15 and 17 Ballyneill Road, Ballyronan, Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, BT45 6JL

This is a two-storey five-bay former police station, now a private residence, finished in roughcast render with a hipped slated roof in neo-Georgian style. It was built between 1920 and 1939 to a standard government design by the Ministry of Finance principal designer T.F.O. Rippingham, in collaboration with R.I. Smith, as part of the newly-formed Northern Ireland Government's provision of stations for the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The building is first recorded in 1923 as a Constabulary Barracks and yard, valued at £15. It remained in use as a police station until 1939, when it was acquired by Joseph Brown and converted to a house. The building is of great architectural and historical interest as a virtually unaltered example of inter-war RUC station design, representing a series of similar works distributed across Northern Ireland, characterised by restrained neo-Georgian styling in simple materials that fitted well into rural localities.

The main entrance faces south. The south elevation is symmetrical, with three windows to the first floor and three to the ground floor, alternated with two doorways. The central three openings on the ground floor are set in semi-circular arched recesses within a breakfront. Windows are rectangular timber vertically hung sliding sashes with horns: six over six to the first floor and six over nine to the ground floor. Doors are rectangular timber six-panelled. The walling is finished in roughcast render with a projecting smooth rendered plinth and moulded stringcourse that forms a cill to the first floor. The two ground floor doors represented separate entrances to the police station and police house respectively; only one is now in use. The roof is of Bangor blue slates in regular courses with projecting eaves finished with tongued and grooved timber sheeting to the flat soffits. There are three chimneys of roughcast render with smooth rendered cornices: one central to the main ridge and two rising from each end gable. Rainwater goods are of cast iron, comprising a moulded gutter with plain hopper heads and circular downpipes on the two side elevations.

The west elevation is of similar character and materials to the entrance front, but the hipped roof is broken by a tall and prominent chimney with shaped gable rising from the wall. It contains one window to the first floor and three to the ground floor of similar type to the front; the northernmost window has a portion of blind walling between the lower sash and the cill to the depth of one pane.

The rear or north elevation is of similar character, materials and detailing to the entrance front, but with non-symmetrical arrangement of openings. It has both nine over nine and four over four windows to the first floor across five bays, and to the ground floor across six bays. The ground floor has two rectangular timber doors, sheeted with glazed panels of small panes, one set in a glazed surround. Downpipes on this elevation are upvc. Projecting from the western extremity is a small single storey enclosure flat roofed with corrugated sheeting to one side. Attached to the rear wall is a pump mounted on a timber post with a cow-tail handle.

The east elevation is similar to the west except that the ground floor windows are six over nine.

The building stands in a garden with lawns on all four sides, a tarmac path across the front and along the sides, and a concrete flagged patio to the rear. It is bounded by a low wall of roughcast render with smooth rendered coping, surmounted by a square pier of similar materials to the western extremity and two sets of similar gate piers, one pedestrian and one vehicular. The pedestrian gate contains an original wrought iron gate of simple design. The vehicular gateway contains a pair of later plain ironwork gates of shorter height and different design. Within the garden stands a single storey corrugated iron shed of no special architectural quality. The building is set back slightly from the public road.

On the adjoining site to the east stands a small single storey slated, gabled and rendered repeater station of standard design, also dating from the inter-war years, containing an off-centre rectangular door in the road-front gable. To the rear of this stands a later red brick gabled and tiled associated building of larger size. This plot is bounded by tall iron-post steel mesh fencing topped with barbed wire.

According to valuation records, the building was first recorded in 1923. It remained in use as a station until 1939, when it was acquired by Joseph Brown and subsequently recorded as a house and later as house and offices. David Brown is recorded as the owner from 1955, and the following year he was leasing the building to Robert V. Boal, who remained as tenant up until at least 1972. Despite its conversion to residential use, the building appears to be virtually unaltered externally with all essential elements intact, thus retaining its original architectural appearance and character. The police stations of this period in Northern Ireland were widely admired for their architectural styling of restrained neo-Georgian type in simple materials. This example enjoys a pleasant garden setting which enhances the building's air of quiet distinction.