Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB16/22/005

Address :
8 Church Road Bessbrook Co. Armagh BT35 7AQ

Townland:
Clogharevan

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
15/05/1981 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
Estate Related Structures

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
266/1NE

IG Ref:
J0467 2855

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

One-and-a-half-storey three-bay former estate rent office in local stone with red and buff brick detailing, built c.1866 to designs by an unknown architect. L-plan form facing North onto Church Road, Bessbrook, having a later one-and-a-half-storey rear return. Pitched natural slate roof with alternating angled and cocks comb crested terracotta ridge tiles. Three bands of fish scale slates to centre of pitch and two decorative stepped rectangular section red and buff brick chimneys to ridge, each having a single tall buff clay pot. Flush eaves with buff brick eaves course composed of alternating flush bricks and projecting paired corbelled headers. Cast iron RWGs; half-round guttering discharging to circular section downpipes. Generally random-coursed rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite stone walling with red and buff brick dressings; red brick to square-headed gauged-brick window opes and jambs. Stepped red brick quoins. Double hung 6/6 sliding timber sash windows with horns and painted stone cills (unless otherwise stated). Principle elevation Three bay assymmetric front elevation faces N directly onto Church Street. First bay from W narrowly projects and is gabled having a window and a blind diamond detail in raised buff brick (with red brick to interior) to centre of gable. Remaining two bay block to E has a window and open porch; porch located to first bay from E having a pitched painted timber canopy with terracotta clay ball finial to apex and decorative timber corbels. Semi-circular headed door ope with buff brick to head and jambs; polished sheeted timber door with decorative iron studs and black iron furniture. Double hung 6/6 sliding timber sash windows, with horns and painted smooth cement bands to red brick opes; both windows have projecting drip moulds in buff brick. Two bays to W are fronted by a narrow area enclosed by dwarf stone walling topped by squared coping and painted metal railings; door to porch at E opens directly onto roadside. Two chimneys to elevation; one located to W gable end and one between first and second bays from E end. To west of dwelling there is a foot gate in a section of stepped gabled stone walling; polychrome brick dressings to pointed arch and painted sheeted timber door leading to West elevation and enclosed rear yard to S. Two part timber vehicular gates in a similar style attached to W of foot gate lead to 4 Lakeview (HB16/22/10D) and are hung on tall square section polychrome brick pillars with blind arches to sides and a dentilated brick cornice to red brick caps. Vehicular entrance to E of dwelling leads to enclosed yard; painted sheeted timber gates hung on square-section stone-built pillars with stepped red brick quoins and pyramidal granite caps. East elevation Side elevation faces East into an enclosed cobbled yard and consists of a stone-built single bay gabled block to N with plain painted timber bargeboard and a single bay one-and-a-half-storey stone-built rear return to S. 6/6 timber sash window to FF of gable (appears to be a later addition) and a 8/8 timber sash window in-line below to GF. Rear return has a 6/6 timber sash window to GF. South Elevation Rear elevation faces South, into an enclosed concrete yard and is three bays in width. One-and-a-half-storey rear return to E; two double hung 6/6 sliding timber sash windows and a buff brick corbel course to W of return. Rear return has a timber four part side opening casement window to its gable apex and a lower attached pitched roof stone-built outbuilding which extends to S. West side of rear return has a lined render finish with square-headed door ope and a 4/4 timber sash window to S of door; painted sheeted timber door with black iron furniture and a four part square-headed fanlight. West elevation West elevation consists of a gabled one-and-a-half-storey block with a polychrome brick chimney to gable apex and a lined smooth cement render finish with raised blind diamond detail in render to gable. Double hung 2/2 sliding timber sash window to S at FF level. Setting The building is located to the S side of Church Street, in the heart of Bessbrook village, with a private yard, accessed through a set of vehicular gates to the E, which is enclosed by high stone walling to E and linear stone-built outbuildings to its W. There is an open double garage to S of yard with a hipped natural slate roof. Four large stone-built houses to the rear of the site are known as Lakeview (HB16/22/010A-D), with a decorative stone and brick entrance to W of the Garage leading to No. 4 (HB16/22/010D). On the opposite side of Church Road there is a modest sized public garden known as the 'SHELTER and TIRSAH'. A datestone records it was erected in 1911 for the people of Bessbrook in memory of Helena and Jane Marion Richardson by James N. Richardson, it is now owned by Bessbrook Development Company. Materials: Roof: Natural slate RWGs: Cast iron Walling: Newry Granodiorite Windows: Timber sash

