[Extracts from conference proceedings published by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society in 1998.]
A paper by Caroline Maguire
Alan Gailey Fellow at the Institute of Irish Studies, the Queen's
University of Belfast
The countryside is one of Northern Ireland's most valuable
assets. It is well known for its rich and varied regional and
local landscapes. The local landscape character and distinctive
'sense of place' evidenced in the dwellings and outbuildings together
with enclosures of stone walls, pillars and hedgerows denoting
field patterns have historically combined to give a visual coherence
to the countryside.
It is the purpose of this paper to show that this distinctive
character of the local landscapes is systematically being stripped
away through both past and present policies implemented by the
Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Planning Service, VAT legislation
and the Building and Environmental Health Regulations.
This study has sought to quantify the change and loss of these
traditional buildings, and to investigate the underlying reasons
for these changes within sample regions. It was carried out in
the period from September 1996-August 1997 and it ran concurrently
with the the Environment and Heritage Service's Townland Survey.
The selection of the five study areas was based on the professional
consensus of the advisory team, all familiar with the geography,
architecture and history of the landscape of Northern Ireland.
The choices are a fair reflection of the great range, diversity
and richness of the remaining rural vernacular architecture in
Northern Ireland and its resilience or demise in an era of increased
wealth, mobility and expectation. The areas chosen for scrutiny
were:
1. The Shimna Valley in The Mournes, County Down, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Mourne AONB), an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA), and an Area of Special Scientific Interest (Eastern Mournes ASSI) within which a Candidate Special Area of Conservation (Candidate SAC) is located. The area has more recently been designated a Rural Priority Area (RPA No.57: Tollymore) by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive - i.e. an area designated as having a high level of rural unfitness. The area has had a Design Guide drawn up to guide future development.
2. An area in County Fermanagh near Fivemiletown , in a Rural Priority Area (RPA No.34: Brookeborough) designated by the NIHE.
3. The Glenelly Valley in The Sperrins in County Tyrone, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (Sperrin AONB); it is also in an Environmentally Sensitive Area ESA, and is in close proximity to the Owenkillew and Glenelly Woods ASSI. The glen above Cranagh is a designated ASSI.
4. Glenariff Glen in County Antrim, designated an AONB (Antrim Coast and Glens and Rathlin AONB) and an ESA. Garron plateau is designated a Candidate SAC, and the hazelwood scrubs in Glenariff have been designated an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI). Glenariff waterfall is a Nature Reserve. The area has had a Design Guide drawn up to guide development and more recently has been designated a Rural Priority Area (RPA No.5: Glenariff) by the NIHE.
5. The Birches Area of County Armagh. The lowland fringe of Lough Neagh in The Birches area of County Armagh has been designated a Ramsar site (Lough Neagh and Lough Beg Ramsar site) under ASSI (1965 legislation) and is a Rural Priority Area (RPA No.17: The Birches) designated by the NIHE.
No less than seven landscape designations were encountered
in the five areas, each jealously guarded and enshrined in all
manner of international and national treaties, conventions and
directives, whilst the buildings that imbue these protected landscapes
with so much of their distinctive character are afforded no protection
whatsoever.
Field work was undertaken comprising studies of thirty-one townlands,
in which each building recorded on the Ordnance Survey map of
1908 was surveyed and any new houses were plotted on to show recent
development. Many of the houses were now ruinous, unoccupied or
used for agricultural purposes, but were recorded nonetheless.
Approximately 700 sites were located, visited, and systematically
photographed. The built evidence was analysed and compared with
the documentary evidence of the 1908 O.S. map which provided a
base-line, to indicate where the landscape was being damaged or
lost.
The result is a comparative study of the settlement patterns of
five distinct regions which would at one time have displayed a
homogeneity of buildings; and of their adaptation or not to increased
pressures for development. However this ongoing demand for housing
in some areas is matched in others by rural depopulation within
the agricultural landscape due to consolidation of farm holdings
and the attendant changes in farming practises.
