VERNACULAR 1700 - Present
Case Study
Rock Cottage
Altnadue Road, Castlewellan, Co. Down.
Explore how this cottage was brought back to life link – www.mournelive.com
Location
Rock Cottage is set in an attractive and prominent hillside location in
a farming area near Castlewellan. It sits beside a farm lane with a separate
cart shed and byre located in line below it and a well behind.
The
House
A single storey, two-roomed, house with white-washed walls and a slated
roof. The building is a traditional type of Mournes’ dwelling and
was constructed of clay, lime and small field stones.
Restoration
The walls of the house were stabilised; repairs were carried out to the
roof timbers and the roof was re-slated. A new extension built behind
the house contains a bathroom and three bedrooms but the old dwelling
remains the focus of life on the farmstead and the dominant feature in
the landscape.
Details
Client: Mourne Heritage Trust
Restored: 2003-4
Accommodation: Kitchen and sitting-room in cottage and 3 bedrooms and
bathroom in extension
Explore and Restore
| Roof thatched with locally grown straw. Skews to gables built up with lime render. | Chimneystacks to each gable, built in brick or stone. May be lime rendered. May have pots, | |
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Window openings are small with stone sills and timber lintels. Timber sash windows simply constructed with sashes sliding within timber frame. Window frames painted not stained. |
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| Any alterations and extensions should be in keeping with the original building. Check proportions, use good quality materials and traditional accepted building methods. | Walls constructed in mud or stone. Usually lime rendered for added weather protection. Lime wash was applied regularly to protect render. |
- Traditional lime render.
- Use locally grown organic straw.
- Recycled materials are useful and there are a whole range of traditionally prepared materials now available.
- If hardwoods are used for door and window joinery they should be from sustainable sources. Traditionally timbers are painted rather than stained.
- Sash windows should be single glazed and secondary glazing is preferable to double glazing.
- Keep original features.
- Extensions in scale and proportion to the original house.
- Keep existing or traditional landscape features.