Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/13/022

Address :
The Boyd Arms 4 The Diamond Ballycastle Co Antrim BT54 6AW

Townland:
Ballycastle Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
11/03/1981 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Public House

Former Use
Hotel

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
8/12 NE

IG Ref:
D1143 4070

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Large, three storey (end of terrace) former inn / hotel, now a public house, of probable mid 18th century construction. The building is set at the end of the terrace on the NW side of the Diamond, at the junction of Market Street. The asymmetrical front elevation faces roughly SE and has a relatively large collection of windows made more dominant by the contrast of the dark paintwork of their surrounds to the light tone of the façade. The centre and left hand side of the ground floor are taken up with the pub front, which consists of two entrance doors each with pair of 4 panelled doors, with a relatively small single pane fixed light etched window to left. Each of the pub front openings are framed with narrow panelled pilasters with the whole ensemble crowned with a signboard with c.1960s lettering and a projecting cornice supported with end brackets. To right of the pub front are two relatively small windows with plain sash frames and moulded surrounds. To the first floor are five similar evenly spaced windows, with five more to the second floor. Unusually, the second floor windows are marginally taller than those to the first and ground floors. The front elevation is rendered and painted. In-out bevelled quoins and bevelled base. The NE gable faces into Market Street. To the ground floor is an off-centre doorway with panelled door. To the second floor are two widely spaced windows with sash frames as before. The gable is finished in painted render with base and quoins as front. To the rear is exposed to Market Street, a small 2½ storey return with lean-to roof in line with main roof. All windows are double hung sliding sash 2 pane type. Another back return, single storey, 6 bays long, on the west side of the small return, stretches back almost parallel to Market Street and with basement. There are 2 single doors, 3 no. sliding sash 2 pane windows and a couple of small openings. The 1st part of the return has higher ridge which chimney stack. Walls rendered (poor state) painted, roofs natural slates. The space between return and Market Street is fenced off with low wall (kerb) and galvanised metal undecorated modern railing. The west wall of return forms boundary with No. 5 The Diamond.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The first valuation of December 1834* records an old house (grade ‘1C+’) of similar dimensions to the present on this site, then occupied by a James Black. As the later valuations do not record any major changes to the property (excluding additions to the return) we can assume that the 1834 house is that we see today. The building is undoubtedly one of the nine three storey houses mentioned in the OS Memoirs of 1835 and like many of the properties within the Castle Street / Diamond area may date from c.1740-70, when the town assumed much of its present form under improving landlord Hugh Boyd. Its situation in what is the oldest part of the town, and its appearance suggests considerable age; a painted sign on the gable implies that it dates from 1761, though the present owner stated that he believed it was built in 1776 (but offered to evidence to explain why he thought so). Despite what the aforementioned sign on the gable implies, sources suggest that (for part of its life at least), this building did not serve as a public house, Pigot & Co’s 1824 Directory listing a James Black within The Diamond (then called ‘Church Street’) as a woollen draper, with no apparent indication of it acting as licensed premises in Slater’s 1846 or 1856 Directories, or in the later 19th century valuations. Slater’s ‘Directory’ of 1894 mentions ‘The Boyd Arms’ by name however. By 1859 the property was in the hands of a James Laverty, and contained a ‘shop and large room below, 3 rooms over and 4 above, 4 in return [and] kitchen in basement’, but though well sited was ‘not in good repair’ and, (according to the valuers), was used as a dwelling with an ‘office’ and ‘store’. The next occupant was Neill McGugan from 1868, Robert Hunter 1878, Alex McAllister 1896, Ida McCambridge c.1913, Margaret Campbell 1922, Patrick McKeague c.1932 and Margaret McAuley. [*Note on primary sources- Though Ballycastle has its full compliment of valuation books dating back to 1834, the earliest extant valuation plan of the town (indeed the earliest large scale plan) is that dating from 1898. This means that though the first and second valuations (of 1834 and 1859 respectively) present the usual detailed accounts of properties throughout the town, bereft of their contemporary plans it is almost impossible to discover exactly to which buildings the valuers are referring. The writer has circumvented this problem however by adopting the somewhat involved method of reading the records backwards- i.e. taking the more recent (mid 20th century) valuations and tracing each building back from these, using the 1898 map as a marker along the way.] References- Primary sources 1 ‘Pigot & Co’s City of Dublin and Hibernian Commercial Directory (Manchester 1824) 2 OS Memoirs, Parish of Ramoan, 1831-39, reprinted in ‘Ordnance Survey memoirs of Ireland…’ ed Angelique Day, Patrick McWilliams and Noirin Dobson (Belfast, QUB, 1994), p.92 etc 3 PRONI OS/6/1/8/1 OS map, Co Antrim, sh 8, 1832 4 PRONI VAL/1B/135 First valuation, Ramoan parish, 1834 5 Samuel Lewis, ‘Topographical history of Ireland’ (London, 1837) 6 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1846) 7 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1856) 8 PRONI OS/6/1/8/2 OS map, Co Antrim, sh 8, 1856 9 PRONI VAL/2B/1/28c Second valuation, Ramoan parish, 1859 10 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3a-g Annual valuation revision books, Ballycastle ED, 1864-1921 11 ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1870) 12 George Henry Bassett, ‘The book of County Antrim’ (Dublin, 1888) 13 ‘Slater’s Directory of Ulster’ (Manchester, 1894) 14 PRONI VAL/12E/8/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1898-c.1935 15 PRONI VAL/12E/8/2/1 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, c.1905 16 PRONI VAL/12B/2/5a-c Annual valuation revision books, Ballycastle UD, 1921-31 17 PRONI VAL/3G/6/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1934-50 18 PRONI VAL/3B/1/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Ballycastle UD, 1935 19 PRONI VAL/3C/1/6 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, 1936-57 20 Information supplied by the owner (May 2003)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building H+. Alterations enhancing the building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

W. Northern Ireland/International Interest Z. Rarity Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Large, three storey (end of terrace) former inn / hotel -now a public house- of probable mid 18th century construction. In terms of streetscape this is one of the most important buildings within The Diamond, its value made even greater by the survival of much of the original interior.

General Comments

Date of Survey

10 May 2003