The extent of occupation of dwellings in each of the townlands
was determined through cross referencing the documentary evidence
of the maps and fieldwork with the archival evidence of the valuation
records to gauge the extent of continuity of adaptation of traditional
buildings.
The methodology for quantifying loss consisted of analysing the
buildings in each area against the current state of the traditional
houses which were occupied in 1908 and the make-up of the occupied
houses in 1996/97.
Each of the areas will be described individually, noting the innate
vernacular architectural heritage found in each area with its
subsequent adaptations and alterations. The new buildings in each
locality are also examined in the context of current planning
policy.
Since the study was carried out, a significant number of traditional
dwellings have been lost and replaced, either through the Replacement
Dwelling Grant scheme or upon approval of planning applications
for replacement dwellings.
Four townlands were selected to give a cross-section of the
area forming part of the northward facing slopes of the Mourne
Mountains. The area chosen was approximately six miles from Newcastle
and four miles from Castlewellan. This region lying between the
villages of Bryansford and Kilcoo is typical of hill foot marginal
farming, with settlement patterns of scattered farms served by
a network of roads and lanes.
Farm houses in this region are direct-entry dwellings, many set
gable-on to the road which runs level with the eaves while the
house slopes downhill with the shelter belt of trees, field enclosures,
stone walls and building working with the contours. Many others
in the fertile valley floor face the road. The size of the house
varies a good deal. There are some one-roomed houses, and at the
other end of the scale several large two-storey houses.
Some of the larger dwellings are listed and greatly add to the
visual appeal of the area. However little protection is afforded
to the many other dwellings which are still occupied yet not grand
enough or special enough to merit listing. Instead their owners
availed of the 'improvement' grant schemes administered by the
NIHE from the late 1970s. The facade has in many cases been pierced,
giving rise to second doorways to the rear and to often inappropriate
openings, where windows have been enlarged and the buildings re-fronted
in a symmetrical manner. Such improvement grants served to alter
the appearance of buildings fundamentally.
Later bungalows are in essence compromised two-storey houses masquerading
as single-storey houses with fussy dormers, with vast areas of
roof and wide plan forms, surrounded by shorn grass neatly fenced
off from the wilderness beyond. They could just as easily be simple
two-storey dwellings without the trimmings that would fit into
the environment much less obtrusively.
However it is in the current scheme of replacing old dwellings
that the most fundamental changes have been wrought. The beginnings
of the replacement dwelling policy were beginning to become obvious
in the latter part of 1997 when this area was designated a Rural
Priority Area. In one instance a small new dwelling replaced a
large two-storey house which sat on the edge of the road; in another
case the new building replaced a dwelling which stepped down the
slope of the site and the site was levelled to make way for the
new building.
In an analysis of the change and loss of traditional buildings
in this area in the period ending August 1997, 34% of the buildings
which appeared on the 1908 map have disappeared or been lost without
trace. A further 37% are unoccupied or lying derelict leaving
29% of the traditional buildings which are now occupied; many
remodelled beyond recognition. Of the currently occupied buildings,
traditional dwellings form 61%, 23% are replaced traditional dwellings,
and new build/new site dwellings form 16% of the total currently
occupied building stock. One third of the traditional occupied
dwellings are holiday homes.
County Fermanagh
The ten townlands chosen were near Fivemiletown in a lowland area
with a high standard of farming. The area has come under increased
pressure for development, particularly along the main Belfast
to Enniskillen road.
Co. Fermanagh has always been characterised by its diversity of
vernacular house styles, it geographically being the area of divergence
of the two traditions of hearth lobby and direct entry house types.
This area shares with Cavan what Gailey describes as "The
19th century hearth-lobby form, still being constructed in the
first half of the twentieth century with central door, flanked
by sidelights above which a dormer window lighted a central unit
loft in a three unit house, the end loft being lighted by gable
windows."
