6 Manse Road, Kilkeel, Newry, Co Down, BT34 4BN

6 Manse Road, Kilkeel

A late Victorian brick-built house, part of a unified architectural group of two-storey (plus attic) properties set within a planned communal landscaped setting on the western side of Manse Road. The group comprises two distinct arrangements: Nos. 6 and 4 form one pair to the right, while Nos. 12, 10 and 8 are positioned to the left. All properties share common architectural detailing.

No. 6 is three bays wide and forms the left element of a pair of mirror-image properties. The pitched roof is finished in natural slate with red clay crested ridges. Red brick chimneys, detailed with raised bricks delineating flues, rise from the left gable and similarly at the junction with No. 4. The eaves are formed from three courses of decorative brickwork supporting half-round metal gutters. Above the right bay, rising from just above eaves level, is a dormer window with a pitched natural slate roof, decorative fretted timber bargeboard and drop finial. The dormer contains a pair of two-paned side-hung painted timber casements with painted timber cheeks.

The front elevation is constructed of red brick laid in English garden wall bond, with yellow brick detailing and a chamfered granite base course. The left bay is a two-storey canted element that advances slightly and rises into a large gable. Between ground and first floor, two courses of decorative yellow brick are separated by two courses of red brick, with stepped granite quoins at the left corner. The gable is detailed to match the façade and features a timber bargeboard with decorative cartouches and a spiked finial. The centre of the gable displays a recessed roundel inset with a yellow and red brick panel.

To the ground floor right is a one-storey canted bay window with a moulded granite cill and flat concrete-coped roof. The walls match the façade treatment, and yellow brick coursing repeats at first-floor level over the window heads. The bay contains a 2/2 sliding sash on its face and 1/1 sashes on each cheek. Its left cheek is incorporated into a modern painted timber and glass porch, which abuts the central bay. The porch features a modern glazed and panelled door and a felt roof, with original white painted walls surviving within.

The left bay contains a two-storey canted bay window abutting the advanced gable. This bay window is dressed with walls, cills, windows and roof matching the right bay, but extends two storeys. Rather than a string course at first floor, there are recessed brick panels dressed with yellow brick—two to the front and one on each cheek.

To the first floor, a 2/2 sliding sash window sits above the right canted bay. Above the porch at first floor is a narrow 1/1 sash window. The right gable forms the party wall with No. 4. The left gable is cement-rendered with a single 2/2 sliding sash at ground floor left, a single 2/2 at first floor left, and two 1/1 sashes in the attic gable.

The rear elevation is cement-rendered and comprises three bays, the central bay being narrower. To the right, a two-stage return abuts the main elevation. The first stage is two-storey and gabled with a chimney on the ridge gable; the second stage is single-storey with a half-hipped natural slate roof. The central bay has a shallower return rising higher (three storeys) with a flat roof over a service stair projection on its left cheek. The left bay is plain. Ground-floor windows and doors to the rear are modern hinged casements; those above are original.

The rear yard is enclosed by a dashed wall with a sheeted timber door to the alley. Plastic rainwater goods are fitted to the rear roof.

The setting comprises a common landscaped lawn at the front with driveways dissecting the area. A boundary wall of granite rubble with embattled coping encloses the entire common site, featuring a pair of square gate piers to Manse Road, though the gates are no longer present. Beyond the carriageway to the rear is a rear garden.