Vernacular Houses |
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For ordinary rural houses, experts differ on when the standard, three room, whitewashed houses, common across Ulster until recently, started to develop. English style half timbered buildings are rarely indicated on drawings after the end of the Seventeenth century and it seems clear that, over time, common influences of climate, materials and experience combined to produce a similar approach to building.
On the island, two types of standard plan have been observed. To the north and west the 'direct entry' type is found. This is where the entrance is to a room with the hearth fire on the cross wall furthest from the door. To the south and east, the 'lobby entry' type is found. In this arrangement, the fire is on the cross wall beside the entrance and sheltered from the draft of the door by a small transverse wall forming an entrance lobby. This wall often has a small window overlooking the fire. In the Limavady area almost all of the houses are of the direct entry type. Though one house on Magilligan is lobby entry and an outlier of the standard approach, Perhaps this was a family who migrated in the nineteenth century from the south or east. Buildings were traditionally roofed in thatch, materials depended upon the locality and availability with many roofs showing the use of different materials over time. In inland areas roofs tended to be fixed with hazel pins or 'scollops.' In windy costal areas, such as Magilligan, ropes held the covering on securely. Rural buildings were constructed in readily available local materials, stone, mud and brick are all found in this area. During the nineteenth century some landlords reorganised their estates to improve them. the marquis of Waterford offered large slates to tenants willing to remove thatched roofs. Elsewhere owners changed to corrugated metal known as 'tin'. Some landlords also commissioned similar buildings for their estates, though these dispensed with the vernacular plan forms. |
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Typical categories of traditional rural houses.
Direct entry scallop thatched house, Bellarena, built in Basalt.
Direct entry, whitewashed, vernacular house near Feeny with thatch replaced by corrugated metal.
Landlord commissioned dispensary near Bellarena. Formal plan. Picturesque design with Gothick windows.
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