The unifying motif of dormer window above principal entrance permeates
the dwellings of the area. The standard of construction is typically
very high with a number of quarries in close proximity to the
area. The stonework is generally of a very high quality.
Again buildings have suffered from inappropriate piercing and
window enlargements and with the replacement of the traditional
lime render with hard impervious cement-based render.
New dwellings diverge sharply from their traditional neighbours
in their relationship with the landscape, sitting proud of it,
generally approached by sweeping driveways and bounded by bands
of Castlewellan golds. New buildings introduce a palette of foreign
materials into the landscape, with large brick and cement-tiled
roofs being the norm, while their older neighbours are being systematically
plundered for their slates. Replacement dwellings are again in
evidence. In one case, the owner was unable to reconcile the loss
of his traditional dwelling as is required before issue of final
payment for the new dwelling, and the replacement is windowless.
In the farmlands of Co. Fermanagh 29% of dwellings have been lost
since 1908. A further 41% of the dwellings on that map are now
unoccupied, due largely to their location on 'outfarms.' Derelict
farmhouses predominate and indeed one entire townland was unoccupied.
However there remain 30% of dwellings which have been in continuous
occupation. Counting the new build/new site dwellings with those
continuously occupied since 1908, we find that new build constitutes
35% of the total occupied building stock and 7.5% are replaced
traditional dwellings.
Co. Tyrone: Glenelly Valley
Glenelly is the chief among the glens in the Sperrins; a 20 mile
long gash in the eastern edge of the mountains running westwards.
The area studied bordered the small town of Plumbridge, and eight
townlands representative of all farming conditions from the fertile
valley floor up to the blanket bog-covered hills of Bradkeel were
surveyed.
The bed outshot is a peculiar development in the traditional plan
form normally associated with the direct-entry plan form. It is
a small projection which accommodates a sleeping niche.
Another peculiar feature of the district is the projected entrance
detailing around the front door, typically roofed in the same
material as the main body of the roof. It is found also in two-
storey vernacular houses, of which there are a large number of
derelict and decaying examples in the area. Traditional houses
further up the valleys tended to step down the slope - views out
were irrelevant. Protection from prevailing winds and rain were
the prerequisite to successful housing design.
In the survey area, numerous examples of the widening of the outshot,
sometimes for the length of the entire bay, were found, and had
often been further modified by piercing with windows to let in
extra light and increase the living area. The partial upper storey
is also common in the area. More recent adaptations leave the
house in stark contrast with the surroundings, exacerbated by
the removal of the field boundaries, hedges and stands of trees.
Windows have often been enlarged to accommodate dark mahogany
picture windows, and the doors now have porches of brick or crazy
paving, with large areas of glass.
Replacement planning permissions were much in evidence, and the
new farmhouses are more often than not placed at respectable distances
from the farm buildings. Unusually, they are often much smaller
than the traditional dwellings which lie abandoned in the countryside;
however they differ markedly in plan form, with shallow pitched
roofs over a larger ground floor area than their traditional ancestors.
In an analysis of the change and loss of traditional buildings
in the area, in the eight townlands surveyed in Co. Tyrone, 37%
of the building stock which appeared on the 1908 map has now disappeared
without trace. A further 43% of these dwellings are unoccupied
or derelict, leaving 20% of the building stock in continuous occupation,
most of which have been modified unsympathetically. Of the currently
occupied stock, traditional dwellings constitute 58% of occupied
dwellings. The remainder are replaced dwellings on traditional
sites. There were no holiday homes recorded here.
Co. Antrim: Glenariff
The valley of Glenariff is high up in the Glens of Antrim, situated
16 miles from Ballymena, 7 miles from Carnlough. At its foot in
the northern extreme is the village of Glenariff. The valley itself
is about three and a half miles long. Settlement here is mainly
confined to the coastal villages and towns; however in Glenariff
settlement has extended up the sides of the glens, creating the
ladder patterns of fields along the valley sides. The seven townlands
surveyed were situated in the upper portion of the glen. A design
guide for development was published in 1989. Its effectiveness
will be discussed later.
