Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/02/035

Address :
Sundial House 11 High Street Cushendall Co. Antrim BT44 0NB

Townland:
Cushendall

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
26/02/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Hotel - Terrace

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
25/9NE

IG Ref:
D2364 2768

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

End of terrace symmetrical three-bay two-storey with attic rendered house, dated 1849, with two-storey rear return and two-storey extension to the re-entrant angle. L-shaped on plan facing southwest and terminating a terrace of houses lining the northeast side of High Street on a steep gradient. Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and four symmetrically-placed rendered chimneystacks with lipped and octagonal clay pots. Three steel (velux type) skylights to front pitch. Cast-iron guttering on iron drive through brackets to rendered eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. Painted ruled-and-lined rendered walling with painted rusticated masonry quoins. Square-headed window openings with moulded stucco surrounds and replacement 6/6 sliding timber sash windows with concave horns and exposed sash boxes. Symmetrical three-bay two-storey front elevation with off-centre gabled entrance porch. Entrance porch has pitched natural slate roof with cast-iron rainwater goods and timber bargeboard. Square-headed door opening to porch with inscribed letters to the gablet stating; 'SUNDIAL HOUSE 1849'. Replacement flat-panelled timber door and replacement timber door surround comprising slender pilasters flanking door with four-pane sidelights and spoked timber fanligiht all set within painted stucco surround. Square-headed window openings to either cheek with replacement top-hung timber casement windows. Door opens onto single concrete step to enclosed front area. To the left of the porch are the remains of a previous door opening. Blind gabled unpainted rendered northwest side elevation. Embedded within the side gable is an elliptical voussoired rubble red sandstone carriage arch adjoining that of the adjacent house No.13 High Street (HB05/02/036A). Rear elevation has a central gable-ended two-storey return with a two-storey extension to the re-entrant angle having cat-slide natural slate roof with skylights. UPVC windows to the return only. Sunken paved yard with concrete steps leading to the rear garden. Southeast side is abutted by adjoining house No.9 High Street (HB05/02/034C). Setting: Terminating a terrace of houses lining the northeast side of High Street built on a steep gradient overlooking Cushendall village. Small paved front area enclosed by a rendered wall with rubblestone coping and a single pedestrian iron gate hung on painted stop-chamfered stone piers with tiled steps to the front pavement. Sunken rear yard with steps leading to rear garden and accessed via shared access lane to northwest. Materials: Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron Walling Painted ruled-and-lined render Windows Replacement timber sliding sash

Architects

Historical Information

No. 11 High Street, a two-storey three-bay early-Victorian house located on the north east side of High Street, also known as Sundial House, was constructed in 1849. The majority of the buildings located along High Street were erected in the first half of the 19th century by the landowning Turnly family. Cushendall’s proprietor Francis Turnly had travelled to China in 1796 where he raised a fortune of around £75,000. In 1801 Turnly used this money to purchase the estate of Newtownglens from the Richardson family at a cost of £24,000; Turnly subsequently renamed the settlement Cushendall. Brett states that Turnly was an eccentric character who ‘effected extraordinary improvements in buildings and roads on his property.’ Cushendall consisted of little more than a number of insignificant cabins, a mill and a bridge at the time of the purchase however, due to an increase in the number of tourists travelling through the area (on the way to the Giant’s Causeway) the village was developed into a coastal resort with the erection of hotels (such as the Glens of Antrim on Shore Street) and numerous commercial properties (Dallat, p. 45; Brett, Buildings of Co. Antrim, p. 288; Cushendall Conservation Area Guide). According to a sign located above the house’s gabled entrance porch, No. 11 High Street was constructed in 1849. The building was first recorded in the second edition Ordnance Survey map of Cushendall (1857) and was recorded in the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859). The valuer initially set the value of No. 11 High Street at £13 and noted that the private dwelling was leased by Daniel Jamison (a local rate collector who resided at nos 13-15 High Street) to the Rev. James Dunseath of Layd Parish Church. The Rev. Dunseath continued to reside at No. 11 High Street until c. 1874 when the house briefly passed to a Mrs. Baker. In 1885 the property was occupied by Katherine McDonnell who established a hospital at the site. The Cushendall Conservation Area Guide records that Katherine was the granddaughter of Dr. James McDonnell who had founded the first fever hospital in Ireland and the Belfast School of Medicine. Cushendall’s hospital continued to operate from No. 11 High Street until 1896 when the McDonnell’s established the purpose built Cottage Hospital along the Shore Road. With the turn of the 20th century, No. 11 High Street reverted to use as a private dwelling. The Annual Revisions did not record any occupants of the building during the first three decades of the century, although it is unlikely that the house remained vacant throughout this period. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) records that No. 11 High Street was occupied by John Macaulay by the 1930s; the valuer increased the value of the property to £13. Macaulay continued to reside at No. 11 High Street until 1960 when a Miss. Mona Dempsey took possession. Dempsey purchased the house outright from the Turnly estate in 1967 and established a bed & breakfast at the site in 1969; by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of No. 11 High Street stood at £28. In 1972 the UAHS publication for the Glens of Antrim described High Street as ‘an outstandingly attractive street, of quite exceptional merit and character, climbing very steeply indeed from the crossing of the main street to Court McMartin, almost every building in it of individual merit apart from the value of the group as a whole; the roofs, gables, doors and windows rise in an irregular staircase up the hillside.’ Sundial House is described thus ‘dated 1849, a nice two-storey stucco quoined house with a pretty porch and Regency glazing’ (UAHS p. 34). The buildings along High Street were included in the Cushendall Conservation Area in 1975, only the second conservation area in the province to have been designated at that time, ‘testimony itself to the special qualities of the village.’ In that year the village was also chosen as one of Northern Ireland’s four pilot schemes for conservation during the European Architectural Heritage Year. No. 11 High Street was subsequently listed in 1976. NIEA HB Records note that No. 11 High Street underwent extensive renovation in 1990, including reslating, cast iron rainwater goods and new entrance door (NIEA HB Records; Cushendall Conservation Area Guide). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/20/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/20/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921) 4. PRONI OS/8/84/1 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1903) 5. PRONI VAL/1/B/148 – Townland Valuations (1834) 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/1/40B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/7A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1923) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/12A– Annual Revisions (1923-29) 9. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/14 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 10. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/10 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 11. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1918) 12. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 13. First Survey Record – HB05/02/035 (1971) 14. NIEA HB Record – HB05/02/035 Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Co. Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1996. 3. Dallat, C., ‘The road to the Glens’ Belfast: The Friar’s Bush Press, 1989. 4. ‘Cushendall Village Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1975. 5. ‘Cushendall Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1993.

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

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance Z. Rarity U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

End of terrace three-bay two-storey with attic rendered house, dated 1849, occupying a prominent elevated site on High Street overlooking the village centre of Cushendall, attached to No.9 High Street (HB05/02/034C). It sits behind stone walls with an iron gate and a carriage arch remains to its western gable. From 1885-1896 Sundial House operated as a hospital, opened by the granddaughter of Dr. James McDonnell who had founded the first fever hospital in Ireland and the Belfast School of Medicine. The front facade retains simple proportions and ornamentation with moulded stucco window surrounds and painted quoins. This house is quite rare in relation to its history as a hospital and it would have had an important social and local role in the village during that era. The historic setting of High Street is enhanced by its continuing presence.

General Comments

Date of Survey

19 January 2015