Farm house in Dowagh West

Detached four-bay single-storey direct entry thatched farmhouse, extant 1894. Disused, 2007. Pitched reed or rye straw thatch roof with remains of exposed stretchers to ridge having exposed scallops, cement rendered chimney stack having corbelled stepped stringcourse below capping supporting terracotta pots, and concrete or rendered coping to gables. Roughcast battered walls over coursed rubble limestone construction with rusticated rendered piers to corners. Square-headed window openings with concrete sills, and concealed dressings framing one-over-one timber sash windows. Square-headed opposing door openings with concealed dressings framing glazed timber panelled (north-east) or timber boarded (south-west) doors. Set back from line of road in unkempt grounds with rendered piers to perimeter having corbelled stepped capping supporting wrought iron gate.

A dilapidated farmhouse identified as an integral component of the nineteenth-century vernacular heritage of the outskirts of Cross by such traits as the rectilinear direct entry plan form; the construction in unrefined local fieldstone demonstrating a feint battered silhouette; and the high pitched roof showing a degraded thatch finish. A prolonged period of neglect notwithstanding, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the historic or original fabric. Furthermore, an adjacent limewashed outbuilding (extant 1894) continues to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a neat self-contained ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in a rural street scene.