Traditional dwellings were carefully located to provide shelter
from prevailing winds. The houses are typically direct entry types
which have been enlarged through the addition of the extra storey
typically tucked into the slope of the hill. The offset in the
front door betrays its vernacular origins. Many intact examples
of the traditional architecture of the Glens exist in high and
remote parts of the glen.
Improvement dwelling grants are much in evidence in the Glens,
which have fuelled the removal of traditional features - the windows,
render, traditional roof covering - and their subsequent replacement
with low-cost, low-maintenance varieties.
However it is the new dwellings which have the greatest impact
on the landscape. In recent years, demand for housing has increased
in Glenariff due to its proximity to the town of Ballymena and
its popularity as a location for weekend, holiday or retirement
homes. This has resulted in a proliferation of new houses, particularly
straddling the northern extremity of the valley on the roads which
connect Ballymena to Glenariff. The southern side has suffered
from the inappropriate siting of modern farm houses, again diverging
sharply from the long established patterns of siting, scale and
design.
Whilst a design guide exists, it is clearly not enforced. In the
AONB Antrim Coast and Glens design guide one is advised that "The
dwellings must adapt to the existing contours or ground slopes.
This can be achieved by stepping the building down the slope.
Cutting deeply into a hillside to create a plateau-like shelf
is to be avoided"; and again, "Careful consideration
should be given to the overall shape and form of the house, its
silhouette and how it will look when viewed against the natural
characteristics of the site and immediate environment. Sensitive
orientation of the house on its site can also help minimise its
visual impact."
Replacement dwellings in this area, now designated a Rural Priority
area, were also apparent. There were many other instances of old
buildings being sacrificed to facilitate a replacement planning
permission.
In an analysis of change and loss of traditional dwellings in
Glenariff from the period 1908 to August 1997, 14% of the building
stock had disappeared without trace. A significant 34% of the
remaining traditional dwellings were unoccupied or derelict, leaving
52% of sites occupied, the majority of which had been altered
or extended. Occupied traditional dwellings constituted 53% of
currently occupied dwellings, while 33% were new-build new site
dwellings. Replaced dwellings were 14% of the total occupied stock
in the period from 1996-1997.
Co. Armagh: The Birches
This area is known as 'The Birches' from the luxuriant growth
of the tree in the general vicinity. The motorway bisects the
area studied and curiously isolates it from its hinterland to
the south.
The area displays a remarkable homogeneity of house types, being
largely mud-walled, lobby entry houses which were strung out along
the flat landscape on rampart roads which traversed the surrounding
bog. Historically, it was a very densely populated rural area.
The houses are built on the road margins, originally with thatched
roofs, many now with corrugated metal roofs, always extended linearly.
Another feature of the Armagh houses is their proximity to each
other. The dispersed pattern found elsewhere is reversed here,
with extended families occupying adjacent dwellings. The only
inhabited thatched house encountered in any of the five areas
was here in the Birches, now listed and rethatched four years
ago.
During the immediate post-war years the rendering of facades in
this area with 'Ballycastle dash,' a mixture of pebble dash and
coloured stone, was popular around windows and doors, and the
painting of sun motifs on gable ends. However, more recent adaptations
of old houses have included the lopping off of chimneys as they
became redundant, regularising of windows, insertions of new doors
and most detrimentally, the changing of the external render to
an impervious cement based render, which causes the mud walls
to shrink and fail.
The pressures of development in this area derive from its proximity
to Belfast and Dungannon, particularly in lands adjacent to the
motorway and the slip roads. The new build/new site variety, with
the introduction of a new language of gables to front, hips, windows,
chimneys not in ridges of the roof line, and new materials, has
led to dramatic changes in appearance. Replacement dwellings were
again much in evidence, with 'The Birches' being a designated
Rural Priority area.
