The DRD Road Service want to demolish our home to build the A5WTC - Our home is a listed building and dates back to the early 1800's.

Castletown House in Strabane is a beautiful old house that was constructed sometime in the early 1800s. Although it fell into disuse and was later replaced by a detached five-bay one-and-a-half-storey house, built c.1865 on the site of the earlier house, located to the west side of Urney Road. This house, little changed in appearance externally and simply detailed, has an interesting form consisting of a series of projecting bays and dormers and it constitutes one of the more interesting and important houses on the outskirts of Strabane. Originally the plan layout consisted of four principal rooms at each floor accessed from a central stair hall; however, subdivision of the building has broken down these large spaces into smaller living accommodation. Despite these internal alterations, there remain some good quality original features internally, including fireplaces, stairs, single glazed sash windows and cast iron guttering and spouting. All these features and the external paintwork had to be retained to precise detail in order to protect the integrity of this listed building at much more expense than purchasing new products. However Cecil and his family felt very strongly about maintaining and keeping the house, where possible, as close to its original state while ensuring it did not become run down. Castletown house grounds are entered over a good quality mid-Victorian stone railway bridge and it enjoys an extensive setting with open fields stretching down to the river on one side. This setting has been partially affected by the loss of land once belonging to the house on the Urney Road side and construction of late twentieth century houses that have built up around it, although it still retains approximately 2 acres of its land. The town of Strabane has grown and developed far past the town limits and what was once all countryside is now part of the town land. However this has not affected Castletown House too much because once in the grounds you still find the tranquillity and scenic views of the countryside. It is like an oasis in a fast paced world. In recent years its owner Cecil Martin, has carried out extensive renovations to the house and improvements to the surrounding grounds. Cecil and his family have lived in the house for forty years. One of his married sons also lives in the property now, with his family. Cecil and his three sons have many fond memories of their life there, not least those shared with their beloved mum Valerie who sadly is no longer with them. She would have been deeply upset by these recent developments and would fight to save this beloved home. This house is in the path of the proposed A5WTC and will be demolished if plans for the road go ahead. But no amount of money can replace this ancient building and beloved family home.

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