Survey Data
Reg No
40800408
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Technical
Original Use
Store/warehouse
In Use As
Museum/gallery
Date
1860 - 1865
Coordinates
222821, 421285
Date Recorded
10/06/2014
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached three-bay two-storey gable-fronted former warehouse\store, dated 1864. Originally associated with the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company as a goods store. Now converted for use as heritage centre and exhibition space associated with County Genealogy Centre\Ramelton Story (see 408004007 adjacent to the north). Pitched natural slate roof having roughcast rendered chimneystack to the centre of the main elevation (west), and with cast-iron downpipe. Roughcast rendered walls; cut stone date plaque (on rectangular-plan having raised margin) over doorway reading 'L & LS RWAY CO. 1864'. Central round-headed window opening at first floor level having stone sill and replacement fittings. Square-headed window openings at ground floor level having replacement fittings, and with lunette overlights having replacement fittings. Central shallow segmental-headed carriage-arch to the west elevation having replacement glazed timber double-doors, and modern overlight and sidelights. Road-fronted to the north\north-east end of the Quay, Ramelton. River Leannan adjacent to the west. Complex of former warehouses\stores adjacent to the south and east (see 40800409 to 40800412) and to the north (see 40800405-7).
Appraisal
This impressive and well-proportioned former warehouse\stores forms part of an important collection of buildings of this type aligning the historic quayside at Ramelton. It has been sensitively converted to new uses as a museum, gallery, exhibition space and genealogy centre, and is now an important amenity for locals and visitors. Its stark industrial form is typical of its type and date, and this has been largely retained in the conversion works. The loss of the salient fabric to the openings fails to detract. Its short squat form in comparison to its more imposing neighbouring warehouses adds variety to the quayside. The date plaque over the name doorway indicates that this structure was built in 1964, making it one of the later warehouses\stores aligning the quayside at Ramelton. The plaque is incised 'L & LS RWAY CO. 1864’, indicating that it was originally built by the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company. This company built a railway line from Tooban Junction to Buncrana at the far side of Lough Swilly that opened in 1864, the date of this warehouse. It is likely that this was used as a depot for transporting goods to and from Fahan Pier (served by the railway line) across the lough. A railway line was never built to Ramelton, which hastened its decline towards the end of the nineteenth century (particularly after the establishment of a railway line to nearby Letterkenny in 1909). This building serves as an historic reminder of the town’s industrial and maritime heyday during the nineteenth century. Ramelton prospered during the eighteenth and nineteenth century as a major port with trade with Britain, Norway, America, and the Caribbean, particularly important (there are accounts of ships from the Caribbean anchored in Lough Swilly and unloading exotic cargoes at Ramelton in exchange for linen, corn, meat and fish). Ramelton had the most important linen works in Donegal and many fortunes were made in the locality in its trade. The Watt family ran the largest linen works in the area by the start of the nineteenth century and were heavily involved in its trade (Samuel Watt moved to Jamaica in the early 1800s and began importing linen from Ramelton, with his brother James as agent). Corn was another major commodity in the area during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with a number of large mills still surviving in the area. The surviving warehouses, particularly aligned along the north-east end of the quay, attest to the level of trade and commerce in the Ramelton area. Slater’s Directory of 1846 records that ‘vessels of up to one hundred and fifty tons burthen can come up to the quayside [at Ramelton] at high water, and others, almost of any tonnage, can approach within half a mile of the town’. The town and port declined in importance towards the end of the nineteenth century. This former warehouse\store forms part of an important collection of industrial structures that contributes substantially to the almost unique character of the town of Ramelton, and is an integral element of the built heritage of County Donegal. As a heritage centre\gallery etc., it has helped add vibrancy to this largely abandoned section of the historic town.