In North Armagh, 48% of dwellings extant in 1908 have now disappeared.
This may in large part be attributed to the walling material which
slips rapidly back into the earth from whence it was modelled.
A further 19% are unoccupied or are derelict; however 33% remain
in continuous occupation. Occupied traditional dwellings constitute
some 61% of currently occupied dwellings, new buildings account
for some 25%, and replaced dwellings accounted for some 14% of
the total. No holiday homes are located in this area.
Conclusions
The results from the fieldwork have borne out our worst suspicions:
the loss of both the quality and quantity of traditional housing
has been enormous. However these figures represent a fragment
of the total loss, for many more are being lost through neglect
and effectively lost through insensitive conversion and change.
Of the traditional houses which remain occupied, many are in the
hands of an ageing population.
The numbers of occupied houses in each area show a steady decline
from the 1860s, and when only traditional houses are taken into
account the decline is still more marked. In the following table,
totals for traditional houses only are given in brackets:
| 1860s | 1908 | 1997 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shimna Valley, Co Down | 190 | 168 | 93 (57) |
| Fivemiletown, Co Fermanagh | 125 | 80 | 40 (23) |
| Glenelly Valley, Co Tyrone | 100 | 75 | 26 (15) |
| Glenariff Glen, Co Antrim | 73 | 58 | 57 (30) |
| The Birches, Co Armagh | 258 | 229 | 104 (63) |
| Total | 746 | 610 | 320 (188) |
| % Occupied Traditional | % Unoccupied Traditional | % Lost without trace or replaced | |
| Shimna Valley, Co Down | 34 | 37 | 29 |
| Fivemiletown, Co Fermanagh | 30 | 41 | 29 |
| Glenelly Valley, Co Tyrone | 20 | 43 | 37 |
| Glenariff Glen, Co Antrim | 52 | 34 | 14 |
| The Birches, Co Armagh | 33 | 19 | 48 |
| % Occupied Traditional | % New Build / New Site | % Replaced | |
| Shimna Valley, Co Down | 61 | 16 | 23 |
| Fivemiletown, Co Fermanagh | 57.5 | 35 | 7.5 |
| Glenelly Valley, Co Tyrone | 58 | 0 | 42 |
| Glenariff Glen, Co Antrim | 53 | 33 | 14 |
| The Birches, Co Armagh | 61 | 25 | 14 |
On return visits to the areas surveyed at the beginning of
this study the rate of attrition due to the collective impact
of the policies identified above was very obvious:
The recent loss of traditional houses was most marked in Glenariff
and in the Mournes. Where there had been a substantial two-storey
dwelling, was now pile of stones, with a caravan, hymac, and a
new shiny dwelling on the hill behind with concrete roof tiles,
PVC windows, cement render and mean proportions. In the Mournes,
a two-year old dwelling was getting a grant-aided stone wall built
out of the rubble of the old two-storey dwelling. In another instance
the owners spoke of the insistence of the planners that they build
in a hollow and have vertical windows to the front, so they complied
but filled up the hollow and put large windows in the back elevation.
What were once complex, highly functionally-defined groupings
of buildings, have now become a series of objects in an open field.
Rather than building on the existing very vibrant regional language
of building, the fear is that we may have become locked into ubiquitous
parodies of vernacular buildings. As Northern Ireland attempts
to catch up on its housing standards, it runs the risk of destroying
its heritage.
Country-dwellers are aware of the problem, with isolated and increasingly
marginalised farmers speaking of the 'drift from the land' and
the changing nature of the countryside. These custodians of our
rural heritage are important in maintaining continuity in a necessarily
changing landscape. They speak of the polarisation of public monies,
fed into local community groups to fund largely town-based schemes.
