11 Ballycoshone Road, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5HJ

11 Ballycoshone Road, Rathfriland

A single storey vernacular house of three bays with a single bay outhouse abutting its west gable, situated on the east side of Ballycoshone Road. The principal façade faces north. A parallel set of outbuildings opposite encloses a yard with the main house.

The house has rubble granite walls unevenly lime rendered and whitewashed, with an advanced eaves course. The roof is pitched natural slate aligned west to east, with terracotta ridges and two small cast iron rooflights. Four smooth rendered chimneys with projecting copings are positioned one to each gable and one on each side of the central bay. There are no rainwater goods.

The main entrance is positioned to the right of the central bay within a shallow porch. The porch has a lean-to natural slate roof with walls matching the main house, blank cheeks, and a front door. The door is broad tongued-and-grooved sheeted with a cottage latch and traditional iron hinges, with an additional half door in an advanced state of decay. To the left of the porch is a 2/2 vertically divided sliding sash window with horns and granite cill. Each of the three bays to the façade has a similar window, all with timber lintels, now boarded over. The rear elevation of the house has a matching window to each bay.

Abutting the right gable of the main block is an outbuilding with a roof that has a distinct break with the house roof. Its walls are similar to the main house but have a brick eaves course and a distinct wall break. A tongued-and-grooved sheeted door is positioned to the right of centre, with a small tongued-and-grooved loading door to the right gable facing the road. The rear wall of this outbuilding is blank.

Opposite and parallel to the house is a longer outbuilding comprising three bays: the left bay is two storeys high, the central bay is one and a half storeys, and the right bay is single storey. All have pitched natural slate roofs with terracotta ridge tiles and brick eaves courses. The walls are lime rendered and whitewashed random granite rubble. The left bay has a pair of sheet metal top-hung doors, while the central bay has a tongued-and-grooved sheeted door with cottage latch to its right and a boarded-up loading door at first floor centre. The central bay's sliding top-hung sheeted metal doors are set to the left. The right bay has a small window opening to the left and a tongued-and-grooved sheeted door to the right. The left gable facing the road is blank.

The rear elevation of the outbuildings shows: the left bay blank, the middle bay with a small blocked-up window to the left and a blocked-up doorway to the right, and the right bay with a former loading door at first floor with remains of steps up. The right gable is blank.

The east end of both the house and outbuildings are linked by a high painted rubble wall enclosing the yard. Its pedestrian gateway has been infilled. The western end of the yard fronts the road with entrance gates comprising a pair of limewhashed squared granite block piers with pyramidal caps. At the centre are carriage gates in flat iron with vertical divisions, twisted tops and arrowheads. A gap to the left is infilled with rubble wall, whilst the space to the right contains a pedestrian gate detailed as the carriage gates. The yard is paved with granite cobbles.

On the road, to the rear corner of the outhouse, is a length of stone walling terminated with a cylindrical stone gate post with a conical cap of rendered brick and rubble; its opposite number is gone. Across the road is a similar gateway with only one pier remaining. Further south, opposite the house, is a complete set of cylindrical piers.

In the field to the east of the house is a one and a half storey pig house with pitched natural slate roof and granite rubble walls brought to courses. Its front wall faces west and has two three-quarter height doors. It was formerly divided into two pens by a boundary wall, some remnants of which survive. The left gable has a loading door in the loft. Both the rear elevation and right gable are blank.