To rear of 70 Greencastle Pier Rd, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4LR

A kiln and two buildings stand to the rear of 70 Greencastle Pier Road, Kilkeel, overlooking the sea. Though individually modest, they form a complex of minor industrial and commercial interest, dating from the late 18th century.

The kiln is a substantial structure oriented north-south with its draw hole facing south. The top and sides have been artificially embanked, sloping down to random rubble stone retaining walls. A random rubble wall delineates the front, with a low wall around the top except to the north where a rear ramp permits access. The kiln contains a single circular pot. The draw hole has a segmental head approximately 2.5 metres above ground, with splayed reveals of roughly dressed granite. A one-storey lean-to abuts the front of the kiln, enclosing the draw hole. Formerly roofed in natural slate (now largely disappeared), it has random rubble walls with a projecting eaves course. The lean-to is internally divided into two sections: on the left is a doorway with a window to its right illuminating the section over the draw hole; on the right is another doorway leading to a smaller room wrapping around part of the east side of the kiln. Wall breaks suggest this lean-to is a later addition. The entire structure is now derelict and overgrown.

Immediately to the east of the kiln stands a substantial two-storey dwelling of four bays. The left three bays contain the dwelling; the right-hand bay serves as a store. It is roofed in natural slate with finely dressed granite verges (rainwater goods missing). There is a rendered chimney to the left gable and a second between the third and fourth bays. Three skylights break the rear pitch. The walls are of lime-rendered random rubble with a projecting eaves course. The principal facade faces the sea. At ground floor centre is an asbestos-roofed lean-to with an entrance door to the front and an infilled window opening on its right side. Window openings to either side of this entrance porch are now sheeted over. At first floor, three dormer windows, also sheeted over, align with the ground floor openings. The right-hand bay has a large doorway at ground floor leading into the store, with a flat head of finely dressed granite voussoirs and containing a pair of sheeted timber doors. No first floor openings exist to this end bay. The left gable is blank save for a boarded-over window opening at ground floor level. The rear elevation has a window opening at centre and a doorway at right, both sheeted over, with no first floor openings. The right elevation contains a loading door at first floor. A wrought-iron gate beside it opens into a back yard containing several small sheds of no special merit. The building is presently in reasonable condition.

To the immediate north-east stands a one-storey dwelling of four bays aligned north-south. It is roofed in asbestos slate with clay verges. Low rendered chimneys stand between bays 1 and 2, between bays 3 and 4, and on the gable of the right-hand bay. The walls are of whitewashed and lime-rendered random rubble. At the centre is a flat porch with a partly glazed sheeted door on its right side and a 3/3 sliding sash to the front. Two 3/3 sashes stand to the left of the porch (one to each bay) and two to the right (to the third and fourth bays). All windows have painted cills and exposed boxes. A gravelled garden fronts the house. Both gables are blank. The rear wall is pebbledashed. A small lean-to with corrugated asbestos roof abuts the right-hand bay, with a window in its yard-facing wall and rounded corner. This house is well maintained as a holiday home.

Historical records establish the complex's function. The 1834 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map shows a kiln and two buildings. The 1835 valuation describes the complex as a "store house and yard for coal, timber, slates" belonging to William Hamilton of Kilkeel. The storehouse measured 66 feet by 24 feet by 15 feet high, corresponding to the present two-storey dwelling. The dwelling measured 40 feet by 16 feet 6 inches by 7 feet, corresponding to the one-storey dwelling. The 1863 valuation explicitly mentions the lime kiln alongside the coal store and offices, then belonging to Sarah Cunningham. The kiln appears on the 1859 Ordnance Survey map in its present form with an enclosed drawhole to the front. The lime store and coal store entries are crossed out from the valuation books during the later 19th century, suggesting the two-storey store was converted into a dwelling around or shortly after this period. The complex is of industrial archaeological interest.