In an effort to gauge attitudes towards traditional housing and
the widespread changes in the countryside in general, a questionnaire
was compiled. The practical realities of cost of building maintenance;
convenience to the road; size; adaptability for modern conveniences;
importance of fitting in with the landscape etc., were explored.
More pertinent issues such as the change in the appearance of
the countryside, the effects of commuter homes, holiday homes,
rural dereliction, etc were tabulated. The effect of restoring
the old buildings on the environment, local communities, local
employment, farm and land values and tourism were also explored.
Approximately 2200 questionnaires were circulated within these
five areas and through the local press.
On the issue of whether sufficient grant allocation is given to
owners of old buildings to encourage them to maintain them properly,
the resounding conclusion was a hearty no. Subjective views, such
as the importance of maintaining links with the past, and the
wider effects which building restoration can have on a small community,
were examined; and it was generally agreed that it would improve
the appearance of the area, renew local interest in the landscape
and benefit the overall environment.
There is an increasing awareness among the members of the farming
community of the more insidious effects of the clearance schemes,
where the traditional craft base is undermined and in some instances,
rendered redundant. Practical and realistic solutions must be
found for those buildings which have lost their function, yet
remain very much part of our landscape.
All is not lost, and within each of these five areas were large
numbers of unoccupied traditional buildings, many spared the improvement
grants of the 1980s. I felt it necessary to devise a classification
system whereby the state of dereliction of these unoccupied properties
in each of the areas could be more clearly ascertained. This was
deemed important to distinguish properties which would be capable
of rescue from those which clearly are beyond repair. These range
in extent of dereliction from the completely ruinous roofless
ruin (classified 1) to the structurally intact, rain-proof envelope
(classified 5). It is interesting that the majority of buildings
in all areas fall within categories 4 and 5.
It remains to be seen if these words from the Fermanagh Area Plan
describing the proposed Caveland and Lakeland AONB are implemented
through positive schemes which may save the remaining buildings
from further deterioration: "The reuse, renovation and sympathetic
extension of vacant dwellings will normally be encouraged..."
In conclusion it can be noted that there has been a continuum
of extending and adapting traditional buildings until relatively
recently. This 'timeless' way of building, of extending and adapting
traditional buildings when translated on the ground into the dwellings,
outbuildings, together with enclosures of stone walls, pillars
and hedgerows, resulted in a rich, visually coherent cultural
landscape which despite regional varieties conformed to a pattern
peculiar to Ireland. The loss of this rich composition is evident
throughout each of the areas studied.
If we continue to pursue the present policies of clearance, condemnation
and closure, we risk defacing the physical fabric of the countryside,
and, with it, the collective sensibilities of the many generations
who contributed to it. Ruining the achievements of past generations
is inexcusable. The opportunity must be given to partake in the
built continuum, and the reuse of these buildings presents a benign
and green alternative to the schemes of wholesale replacement.
Replacement planning permissions are issued with disturbing ease,
and it seems likely that the Housing Executive's Replacement Dwelling
Grant Scheme will continue until at least 1999, by which time
many of the inhabited vernacular dwellings will have been replaced.
The future of the remainder will lie in changes in legislation.
The harshness of existence in many of these vernacular houses
in the 19th century, as recorded in the Griffiths Valuation Records
and the Ordnance Survey Memoirs, cannot be forgotten, and this
report does not advocate a return to the past when living conditions
were so cramped and comfortless. Many of the buildings are however
capable of sympathetic renovation that will retain their character
while greatly improving their amenity.
What is required is a more holistic view of the countryside to
incorporate a change in current planning policy, a revised housing
policy, more positive intervention from the Department of Agriculture
and the promotion of positive schemes for the practical reuse
of these buildings which remain very much part of the landscape.
Otherwise we will be left with a totally reconstructed, culturally
empty landscape. To quote Paul Walshe of the Countryside Commission:
'a farmed landscape without old farm buildings would be like a
man without a memory.'
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