Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB03/18/043

Address :
1-3 Bridge Street Coleraine Co. Londonderry BT52 1DR

Townland:
Coleraine and Suburbs

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Shop

Former Use
Shop

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
Yes

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OS Map No:
13-13NW

IG Ref:
C8473 3242

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Attached symmetrical multi-bay three-storey with attic stucco-fronted Italianate building, built c.1875. Abutted to the rear by a four-storey structure and in a derelict condition. Facing south onto Bridge Street. Pitched slate roof with three slate-hung dormers to the front pitch. Rendered profiled chimneystacks rise from both gable ends. UPVC guttering to decorative corbelled eaves course. Painted stucco-fronted walling to front with plain render over red brick to remaining elevations. Round-headed window openings to front elevation, square-headed to remaining elevations, all having replacement timber casement windows. Symmetrical front elevation is five windows wide with those to either end forming a shallow single-bay breakfront defined by rusticated quoins. Moulded architrave surrounds with keystones to all window openings rising from continuous moulded sill courses. Six blind windows and four glazed windows form a symmetrical arrangement. The first floor sill course forms part of a deep corbelled cornice to the vermiculated ground floor having a pair of round-headed window openings to each breakfront and three square-headed openings to the centre flanked by vermiculated piers with central roundel, all boarded up. West side elevation is cement rendered to the upper half and the rear structure with the lower half of the gable retaining materials from recent demolition of adjoining building including red brick and plaster. Rear elevation abutted by four-storey rendered structure having a pitched artificial slate roof. East side elevation abutted by adjoining two-storey terrace of commercial buildings fronting onto The Diamond and Abbey Street. The upper half of the side elevation is finished in painted cement render and surmounted by a large profiled rendered chimneystack. Setting Facing south onto Bridge Street to the east of the Diamond. The building is the tallest on this stretch of streetscape and visible from the nearby bridge. Roof Slate RWG UPVC Walling Stucco / cement render Windows Replacement timber casement

Architects

Historical Information

Numbers 1-3 Bridge Street were built in 1875 as a grocer’s and tea emporium replacing an earlier building on the site. The present building is first shown on the 1904 large-scale map of Coleraine, with part of the front section captioned ‘Bank’ (the building serving as a branch of the Ulster Bank between 1903 and 1910) (Knox). The Townland Valuation (1828-40) lists earlier structures on the site as two adjoining dwelling houses, 22 feet high, both with cellars and outbuildings, including a piggery. Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) lists the occupiers of the two houses as William Ellis and Stewart Hunter and the buildings are valued at £20 and £28 respectively. By 1875 Stewart Hunter had taken over both houses and had rebuilt them at a cost of £4,000 as a single warehouse with outbuildings and yard, valued at £80. It is unclear whether any earlier fabric was retained. Stewart Hunter was a tea importer and general grocer who lived at Breezemount House in Castlerock Road, Coleraine (Street Directory 1877). In 1901 the building was taken over by auctioneer James Ferguson Glenn and in 1903 part of the ground floor and rooms on the first floor was sublet to the Ulster Bank while Glenn retained the rest of the building as an ‘auction mart’. This was the Ulster Bank’s first branch in Coleraine and Clarke Cooke Huston was the manager (Knox). The bank spent £400 on adapting the premises, mainly on fittings, but permanent premises were obtained for the bank in the Diamond in 1910 and the present building was vacated. After the bank left an office on the ground floor was let to James Kennedy at a rent of £20. A valuer’s plan shows that the front of the building was used as offices, while a side door led through to the auction mart at the rear. Improvements were made to the rear in 1911 adding £26 to the valuation. In 1920 the auction mart was bought for £1000 by Robert McDermott & Co, a shirt and collar making business, while an office at the front of the building was let to William Dalzell, shipping agent and coal merchant, although his offices are recorded as having the drawback of the ‘mill engine at the back running all day’ (Valuation Records). Valuer’s notes of the 1930s give a plan of the building showing that the ground floor at the front was used as offices while the ground floor at the rear was used as the engine room and packing department. On the first floor were stock rooms and machinery rooms and on the second floor cutting and machinery rooms. Power was supplied by a 15HP Crossley engine. The shirt and collar factory remained until the late 1960s and was then taken over by P O’Neill, while the front of the building became a local supermarket known as ‘Crazy Prices’ (Valuation Records). The building currently lies vacant. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/5/7/1 First Edition OS Map 1830 2. PRONI OS/6/5/7/2 Second Edition OS map 1849-50 3. PRONI OS/6/5/7/3 Third Edition OS Map 1904 4. PRONI OS/6/5/7/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1923 5. PRONI OS/6/5/7/5 Fifth Edition OS Map 1949 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/542A-D Townland Valuation (1828-40) 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/3/D Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) 8. PRONI VAL/12/A/5/1-17 Valuers’ Note Books (1895-1934) 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9A-N Annual Revisions (1864-1929) 10. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/4 First General Revaluation 1933-57 11. PRONI VAL/3/D/6/2/A/6 First General Revaluation 1933-57 12. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/1-3 Second General Revaluation 1956-72 13. Street Directory 1877 Secondary Sources 1. Knox, W.J. “Decades of the Ulster Bank, 1836-1964” Belfast: Ulster Bank Ltd, 1965

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

Attached symmetrical multi-bay three-storey with attic stucco-fronted Italianate building, built c.1875. The Italianate style of this building stands out as one of the more decorative facades in the centre of Coleraine, however there has been significant loss of authenticity due to the removal over time of original historic details including windows, doors, and interiors. Insufficient historic fabric remains for the building to be of special architectural and historic interest.

General Comments

Listing Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and T - Historic Importance also apply.

Date of Survey

19 March 2013