When Was It Built? The Evidence
Lewis (1840) states:
“That portion of the town which is in the county of Armagh was built about 1790, by Mr. Stewart, then proprietor, who procured for it a grant of a market and fairs … The town comprises 116 houses in one principal street, intersected by a shorter one.”
Alexander Thomas Stewart was the last Stewart family owner of the Acton Estate.
Note: We know very little about when the houses on the Co Down side of the village were built. They may even pre-date the main village. They may have been built in the time of, and under the auspices of, the Fivey family of Loughadian.
Much earlier, Coote (1804) states:
“The village of Acton, which adjoins the Newry canal, is extremely neat, the houses are new and well built with hewn stone, window stools, and the roofs are very capitally slated and ranged in due and neat proportion. The main street is intersected at right angles, and already nearly one half of the original plan is completely built.
Mr. Hanna paid much attention to the improvement of the town during the short time it was under his control, and built a capital malt-house and stores on the banks of the Newry canal, which passes close to the village. The situation of Acton is extremely favourable for trade, and naturally is very beautiful ; an excellent inn is already established here, and this is now a well frequented stage, which the new line of road from hence to Newry so particularly is favourable to.”
At this time the distinction between Poyntzpass and Acton was less formal than today, with the relatively newly-built Poyntzpass still regarded as part of Acton. I’m certain that the “malt house and stores” must refer to our buildings as there is nothing like that on the part of the canal nearest to Acton village, and certainly no harbour. And one of its names in the 1934 conveyance to my father is The Malt Kiln.
Samuel Hanna
Mr Hanna was Samuel Hanna, who acquired the Acton Estate in slightly odd circumstances from Alexander Thomas Stewart. Stewart mortgaged it to settle gambling debts and was on the verge of re-acquiring it due to Hanna defaulting on payments, but he died unexpectedly, so under the cleverly-drawn terms of the mortgage, it stayed in Hanna’s hands.
Hanna acquired Acton Estate sometime around 1790 and died in London 1798, aged only 40. Coote’s survey was done just a few years after Hanna’s death, so the assertion that Hanna had built the malt-house and stores seems highly likely to be true – it would have been recent history for anyone he had asked in the village.
Later Than The Canal
So, I think we have disposed of the (natural) assumption that the property was built around 1740, at the same time as the canal. The most likely date is ca. 1795. It is possible that Hanna wanted to compete with Scarva, where the warehouses were built rather earlier.
Given the existence of ‘Poyntzpass harbour’ directly opposite the site, on the other side of the canal bank, it was an ideal place to build the warehouses; the canal intersected with multiple roads to serve the hinterland, and lighters could also be moored directly alongside the property without hindering canal traffic. It was also ideally placed for materials for its construction, such as timber, stone and lime for mortar, to be delivered directly to site by canal lighter.
Note: The 1960s map show earlier shows the canal alongside the property as the mere trickle it had become by ten, and does not accurately show the very wide extent of ‘Poyntzpass Harbour’.
Extended Later?
However, there is still doubt about the most westerly section, that nearest the canal, which includes what was in my father’s the entry, the woodworking loft and the two outhouses under it, accessed from the entry. The first edition (1832-1846) OS map shows this as being much shorter, indicating that the original building stopped on the eastern side of the entry. The position of one of the chimneys is also consistent with this, as is the ~2ft drop from the 2nd floor east-west corridor level into the woodworking loft.
However, it must have been built before 1831 as the cover illustration on the Close Estate map shows a full width building complete with entry and the 4th chimney. It is shown as narrow on the 1832-46 OS map – but perhaps the survey for that map series was done a few years earlier? So, if the building was built in two phases, the likely date for the extension is ca. 1830.
To Let, 1809
The following advert appeared in the Belfast Commercial Chronicle on 23rd October 1809.
It is not clear whether McDonnell was now the proprietor, had leased it and was now seeking sub-lease all or part of it, or was merely an agent for the transaction.
There is no mention of a coal yard, but coal would have been needed to dry the malt; perhaps that business arose later as a consequence of importing coal for malting?