofed with slate. The farm's out-offices included a cow house, dairy, piggery, barn, and store, in addition to the northwest stable block.

The farm changed hands in 1913, passing to a Mr John Hart, who remained at the property until at least 1929, the last year covered by the Annual Revisions. The farmhouse and outbuildings have been vacant for some time and have fallen into a state of disrepair. A replacement dwelling has been constructed to the northeast of the farm.