Architects

Historical Information

No. 8 Church Road, a single-storey L-shaped mid-Victorian cottage located to the northwest of Lakeview Terrace, was constructed in c. 1866. The building was originally constructed as Bessbrook’s rent office and formed part of the expansion and industrial development of the village, which had been undertaken by the Richardson family as early as the 1840s. The development of industry in the area dates from 1761 when the first woollen mill and bleach green were opened by a Mr. John Pollock. The site was simply known as ‘The Green’ but was renamed Bessbrook after Pollock’s wife Elizabeth (Bess) and the nearby Camlough River (Brook). The first edition Ordnance Survey map records that few buildings had been erected at Bessbrook by the 1830s. The only significant structures to be depicted upon that map were Mount Caulfield House (the residence of the Nicholson family – see HB16/22/024) and a number of thread manufactories and bleach mills. The village of Bessbrook was effectively founded in 1845 when John Grubb Richardson (1813-1891), a linen merchant from Lambeg, purchased one of the derelict mills at the site and began to build housing for his factory workers in the immediate vicinity. Richardson, in his own words, ‘had a great aversion to be responsible for a factory population in a large town, so on looking around, fixed upon a place near Newry … with water power and a thick population around, and in a country district where flax was cultivated in considerable quantities’ (Harrison, p. 50). Bessbrook was established as a ‘model village’ in a number of phases beginning with the laying out of Fountain Street in the 1840s. The architect of the majority of the housing in Bessbrook is not known, however Richardson’s layout of the village was influenced by the work of William Penn, an American Quaker who had been responsible for the planning and development of Philadelphia in the late-17th century. Richardson was also a member of the Religious Society of Friends and, according to Harrison, possessed a ‘typical Quaker mix of pragmatic and altruistic expectation to provide jobs and good working conditions for his employees.’ By providing his workers with good standards of living Richardson hoped to ensure good relationships between employers and those they employed. He therefore established the village as a social experiment where his workers could both live and work in contentment. Harrison states that Richardson’s philanthropic spirit led him to bring the poor, the unqualified and beggars from the surrounding countryside to work and live at Bessbrook, hoping that he could encourage them to improve themselves and excise old habits. Bessbrook is often referred to as a village without the ‘Three P’s’ due to Richardson’s stipulation that there would be no ‘Public House’ or ‘Pawn Shop’ in the settlement and therefore no need for ‘Police’ to be stationed there. In exchange for keeping the village free of alcohol Richardson provided recreational and educational facilities at the Institute (HB16/22/009), a number of well-stocked shops (located at nos 1-5 Charlemont Square East) and also had milk, tea and cocoa distributed to his mill workers. The strategy was effective as the majority of the population voted to preserve the ordinance in the 1870s and, to this day, there remains no public house at Bessbrook. Police were not stationed at the village until the turn of the 20th century (Harrison; Brett, p. 243). In 1863 Richardson became the sole owner of the Bessbrook Spinning Company following the purchase of his brother’s shares in the company. The local linen industry experienced a boom during the American Civil War (1861-65) as access to American cotton was cut off. Richardson took advantage of this opportunity by greatly enlarging his factory at Bessbrook whilst also increasing the size of his workforce. Lord Charlemont sold the remainder of the Camlough Estate to Richardson in 1865 and so by the mid-1860s Richardson was the main employer and the principal landowner at Bessbrook. Richardson had Charlemont Square laid out between 1862 and 1866 to accommodate the influx of new workers to the factory; between 1861 and 1871 the population of Bessbrook rose from 637 to 2,215 with the number of houses rising from 73 to 296 (Harrison, pp 100-101). No. 8 Church Road was constructed in c. 1866 as the rent office of the Bessbrook Spinning Co. The erection of a rent office building was necessary due to the rapid expansion of the village’s population and the laying out of extensive areas of housing along Charlemont Square in the mid-1860s. The rent office was not depicted on the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1861) or recorded in the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1862). The building was first recorded in 1866 by the Annual Revisions which set the total rateable value of the rent office at £5, noting that the building was owned by the Bessbrook Spinning Co. and was occupied by Richardson’s land agents. The architect of the rent office is not known with certainty. Brett suggests that John Hardy, a civil engineer who was appointed company architect in 1881, may