Fortwilliam House, 40 Old Kilmore Road, Moira, Craigavon, Co.Armagh, BT67 0LZ

Fortwilliam House is a detached three-bay two-storey house with attic storey, built circa 1800. It stands on the south side of Old Kilmore Road near Moira, accessed by a long tree-lined avenue and set within an idyllic farmyard setting. The building forms a T-plan, with a single-storey wing to the east and a two-storey return forming an outhouse to the rear. A range of single and two-storey outbuildings encloses a square-plan farmyard to the rear.

The front elevation faces north and displays flint-dash render with early twentieth-century detailing. It is symmetrical across three bays with square-headed window openings finished with smooth render surrounds, painted masonry sills, continuous sill course and plinth course. The original tripartite timber sash windows have 4/4 lights flanked by 2/2, feature no horns and retain some cylinder glass. A central elliptical-headed door opening contains an original flat-panelled timber door with original Art Nouveau brass furniture, flanked by a pair of leaded Art Nouveau sidelights and matching fanlight. The remaining elevations are of rough-cast render and reveal a much earlier structure. The east gable is abutted by a single-storey east wing with an attic-level window opening (now uPVC). The west gable has a single attic-storey window opening (now uPVC). The rear elevation is three storeys and abutted by a two-storey return with uPVC windows.

The two-storey rear return has a pitched natural slate roof with hip junction to the main house and a gable to the south end with chimneystack. Its south-facing gable has a pair of window openings with early timber sash windows. Camber-headed window openings to the first floor contain 5/10 early timber sash windows; the ground floor has paired 4/4 timber sash windows. Rooms accessed from the main house have uPVC windows. Tongue-and-groove timber doors serve both sides of the return, with a carriage arch opening to the west side only.

The roof is pitched natural slate with black clay ridge tiles and cement coping to both gables. Three replacement redbrick chimneystacks with clay pots have been installed. Replacement metal guttering and plastic downpipes are fitted throughout.

The front entrance opens onto a cobblelock path through a front lawn, accessing the lane via an iron pedestrian gate set on a pair of rendered piers (which are included in the listing).

The east wing connects to a rubblestone and redbrick outbuilding that encloses the north side of the yard, featuring original timber plank doors and redbrick door and window openings. A further outbuilding of note encloses the south side, comprising two storeys of rubblestone and redbrick with pitched natural slate roof, segmental-headed redbrick window openings and timber plank doors.

The architectural style, proportions and detailing date to the late Georgian period. The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 shows an oblong building on the site accessed by a long tree-lined driveway. The Townland Valuations of 1828-40 identify the owner as Thomas Hull, recording the premises as a house with outbuilding valued at £27s2d. By the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, considerable development had occurred, with multiple outbuildings and returns to the south and east, though the house is not named Fortwilliam House until the 1903 maps.

Griffiths Valuation of 1861 valued the total property at £34 5s, a considerable increase from the earlier assessment. By 1869 the Annual Revisions valued it at £44, recording the occupier as Frederick Laugtry, who remained until the Irwin family took up tenancy in 1897. The Irwins owned the property outright by 1909 and carried out internal alterations and modifications at the turn of the century, introducing modern stylings to door ornamentation and bathroom fittings. These later alterations account for the Art Nouveau detailing to the front door and sidelights. By the 1933-57 revaluations, the property was valued at £50 with notes recording "Good repair, electric light from mains, water by pumping...". The property remained in the family name at the time of survey in 2010.

The interior is primarily mid-nineteenth century in date and retains a wealth of original fabric including the stair, joinery and roof structure. The building has group value with Fairmount House (HB19/22/53), also built by the Hull family, and makes an important contribution to the heritage of the area. The listing extends to the house, outbuildings, gates and piers.