Castle Farm, 15 Castlefarm Road, Stewartstown

Castle Farm is a ruined former stable block, built around 1720–1739, that stands as the sole surviving above-ground remnant of a once-significant castle complex. It is a classical, detached, L-shaped two-storey structure of random rubble construction, notable for its exaggerated cut-stone door and window surrounds in the Gibbsian style — a somewhat rustic interpretation of that idiom in which oversized voussoirs arranged in a fan-like pattern read as a single pronounced keystone, and cut-stone quoins frame the openings. The roof is entirely absent, though the surviving gable walls confirm it was originally pitched. At some point the building was adapted for use as a dwelling. An outbuilding attached to one leg of the L-plan creates an overall T-shaped footprint. The remains are now in a ruinous condition.

Architectural Description

The two wings are roughly equal in size. The north wing runs east–west and faces south; the east wing runs north–south and faces west. Their facades meet at right angles and partially enclose a square garden. Ground-floor openings dominate all elevations; the upper-floor windows are very small by comparison and sit tucked beneath the eaves. Most openings have been boarded up. External walls are generally random rubble with cut sandstone detailing, though various areas show evidence of repair or later alteration using stone, brick, or concrete. There are cut-stone eaves and a cut-stone course above the plinth at the base of the walls. Roof and rainwater goods are entirely absent.

North Wing

The south elevation is arranged in three main bays. At ground-floor level these contain, respectively, a segmental-headed carriage arch, a square-headed door opening, and a square-headed window opening. All three are surrounded by Gibbsian-style cut-stone quoins and voussoirs of the fan-like, single-keystone type described above. The quoins are missing to the left of the window, where the stonework has been repaired in brickwork. There are also two smaller plain square openings at ground-floor level and two openings to the upper floor, one of which is an irregular hole in the wall and may not represent an original opening. Sills are cut stone. The carriage arch has been filled in with concrete blockwork, with a small timber-framed window set into the centre. There is no room surviving behind the arch; the gable and rear walls are demolished, and an internal stone wall is exposed on the western side of the north wing. The remains of a door opening at upper level, and the sockets where floor joists once sat, are visible on this west elevation. The north elevation contains a variety of square-headed openings without ornament, most boarded up and one bricked up. The interior of the carriage arch bay is visible from this side, and a timber lintel can be seen at springer level within the arch. The gable end of the east wing is flush with this elevation, and a two-storey pitched-roofed stone farm building is attached to that gable end.

East Wing

The west elevation of the east wing is arranged in six bays. Square-headed door openings occupy the first, third, and sixth bays; the remaining bays each have a square-headed window opening. Three small square openings serve the upper floor. All are boarded up. The window in the fifth bay is half-boarded and half window frame, indicating these were originally four-over-four timber sash windows. The openings in bays three through six all have the exaggerated cut-stone quoin and voussoir surrounds. The door in the first bay is surrounded by concrete; the window in the second bay is surrounded by brickwork. The wall is partially coursed rubble with cut-stone eaves and cut-stone quoins to the southwest corner. The south gable is partially rendered stone, with two square-headed window openings — one at ground floor and one at first floor. The lower opening has been filled in with brickwork; the upper remains open. A rendered wall extends eastward from the eastern corner, and a lean-to byre is supported by this wall to the south, leaning against the eastern elevation of the east wing. The east elevation is in poor condition and contains a variety of square-headed door and window openings, some of which still retain eight-over-eight timber-framed windows in poor condition. Sills throughout are cut stone.

Historical Background

As the name Castle Farm suggests, this site has deep historical roots. The castle complex was begun in 1608 by Sir Andrew Stewart following a grant of land in the area from King James I. By 1622, a "strong Castle of stone and lyme, with high walls, 330 foot about" had been erected by Stewart. The fate of the site over the following two centuries is uncertain, though the pronounced Gibbsian keystones on the surviving outbuildings suggest rebuilding in the early to mid-18th century. A residence is marked on Taylor's and Skinner's map of 1777 as "Castle Stewart", which at that time was in the possession of the Caulfield family. By 1833 this residence had been cleared away; the OS map of that year shows only the present T-shaped outbuilding, with an additional projection to the north end and a freestanding structure to the north-east. Immediately to the west, the map shows the outline of a smaller T-shaped building attached to the main structure but apparently already roofless and ruinous. Tree-lined drives are also shown, with the drive from the west terminating just south-west of the existing building, perhaps indicating the original location of the main house.

In the valuation of around 1833, the main T-shaped building is recorded as an old structure in the hands of Hugh and William Robinson, containing two dwellings measuring 43½ ft × 21½ ft × 17 ft and 41 ft × 21½ ft × 17 ft respectively, together with offices of 11½ ft × 21½ ft × 9 ft and 46 ft × 22 ft × 16½ ft (with a deduction for an archway of 10 ft × 22 ft × 7½ ft), and a number of separate thatched outbuildings measuring 64 ft × 14½ ft × 6 ft, 18½ ft × 23½ ft × 7½ ft, 62½ ft × 21½ ft × 15 ft, and 70 ft × 16 ft × 9 ft.

By the OS map of 1857 the main structure appears in its present form, with part of the formerly ruinous western section apparently rebuilt, and a new building added immediately north-east. In the second valuation of the following year, Hugh Robinson is recorded as continuing to occupy one of the dwellings, with the other vacant and a small dwelling sub-let to a Thomas Mullen. In 1862 the freehold was acquired from the Caulfields by a Robert McGuckian, who continued to lease it to Hugh Robinson until 1884, when the lease passed to a James Woods. Shortly before this, in 1881, one of the houses was noted as "down", and by 1889 another became vacant and was never reoccupied, becoming derelict and eventually recorded as "boarded up" by the early 1920s. The remaining dwelling appears to have continued in use until at least the 1930s. By 1954 Castle Farm had passed into the ownership of J. H. Donnelly and Edward Laverty. In that same year Laverty built the present two-storey house to the west of the outbuildings, and from 1956 he is listed as sole freeholder. The Castle Farm site was scheduled as an archaeological monument in 1987.

Setting

The ruin stands adjacent to a farmyard and a modern detached house built around 1970. Some of the agricultural buildings appear to be broadly contemporary with the ruined stable block. The farm lies in open countryside near Stewartstown, and the south-facing front elevation of the ruin looks out over the town to the south-west. The lane from the road approaches from the north, meaning the ruin faces away from the approach; the modern house faces towards the lane and road. The square garden formed within the angle between the two wings of the ruin is partly enclosed by the adjacent modern house. The north and east sides of the ruin are bounded by the farmyard and agricultural buildings.