Well Attendant's House, 17 Brae Road, Ballynahinch

Well Attendant's House, 17 Brae Road, Ballynahinch

This is one of six identical attendant's houses built along the Mourne conduit as part of the Mourne Scheme, by which the Belfast City & District Water Commissioners brought water to Belfast from the Annalong and Kilkeel rivers. The building is of considerable historical interest as part of the infrastructure associated with Belfast's first water supply from the Mournes. The plans were drawn up by L.L. Macassey, Engineer to the BCDWC, and approved by the Board in February 1899. The contract for erecting all six houses was awarded to Messrs Courtney & Co in November 1899, valued at £6806. By April 1901 all were nearing completion, and they were presumably occupied by the time the pipeline was officially opened in October 1901.

The dwelling is a one and a half storey, two-bay waterpipe attendant's house of rectangular plan, orientated north-south, with its gable facing the road on the north side of Brae Road. The walls are constructed of squared random rubble Silurian masonry over a projecting base course, with cream brick used in the projecting eaves, stepped quoins, and along the top of the base course. The pitched natural slate roof has plain painted wooden bargeboards and moulded concrete kneeler stones, with ogee cast-iron gutters. A distinctive red brick chimney occupies the centre of the ridge, finished with cream brick stepped quoins and cap.

The main façade faces east. Painted timber sash windows with shallow segmental heads and chamfered painted cills (probably of concrete) are trimmed with cream brick heads and jambs with stop-end chamfers. The timber door is similarly trimmed. A one-storey porch with pitched natural slate roof, raised cream brick verges and concrete kneelers projects from the left side, accessed by four granite steps. The porch contains a modern door with two glazed panels and a window opening in its east-facing gable wall. To the right of the porch, on the main block wall, is a set of French windows in an enlarged former window opening.

The south gable contains two window openings to the ground floor and two to the attic floor, arranged vertically. The west wall is largely blank except for a single window opening to a back room at ground floor left. The north gable is abutted on its left side by a single-storey return along the inside of the yard's east wall, above which is a window opening to the half landing and another similar window to the back bedroom.

A courtyard projects north and west of the dwelling, with the entrance on the south wall. The courtyard walling is of similar construction to the dwelling with cream-brick trim and is coped with rock-faced blocks. The original wide entrance is now sheeted over with a modern glazed window and door inserted (leading to a roofed-over yard). Square gate pillars flank the original opening, each finished with cream brick quoins and projecting flat concrete caps. A lean-to timber-sheeted garage with a tiled roof abuts the yard wall at the west.

The other five identical lodges along the conduit are located at Tullybranigan, Ballybannon, Drumanaquoile, Dunmore, and Ballykine. More substantial water-related dwellings were also erected at the Silent Valley, Dunnywater and Knockbreckan.