14 Urbal Road, Coagh, Cookstown, BT80 0DW

14 Urbal Road, Coagh

This is a rare example of a terraced house from the 1920s–1930s, part of a group of four identical dwellings that together possess significant group value. All four houses in the terrace remain in similarly original condition, which is unusually complete for buildings of this age and type.

The house is a terraced two-bay two-storey cottage, built circa 1930 (valuation records suggest 1927–28), with a single-storey lean-to return to the rear. It is rectangular in plan. The lean-to has been extended to completely enclose the yard using corrugated metal sheeting. The roof is pitched with fibre cement slate (without fascia or bargeboards), and the external walls are dashed rendered. Rainwater goods are a mixture of cast iron and plastic.

The northwest front elevation faces directly onto Urbal Road. A square-headed timber door with tongue-and-groove boarding and a rectangular glazed panel is located left of centre, accessed by a single concrete step. To the right of the ground floor is one square-headed window. The first floor contains one square-headed window above the ground-floor opening and an ocular window with concrete sill and hood. The main windows are timber sliding sash with concrete sills: six-over-one lights to the ground floor and three-over-one to the upper floor. The southeast rear elevation has two windows to the upper floor and one to the lower, matching the main elevation arrangement. A square-headed timber panelled back door is located to the right side of the lean-to; the roof panel above this door is missing.

A shared chimney is located on the party wall, constructed in brick with profiled stepped capping and three clay pots. This chimney is shared with number 16.

The building is currently vacant. The curtilage to the rear is open and undivided.

Setting and History

The terrace is located on the outskirts of Coagh, fronting directly onto Urbal Road. Opposite and to the southwest along the same building line is a row of neighbouring houses. To the northeast are commercial buildings, with a 1930s school and a fine 19th-century church further out on the edge of the village. The surrounding residential buildings are mainly two-storey and of similar scale to the terrace. Many neighbouring houses have low-walled front gardens, though this house's front door opens straight onto the footpath.

Valuation records indicate the short terrace of four dwellings with yards was built in 1927–28 by Jonathan R. Elliott. The original occupants were Thomas McIvor, David Mitchell, James McKnight and John Stirrup, with David Mitchell occupying this particular house.