RootsChat.Com

Hi Sarah sorry its took this long to get back to you,i have again spoken to the lady (my uncles neighbour) and she seems to be having problems registering on this site but she is going to send you a message via another route,her name is Joan and she has lots of info also about Downhill etc so im hoping you both can swap details soon,im very interested to see the results since i still have family staying there.

As for the name Caroline Hislop,it doesnt ring any bells with me just now but ive never looked into my familys history so you never know,again Joan is the lady who may have answers as i know she has done some research into the name Patton and she will be sending me some details for me to read through.

Once i work out how to transfer pictures from my phone to the comp then i will post up recent snaps of Downhill

 

Hi Sarah,i came upon your post by chance,i see you started this quite some time back but have visited recently,my surname is Patton and my family have stayed in Luncarty for many many generations,infact my  uncle (now around 80yo) stays at Downhill the house he stays in belonged to my gran and grandad (his parents) before that,if i remember correctly there was indeed a smiddy and the buildings ajoined to my uncles house were stables,as stated my family history at Downhill goes back many many years and i know my uncles neighbour  is very keen on the history of her area,which particular house did your ancestors stay in ? i hope you get back to me soon and we can try and take this further.

What i can tell you Downhill was originally named Dome-hill regarding the hill behind the houses and as village rumour goes it was once the site of an ancient settlement,when they were building up the banks for the railway seemingly a skeleton was found which they think dated 100s of years old,the local vicar was informed who ordered the bones to be put back into the soil.
Round the corner from Downhill (through the Bridges) you had the old Ordie shuttle mill that made the thread shuttles for the surrounding textile mills,this dated back to the 1800s
The big white house as we called it at Downhill was once the local shop (i dont have the dates handy just now but could soon find out) footnote to say that house has been on the property market for about 5 years,only pic i can find attached.
Im not too clear about the Inn just now though,the big white house would fit that profile though,size,shape,its place beside the road,next to stable blocks etc would certainly fit that profile.

I visit Downhill on a regular basis so will speak to my family and Neighbour to see if i can be of any help.

Finding online photos of buildings and area seems to be a bit of a search at the moment but next visit i will take my own photos of old outbuildings etc

The white house dates back to 1650s,my uncles house and converted stables is to the far left of the picture out of view.