East Estate Workers’ House, Mourne Park Demesne, Newry Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34

This is an attractive and largely original pair of estate workers' houses dating from the early 19th century (1820-1839), forming an integral part of the Mourne Park demesne. They are situated to the north of a walled garden.

The houses are symmetrical, each being one-and-a-half storeys high and two bays wide. They have gabled roofs covered in natural slate, with plain projecting bargeboards and eaves. A coped brick chimney serves both properties along the party wall, with additional chimneys on each gable. Rainwater goods are a mix of cast iron and plastic. The walls are constructed from squared and coursed granite rubble, with brick dressings around the openings. All windows have finely dressed granite sills. The main façade faces southwest.

The right-hand house has a sheeted and painted front door sheltered by a slated gabled hood supported on timber brackets. To the left of the door is a 6/6 sliding sash window with horns, and to the right is a six-pane casement window. Above the sash window is a smaller 6/6 sliding sash window within a dormer rising from the eaves. The left-hand house presents a mirror-image façade. At the rear, ground floor windows include a large 6/6 sliding sash window to the left and a sheeted back door to the right, with a small six-pane casement window adjacent to the door. A 6/6 sash window in a dormer is above the ground floor window on the first floor. The right gable is blank. The remains of a former one-storey lean-to are visible, with only the roofline remaining. This building had its walls removed. An original cobbled path with dressed granite edging runs along the front of the houses.

The houses appear on an Ordnance Survey map of 1834.

Architectural interest lies in the style, proportions, ornamentation, plan form, setting, and group value. They also have local historical interest.