Farm Buildings, Castle Dobbs, Tongue Loanen, Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, BT38 9BU

Farm Buildings at Castle Dobbs

A detached symmetrical range of single-storey multi-bay stone stable buildings built around 1850, located to the east of Tongue Loanen Road, Carrickfergus. The farm complex represents a fully functioning example of a nineteenth-century estate farm, with its plan, layout, and original fabric remaining largely intact.

The buildings form an H-plan arrangement aligned north-south, with a central range containing double-height coach arches opening to north and south courtyards. This central block is enclosed on its east side by a two-bay one-and-a-half-storey house with a perpendicular extension to the rear, creating the central block of the east courtyard. Access to the courtyards is provided from each side. The north and south ranges are aligned east-west and abut the central range.

The walling throughout is coursed and snecked rubblestone with brick dressings and a brick eaves course. Pitched natural slate roofs are detailed with lead valleys and cast-iron rainwater goods. Windows are segmental-headed 3/6 timber casements with stepped brick surrounds and voussoirs. Doors are segmental-headed and timber sheeted. The central range has a central round-headed door on its west elevation with flanking windows between the coach arches, and single windows to each side. The east elevation contains two windows to the centre with single windows to each side. The south range's north elevation displays three windows flanked by double doors on the right, with paired round-headed arches and single round-headed arches to the flanks on the left. Two sets of paired round-headed arches are present. The south elevation is blank, while the east gable has a central window with painted stepped granite surround. The north range's south elevation shows three windows and three doors to the right, abutted by a coursed granite pier, with three windows flanked by double doors to the left. Its east gable features a central round-headed coach arch.

The two-bay one-and-a-half-storey house attached to the east has a one-and-a-half-storey extension to the left gable and a lean-to extension to the right. The roof is hipped with blue-black clay ridge tiles and deep overhanging eaves on exposed rafter ends. A single smooth rendered chimney with terracotta pots rises from the structure. Walling is roughly coursed random-rubble with stepped granite quoins. Windows are 3/3 timber sliding sashes with exposed boxes, stepped surrounds, brick relieving arches, and painted masonry cills. The principal east elevation has a central porch with timber sheeted door and pitched roof, with windows to each side. The left gable has been extended to provide an additional window bay. The south gable has a single window to the attic and is abutted by a coursed granite pier at its left, forming a courtyard entrance. The rear elevation faces directly onto the perpendicular block and is linked by a porch to the left. Its exposed section shows two timber sliding sash windows, diminished to the left, while the east gable is abutted by a single-storey lean-to extension with a single window to the attic. The left gable has a single window with the wall projecting above the eaves line.

The perpendicular block aligned east-west to the east of the H-plan is detailed as a stable building, featuring three brick chimneys with terracotta pots and windows of sliding sashes with exposed boxes. The north elevation has an offset entrance door with three paired sliding sash windows to the right and a single window to the left. The south elevation displays a central glazed double doors with triple 6/6 windows to each side and three timber sheeted dormers with timber casements. The east and west gables are blank. The H-plan is enclosed to the west by a coursed granite wall with openings to the north comprising coursed granite piers and caps. Further two-storey outbuildings stand to the west, alongside a single outhouse constructed in similar style to the farm complex, positioned to the north-east.

The buildings sit within mature wooded parkland in the grounds of Castle Dobbs, accessed by a gravel driveway from the north gate lodge and a secondary entrance to the north-west. The farm complex forms part of a group of great architectural and historical interest with the main house and other associated structures.

Historical Development

The farm buildings appear on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857 but without wing sections to the left. Primary historical documentation indicates the complex represents a mid-nineteenth-century replacement of a previous group of farm buildings on the same site. The Townland Valuation of 1836 records the estate as a dwelling house and offices owned and occupied by Richard Dobbs Esq., valued at £46 14s, later revised to £53.

Griffith's Valuation of 1859 lists a house, office, gate lodge, and land initially valued at £45, later revised to £12 5s. An accompanying note records that "the old farm lot & offices have been pulled down & the new ones built…the amount in the old book to be altered," confirming the replacement date.

Valuation Revisions from the 1870s record the occupier as Conway Dobbs, held in fee, with valuations of £120, revised to £128 in 1878. In 1886 the occupier changed to Montague Dobbs. By 1904 the gate lodge entry was crossed out and changed to a house, with a gardeners house noted at this time. A note states "gate lodge deducted in 1904"; the lodge is separately recorded, occupied by William Snoddy and valued at £3. A smaller house was also detached from the main estate valuation at this time, occupied by Jacob Johnston and leased from M.W. Dobbs, valued at £2 10s. By 1914 the Castle Dobbs entry lists a house, office, stewards house, gardeners house, and land, with a building valuation of £125. The gate lodge is recorded as occupied by Johanna Holt, then by John Bowes in 1915.