Stable block and attached former mill, Killevy Castle, Ballintemple Road, Meigh, Killeavy, NEWRY, Co. Armagh, BT35 8LQ

Stable Block and Attached Former Corn Mill, Killevy Castle Demesne

This is a two-storey, three-bay stable block with an attached three-storey former corn mill to the rear, constructed around 1836 for Mr Powell Foxall, a Newry banker, to designs by George Papworth, a Dublin architect. The buildings form part of a larger complex of farm buildings set on the east slope of the Killevy Castle demesne, in the townland of Clonlum.

Setting and Access

The farmyard is arranged in a rectangular plan around a central yard, set on the slope of the demesne to the south-east of Killevy Castle. It is reached from the garden in front of the castle by a well-defined path bounded on one side by a stone retaining wall and on the other by a low stone plinth wall. The farmyard to the east is accessed by a lane to the north of the main driveway, through a pair of wrought-iron loop-headed gates supported on rubble stone gate piers with stone copings. Immediately to the south, the stable yard itself is accessed off the main driveway through a pair of wrought-iron gates supported on dressed rubble stone square gate piers. To the west is a rubble stone boundary wall containing a drinking trough with continuously flowing water, set within a semi-circular headed, lime-rendered niche. To the south-east is a walled garden. The farmyard is entered through a semi-elliptical archway with finely dressed granite voussoirs; its right side abuts the west face of a boiler house, and its left side abuts the remains of a ruinous outbuilding.

The farmyard complex comprises: (1) the stable block with two rear returns at the south-west corner; (2) a split-level outbuilding forming the former corn mill and waterwheel pit to the west; (3) a barn to the north; (4) animal houses to the east; (5) a boiler house at the south-east corner; and (6) a small store to the west of the farmyard.

Stable Block

The stable block is the most architecturally notable building in the complex. It has a pitched natural slate roof, an advanced brick eaves course (with no rainwater goods), and walls of rubble stone finished in whitewash and lime render over brick dressings. All window openings are boarded and have granite cills unless otherwise noted. A granite bellcote sits on the left gable, and the right gable has been raised and crenellated, with a single window opening to its centre.

The principal elevation faces south. The central section projects slightly and is gabled. At its centre is a large pair of tongue-and-groove sheeted doors with wrought-iron strap hinges and a timber lintel surmounted by a flat brick arch. Above is a landscape-format window opening, without a cill, set within a slightly recessed semi-circular headed arch; above that, at the apex, is a blind roundel. The left and right bays are mirror images of one another. The left bay has a tongue-and-groove sheeted door with a transom set to the right, with a window opening to its left. At first-floor centre is a window opening with its head at eaves level.

The left gable has a tongue-and-groove sheeted loading door at first-floor level, accessed by a metal walkway leading to an outbuilding on a raised bank.

The rear elevation is entirely abutted by two mono-pitched returns, both with natural slate roofs and rubble stone walls. The rear right return is whitewashed and lime-rendered; its principal north face has an infilled door opening set left of centre with a window opening to its left. Its right cheek is blank and its left cheek abuts the left return. The rear left return is taller — its roof rises to the eaves level of the main block — and projects further. Its walls are unrendered rubble stone. The principal north face is abutted at its left end by the former corn mill. The exposed section has a single metal-framed, two-over-four side-hung casement. The right cheek is abutted by the right rear return, with the exposed section left blank. Owing to the topography, the left cheek and east face of this return rises to three storeys; it has also been raised and crenellated, with an infilled door opening at ground floor and a single two-over-two timber fixed-pane window at second-floor centre.

Former Corn Mill and Waterwheel Pit

The west end of the farmyard is enclosed by a large outbuilding whose southern gable abuts the right return of the stable block. Its west face is single-storey and its east face is three-storey. It has a pitched corrugated asbestos cement roof and unrendered rubble stone walls. All window openings have granite cills except those at second-floor level.

The yard-facing east elevation has a window opening at centre flanked by a door opening at either end of the ground floor, with a blocked-up door opening to the far left; the far right is abutted at right angles by the barn. The first floor has three window openings, the central one being smaller than the others. The second floor has two window openings with heads at eaves level. The south gable abuts the rear return of the stable block. The west elevation is abutted to the left by the waterwheel pit housing, with the exposed section obscured by vegetation. The waterwheel pit housing is roofless and the waterwheel is no longer present. The north gable is abutted by a large, ruinous and roofless lean-to.

Store to the West

To the west of the stable block, on a raised bank, is a small store with a pitched natural slate roof and lime-rendered rubble stone walls. The west gable elevation has a timber sheeted door to the left and a single window opening to the right, with no window present. The north elevation has an infilled door opening to the left. The east gable elevation has a fixed-pane window with a metal lattice frame to the right and an infilled door opening to the left. The south elevation has an infilled window opening to the right.

Historical Background

The original house on this site, known as Killevy Lodge, was built by Meredith Foxall sometime before 1816, possibly around 1813, given the dates of many of the Foxall leases for the surrounding lands. In 1836 it was transformed into the present Killevy Castle for Mr Powell Foxall to designs by George Papworth, and it was at this time that the farm buildings, including the stable block, were added to the demesne. The work was completed the following year. When the castle was offered for sale by auction in 1852, the sale particulars noted that "the out-offices are on a corresponding scale and of real utility and convenience."

The Second Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1861 shows a large pond to the north of the farm buildings and a water channel flowing eastwards just beyond its north-east corner — features not depicted on the First Edition map of 1835. This indicates that water power was being harnessed somewhere within the farmyard and that a waterwheel had been installed between 1835 and 1861. The first explicit written record of a mill at the site appears in the valuation revision book entry of 1868, which records a corn mill and stores belonging to William Gillespie, who had taken over the estate from John Foxall around that time. The castle itself was noted as vacant at this point, suggesting Gillespie used only the outbuildings. Although the mill is not cited in the records until 1868, it was probably in use before that date, the explicit mention likely reflecting the fact that buildings within the estate were being listed separately for valuation purposes as some fell out of use.

Ownership of the estate passed to the Bell family around 1879 — the castle is still apparently known locally as Bell's Castle — but the corn mill and stores are described as "part down" in the 1884 valuation entry and as "dilapidated" in 1890. They do not appear to have been used for their original purpose thereafter. The Third Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1907 shows a similar footprint configuration to the 1861 map, indicating no further major alterations to the buildings. By this date, however, the pond had been made considerably narrower and a substantial retaining bank constructed along its east side, suggesting that it was remodelled for aesthetic rather than functional reasons once the corn mill had ceased operation. No major changes have been made to the building footprints since the Third Edition map.

Significance

The stable block is a well-preserved and relatively rare surviving example of a complete two-storey stable block of this period, notable for its granite bellcote and crenellated right gable. The adjoining former corn mill is of additional interest: although the waterwheel is gone, the waterwheel pit and mill structure survive as an important remnant of industrial activity on the estate. Together, the stable block and former corn mill have group value with Killevy Castle, and collectively reflect the development of the Killevy demesne. Both buildings are currently vacant.