Crosskeys Inn, 40 Grange Road, Ardnaglass, Toomebridge, Co. Antrim, BT41 3QB

Crosskeys Inn, Grange Road, Ardnaglass

The Crosskeys Inn is a traditional thatched public house, thought to date from the mid-18th century, located approximately six miles north of Randalstown on what was originally the main road between Dublin and Coleraine. It is an L-shaped building with a plastered and whitened wall finish, including a black base along the front and south-east side. The thatched roof sits between parapet gables; the ridge is of the wrap-over type and the eaves are square cut. The remaining roof structure is of high interest, and dendrochronology testing has been planned by the owner to establish its precise date.

The entrance elevation faces north-east, overlooking a forecourt and a secondary road running from Randalstown to Portglenone. The centre of this elevation has timber, diagonally-sheeted, centre-hinged double doors. To the left (south-east) is a fixed 3×3-pane timber window, which retains a post office facility in its bottom left-hand corner; its timber shutter bears the Crosskeys symbol painted on the inner face. To the right of the entrance is an 8/8 timber vertically sliding sash window with moulded sash stops and a plain shutter on its inner face. Neither window has a sill. A painted board above the entrance carries the name of the establishment.

The arm of the L that extends at right angles to the north-west carries a 10/10 vertically sliding sash window with moulded sash stops and no sill; this window has no shutter. At the far end of this elevation, a low whitened wall with a timber gate and a rectangular pillar encloses a sunken area giving access — by means of six stone steps — to the basement, which is now closed. A window in the gable of this block is set at high level and contains a 6/6 timber vertically sliding sash window with moulded sash stops and no sill. This gable rises to a corbelled chimneystack, and a similar stack sits above the position of the lounge fireplace in the main block. The gable of the main block has no openings, but retains a small sentry box in the form of an Irish gate pillar at the front (south-east) — a remnant of the Troubles.

Moving to the rear of the building and beginning at the south-west corner, there is an 8/8 timber sliding sash window with moulded sash stops and a sill of traditional depth. A lounge extension projects beneath an extension of the thatched roof between tiled parapets; it is entered by a timber ledged, braced and sheeted door on the south-east side, and is lit by a 4/4 timber vertically sliding sash window on the outer (south-east) side with moulded sash stops and no sill. Beyond this is a further horizontal 4/4 vertically sliding sash window with moulded sash stops and no sill. Further along is a lean-to store with a profiled metal roof and a timber door made up of four horizontal panels. The windows on the north-west side are inaccessible from the outside. A random rubble wall, built without a coping and contemporary with the main building, extends from the north-west corner of the public house along Grange Road to a bridge over the stream.

The interior features are not individually described in detail, though the use of a flush door between the lounges is noted as a minor deviation from the original. Apart from the section of the roof replaced following the fire of February 2000, all early detail either remains intact or has been restored to match the original.

The building's history is well documented. An L-shaped structure matching the present footprint appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33, and the 1836 valuation records it as a relatively old but well-maintained thatched building with quality letter '2B+'. Its recorded dimensions at that date were 50ft × 22ft × 8½ft, with an additional section of 15½ft × 18ft × 8ft, a cellar of 15½ft × 18ft × 7ft, and a thatched outbuilding measuring 70½ft × 17ft × 6ft. The occupant was listed as Patrick McAlane (probably McErlean), and the rateable value was calculated at the relatively respectable sum of £5-3-0. The quality letter assigned in 1836 suggests the building was regarded as at least twenty years old at that date. By the time of the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1857, a small rear extension had been added, and the building was marked as 'Crosskeys Post Office'. The second valuation of 1859 records it as a public house and post office occupied by a George Neeson, with Henry Purdon as the immediate lessor and a rateable value of £5-10-0.

The pub stands on what was the original main road between Dublin and Coleraine and was probably a traditional stopping-off point for travellers, though it appears too small to have served as a coaching inn. A sale advertisement of March 1771 refers to a 'noted public house where the Misses Boyd live' in the townland of Ardnaglass, which may be a reference to this building.

The thatched roof has been maintained and renewed on several occasions. It was re-thatched in 1979 by Gerry Agnew using straw, repaired in 1982 using wheat straw, and fully re-thatched again in 1986, also by Gerry Agnew using wheat straw. Further repairs were carried out by Gerry Agnew in 1994 using flax. Following the fire of 21 February 2000, the roof was re-thatched in 2001 by Master Thatchers using water reed. In 1994, an enquiry was made about infilling the basement area; as an integral part of the listed structure, its retention was recommended, and the access opening has since been sealed off. Proposals for refurbishment and extension were submitted to the Environment and Heritage Service on 17 February 1998. Proposed reinstatement works following the 2000 fire were received by the Environment and Heritage Service on 3 January 2001, and a further scheme of extension and refurbishment was under negotiation in mid-2006.