House at, Ballybeg Lane, The Loup, Magherafelt, BT45 7TL

This is a clachan-like grouping of single-storey vernacular houses and outbuildings, largely of pre-1830s construction, with evidence suggesting that some structures may date from the mid-18th century. The group is situated in an isolated rural location at the end of Ballybeg Lane, in the townland of Ballyneil Beg, approximately 2km south-east of The Loup and 3km south-west of Ballyronan. The buildings are loosely arranged around a roughly square yard, oriented broadly south-south-west to north-north-east. Ballybeg Lane passes diagonally through the square, entering at the north-east corner and exiting at the south-west corner.

The grouping is of considerable architectural and historical interest as a good and increasingly rare surviving example of a vernacular settlement. Its group value is strong, despite some alterations made during the 20th century.

BUILDING 1: VERNACULAR HOUSE WITH ATTACHED OUTBUILDINGS (Buildings 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D)

This linear range sits on the north side of the square. At its centre is the house itself (Building 1A). To its immediate east is a single-cell byre with a barrel-vaulted corrugated-iron roof (Building 1D). To the right of the house is a three-cell outbuilding (Building 1B). At the far eastern end, a further two-cell outbuilding (Building 1C) abuts the group at right angles, creating a roughly T-shaped footprint overall.

Building 1A — House

The south-facing front façade has a lean-to porch at its centre. To the right of the porch there are two window openings; to the left, one window opening and one door opening. The front door is set in the east cheek of the porch, and a small window is set in the west cheek. The gables are largely obscured by the abutting outbuildings. The rear (north) façade has four roughly constructed window openings, irregularly spaced and of varying sizes. Two squat chimneystacks rise from the ridge.

Building 1D — Byre

This is a single-cell byre with a barrel-vaulted corrugated-iron roof, now partially collapsed. The south façade has a door opening to the right side. The west façade has a window opening to the left side. The north façade is blank.

Building 1B — Three-cell Outbuilding

This building comprises three separate rooms, each accessed from the south façade by its own external door. The left-hand (eastern) room has a small window opening now fitted with a small timber-sheeted door. The middle room has a small window opening to the right of the door. All door and window openings are irregularly sized and spaced. The rear north façade is blank.

Building 1C — Two-cell Building at East End

To the right of centre on the east-facing front façade there is a door opening, with two irregularly spaced and sized window openings on either side. The south gable is blank. High in the apex of the north gable there is a small window opening. On the far right side of the west façade there is a door opening.

BUILDING 2: MODERNISED DWELLING WITH ASSOCIATED OUTBUILDINGS (Buildings 2, 2A, 2B and 3)

This is a simple linear, gable-ended, single-storey house occupying the eastern half of the south side of the square. Its wall thickness and map evidence suggest it may be of pre-1832 construction, although it was substantially formalised in the mid-20th century and now presents large picture windows, a flat-roofed porch extension, pebbledash render, rebuilt brick chimneystacks and an artificial slate roof. The building was not surveyed internally. A single-storey detached garage is set to the west of this house and was also not surveyed.

A laneway runs to the rear of the house. The south side of this lane is bounded by a four-cell grouping (Building 2, comprising Buildings 2A and 2B). To the east of this stands a further outbuilding (Building 3), and to the east of that is a small orchard containing a small detached sentry-box dry closet.

Buildings 2A and 2B — Four-cell Grouping

This comprises two abutting outbuildings: a three-cell building to the right (Building 2B) and a single-cell building to the left (Building 2A). The north façade of Building 2B has two double-width door openings to the left and a single-width opening to the right, with a small window opening to the left of the single-width door. The west gable has two window openings: one set high in the apex and one smaller opening set directly below. A screen wall with a door opening links this gable with the garage, creating a small suntrap. The single-cell portion (Building 2A) is slightly lower and is entered from the east gable. The south façade of the grouping as a whole has one window to the left of centre; the north façade has two windows.

Building 3 — Two-cell Outbuilding

The west façade has two door openings with a window to the far right side. Both gables are blank. The east façade has a small window to the left side.

GENERAL CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS

With the exception of the modernised dwelling, the walls throughout the grouping are of limewashed fieldstone rubble. Many walls have been patched, and some gables have been patched or raised using a variety of materials including brick and blockwork. All roofs are covered in corrugated iron; all are pitched except the byre to the left of the vernacular house, which has a barrel-vaulted form. Verge treatments vary and include parapets and closed eaves. Rainwater goods are mainly uPVC, with small areas of galvanised metal remaining, though much of this is missing or was never installed. Doors throughout are timber-sheeted and include a number of half-doors. Much of the ironmongery is of vernacular manufacture. Window frames vary and include timber sash windows of various configurations and a number of Crittall-style steel frames. A number of timber lintels are exposed both internally and externally, and several window openings have been patched.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

The house to the north (Building 1A) and the outbuilding set at right angles to the east (Building 1C) are shown on the 1832 six-inch Ordnance Survey map. It is difficult to confirm from the map whether the small byre at the west end was present at that date. To the south, a structure that appears to correspond to the present modernised house is also depicted, though again certainty is difficult. Various other structures shown to the south and east on the 1832 map have since been cleared away.

The valuation of the same year records the various components of the grouping as consisting of a house measuring 56ft by 21½ft by 8½ft, with ancillary buildings of 18 by 21½ by 9, 56½ by 20 by 5¾, and 19½ by 20 by 5. All were thatched, and the valuer considered them to be relatively old — most likely 18th century in origin. The occupant at that time is listed as William McIlwain.

The revised Ordnance Survey map of 1853 shows a similar arrangement, though several structures to the south had been cleared away by this date. The 1857 valuation records the grouping as being divided between several occupants: William and James Clendinning held Building 1 and everything to the west and south, while Thomas Tracey held the buildings to the south-east. Tracey's holding is recorded as including a house, confirming that the present modernised dwelling existed in some form at that date, though no dimensions are provided in this valuation.

By 1900 the grouping was held by Thomas Clendinning and John Clendinning, with John Clendinning recorded as holding the freehold of the entire collection in 1922. By this stage Building 1 had assumed its present extent, with section 1B having been added sometime between 1856 and 1906, and Building 2 to the south had also been constructed. The valuations do not specifically record these additions, the overall value of the property being too low to attract detailed attention. William Clendinning is listed as occupant in 1970. After his death the property passed to his sister, Mrs Maggie Shaw, who in 1989 transferred it to her son. In 1994 he gave part of the property to his brother. Several buildings on the western side of the site have been demolished since that time; until recently the western boundary included a further pre-1832 vernacular outbuilding and a mid-20th century corrugated-iron hay shed, both of which have been cleared away, with the western boundary now marked by a hedge.

The present owner has stated that his ancestors have occupied this site since 1759. Given the evidence of the 1832 valuation — which describes the buildings as thatched and already considered old at that date — it is plausible that some of the structures standing today were already in existence well before 1832, and possibly dating from the 18th century.