Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB19/13/025 D

Address :
Debonair Formal Hire 12 Railway Street Lisburn County Antrim BT28 1XG

Townland:
Lisnagarvy

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
20/08/2012 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Shop - Terrace

Former Use
House - Terrace

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
165/6SE

IG Ref:
J2679 6439

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Owner Category

Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

Mid terrace two-bay three-storey rendered former house, built c.1830, with early twentieth-century timber shopfront inserted to ground floor and two-storey redbrick return. Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and a shared rendered chimneystack to the south with clay pots. Cast-iron guttering on iron brackets. Painted ruled and lined rendered walling, rubblestone to rear. Square-headed window openings with painted masonry sills and original timber sash windows with some cylinder glass. Front elevation is two windows wide with 6/3 timber sash windows to the second floor and 6/6 to the first floor. Traditional early twentieth-century timber shopfront to the ground floor comprising; bipartite fixed-pane shop display window with angled side panel accommodating recessed glazed entrance door and overlight. Decorative spandrel panels to all glazing with a further square-headed door opening to the left bay having a raised and fielded timber door and large overlight, giving access to the upper floors. Fluted timber pilasters flank the shopfront and the door opening supporting a timber fascia spanning entire elevation with lead-lined cornice over. North side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.14. Rear elevation has rubblestone walling with redbrick linings to window openings, original timber sash windows and cast-iron downpipes with decorative brackets. Rear abutted by two-storey redbrick gable-ended return with horizontally-glazed 2/2 timber sash windows. First half-landing lit by timber sash window to return having coloured glass to margin lights. South side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.10 (HB19/13/025C). Setting: Forming part of a terrace of four similar former houses lining the east side of Railway Street with small rear yard enclosed by rubble and redbrick wall. Former rear plot given over to a car park. Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron Walling Ruled and lined render / rubblestone Windows Original timber sash

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

No. 12 Railway Street is one of a terrace of three-storey Georgian buildings located at the end of Railway Street which have appeared on the Ordnance Survey maps from the first edition in 1833. This street was formerly known as Jackson’s Lane; however it was renamed Railway Street c. 1840 with the arrival of the first railway line between Lisburn and Belfast (Neill). A detailed map of the town centre by Thomas Pattison c. 1830 indicates that Nos. 4 to 12 were the first of the current terrace to be constructed along this road to the Railway line; field research would support a construction date of c. 1830 due to the Georgian design of the building. In 1910 the building was used as the premises for Melville & Co. Funeral Directors (Ulster Towns Directory, 1910). The manager of this undertakers company resided in the upper floors of the building; in 1911 the manager was a Mr. Samuel Fullerton, a 33 year old Presbyterian, who resided there with his wife Isabella and their three small children. The 1911 census building return described the building as a 2nd class ‘shop’ which contained seven rooms and possessed a slate roof. Bass tells us that No. 12 Railway Street was let to Melville & Co. Funeral Directors in 1898 who occupied the premises until 1930 when a Mr. William Jellie came into possession; an Undertaker by trade, Jellie continued to operate a Funeral Parlour from the address and was also employed as a Post Master. However, around 1930 the premises were converted into a drapers shop (Bass). Brett described the terrace (Nos. 4 to 22) as ‘good three-storey Georgian brick or stucco houses with glazing bars intac - the backs of [which] are of stone’ (Brett, p. 13). The glazing has survived as does the original flat-panelled timber doors and staircase, maintaining the Georgian character of the building. Research conducted in the field suggests that the current shop front is an Edwardian addition; further additions included a number of fireplaces added in the early twentieth century in the art nouveau style. The former Funeral Parlour is now used as the premises for a formal wear clothes shop; the upper rooms used for storage space. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI MIC/664/1 – Picture of Lisburn by Thomas Pattison c. 1830 2. PRONI OS/6/1/68/1 – First edition OS map 1833 3. PRONI OS/6/1/68/2 – Second edition OS map 1857 4. PRONI OS/6/1/68/3 – Third edition OS map c.1900 5. PRONI OS/6/1/68/4 – Fourth edition OS map 1920 6. 1901 / 1911 Census 7. Ulster Towns Directory (1910) Secondary Sources 1. Bass, H. G., ‘A short history of an old family firm: Records and recollections of Alexander Boyd & Co. Ltd’ Lisburn: 1977 (Pamphlet). 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, buildings of architectural importance in the Borough of Lisburn’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1969). 3. Neill, T., ‘Lisburn: an illustrated history and companion’ Lisburn: Cottage Publications, 1996.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Mid terrace three-storey rendered former house, built c.1830, with good quality and increasingly rare early twentieth-century timber shopfront inserted to ground floor. The shopfront and an intact interior enhance the well proportioned front elevation of this former house which constitutes one of the most intact and interesting buildings on Railway Street. It has group value with numbers 4 - 6, 8, and 10 Railway Street and is one of the earliest buildings constructed in Railway Street.

General Comments

This record was completed without access to original source material held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

Date of Survey

12 November 2010