Adj to 49 Cranfield Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4LJ

Adjacent to 49 Cranfield Road, Kilkeel, this site comprises the remains of a 19th century coastguard station, still known locally as 'Coastguard Yard'. The complex consists of two houses and two outbuildings, now of primarily historical interest. The plan form and scale of these houses contrast notably with the later 19th century coastguard houses erected at Cranfield.

House A

A single-storey house aligned north-south with four bays. It has a pitched natural slate roof with tiled verges and terracotta ridges, and two harled concrete coped chimneys positioned between bays 1 and 2 and between bays 3 and 4. The walls are modern pebble-dashed render, and all windows are fitted with thin concrete cills. The west (front) elevation has a modern part-glazed painted plywood door in bay two, with each of the remaining three bays containing a single window—all are modern painted timber fixed lights with top-hung transoms. The north and south gables are blank. The east elevation contains a window in each bay, all being fixed-paned modern timber with side-hung casements. A doorway on bay two is now blocked up.

First Outbuilding

A one-and-a-half-storey outhouse aligned northwest-southeast, situated southwest of the main house. It has a pitched natural slate roof with tiled verges, and walls of granite rubble brought to courses. The northeast (front) elevation displays, from left to right, a modern timber door, a small modern fixed window, a blocked doorway, and a small fixed window. To the right of these is a vehicle entrance partially blocked up with concrete, with timber slats forming vents above. Thin vents in the masonry are present in the wall head at centre and left, above the door and window respectively. The left (southeast) gable has a sheeted loading door to the upper floor with a red brick cill. The northwest gable is fitted with a large pair of sliding doors. The southwest elevation contains a corrugated door to the left of centre, with three infilled window openings—one to the left of the door and two to the right.

Second Outbuilding

A one-and-a-half-storey outbuilding aligned north-south, positioned northeast of the house. It has a pitched natural slate roof with tiled verges and terracotta ridges, with walls finished in modern wet-dashed render. The south gable has a blocked-up loading door to the first floor. The north gable is blank. The east elevation contains a modern opening to the left and a large modern vehicle opening with tongue-and-groove sheeted door and a modern fixed window to the right. The west elevation is blank.

House B

A one-and-a-half-storey house aligned west-east on the west side of Cranfield Road, comprising three bays. The roof is pitched with natural stone slate—small, unevenly dressed slates of a greenish colour—laid in diminishing courses and tarred to the front pitch. The roof is inset with one cast iron skylight to the front pitch and two to the rear. Three cement-rendered chimneys are present: one to either gable and one on the party wall between the left and central bays. Red brick skews and half-round plastic rainwater goods are attached to a modern timber eaves board at projecting eaves. The walls are cement wet-dashed with a smooth basecourse. All openings have thin smooth cement architraves, and all windows have thin concrete cills.

The principal elevation faces south. A glazed post-World War 2 door at the left side of the central bay is accompanied by a full-height sidelight to its right. To the right of this is a three-paned modern timber casement window, with similar windows in each remaining bay. The left gable is blank at ground floor and contains two 2/2 sliding sashes with horns and without cills. The rear elevation has a partially glazed modern door to the left side of the central bay, with the right bay containing a two-paned modern casement window. The right bay includes an out-shot with a flat roof and modern glazing. The right gable is abutted by a lean-to outbuilding and is otherwise blank. This lean-to has a mono-pitched artificial slate roof and rubble stone walls, with its front wall blank and its rear wall containing a vehicle entrance. The wall of the main block enclosed within this lean-to is lime-dashed and washed with a pink pigment. The small front garden has been cleared to allow access to a modern replacement house situated to the northeast.

Historical Context

There was possibly a small coastguard presence at this location from 1813, functioning as an outstation of Rostrevor. The present houses appear to have been erected in the early 1820s to accommodate a force of 12 men. The 1836 Ordnance Survey Memoir records: "There is a coastguard station near Cranfield Point, consisting of one officer, one chief boatman and four men." By 1868, the station held nine men and a chief boatman. With the erection of a new station at Greencastle, the staff vacated these premises in the 1880s. An associated boathouse stands nearby.