have carried out some work in Bessbrook in the 1860s, although his role may have been limited to the expansion of the mill buildings. The rent office is contemporary with the worker’s houses along Charlemont Square and was constructed by masons and joiners employed by the Bessbrook Spinning Company. The Natural Stone Database records that the houses along Charlemont Square are constructed of Newry Granodiorite. This granite was utilised in the masonry of most buildings at Bessbrook and was produced locally at a quarry opened on the former Charlemont Estate (Brett, p. 243; NSD). The first recorded agent of the rent office was William Davies, Richardson’s Estate Agent who also operated as a local magistrate. Davies resided at Moyallan in Co. Down and continued to operate as Richardson’s agent until c. 1907. The rent office at Bessbrook was originally used for estate business and does not appear to have been utilised as a private dwelling at the turn of the 20th century as no occupants were recorded in either the 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1906) depicted the single-storey cottage along its current layout noting that the building’s current rear outbuildings are original. No. 8 Church Road ceased to be utilised as Bessbrook’s rent office by at least the 1930s. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the building was occupied by a Mr. Thomas J. Black who operated a motor garage from the premises; the current outbuilding range to the rear of No. 8 Church Road was utilised as a garage and the total value of the cottage and its outbuildings was increased to £16 and 10 shillings at this time. The Black family purchased the site outright in 1968 and continued to operate a garage from the premises until at least the 1970s when the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) set the value of No. 8 Church Road at £30. No. 8 Church Road was listed in 1981 and was included in the Bessbrook Conservation Area which was designated in 1983 in recognition of Bessbrook’s ‘historical significance as a planned mill village and its distinct form and character.’ The Conservation Area Guide notes that the carefully planned development of Bessbrook, including the uniform terraces at Charlemont Square and College Square, influenced the design of the famous English model villages at Saltaire (1852), Port Sunlight (1888) and Bourneville (developed by the Cadbury family in 1895) ‘which have directly influenced town and country planning all over the world’ (Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide). The NIEA HB Records note that No. 8 Church Road underwent a general restoration in c. 1987 and in c. 1995 the building’s windows were replaced with the current Georgian-style frames (NIEA HB Records). Field inspection of the site, carried out as part of the Second Survey, finds that No. 8 Church Road is no longer utilised as a motor garage but is has been converted to domestic use. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/2/26/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1834-35) 2. PRONI OS/6/2/26/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1861) 3. PRONI OS/6/2/26/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1906) 4. PRONI OS/8/31/3 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1906) 5. PRONI VAL/2/B/2/37D – Griffith’s Valuation (1862) 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/6A-6J – Annual Revisions (1866-1929) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/5A – Annual Revisions (1924-29) 8. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/12 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 9. PRONI VAL/4/B/2/20 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 10. George Bassett: The Book of County Armagh (1888) 11. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918) 12. Census of Ireland (1901: 1911) 13. First Survey Record – HB16/22/005 14. NIEA HB Record – HB16/22/005 Secondary Sources 1. ‘Bessbrook: A record of industry in a Northern Ireland village community and of a social experiment, 1845-1945’ Belfast: Nicholson & Bass Ltd., 1945. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of County Armagh’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1999. 3. Harrison, R., ‘The Richardson’s of Bessbrook: Ulster Quakers in the linen industry (1845-1921)’ Dublin: Original Writing Ltd., 2008. 4. ‘Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment (N. I.), 1983. Online Resources 1. Natural Stone Database - http://www. stonedatabase.com/ 2. Dictionary of Ulster Biography - http://www. ulsterbiography.co.uk/

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 U. Historic Associations X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance T. Historic Importance Z. Rarity V. Authorship

Evaluation

One-and-a-half-storey three-bay private dwelling and former estate rent office for Bessbrook Spinning Co., in local granite with red and buff brick detailing, built c.1866 to designs by an unknown architect. L-plan form facing North onto Church Road, having a later modest one-and-a-half-storey stone-built rear return. No. 8 Church Road, or The Garage by its local name has well designed proportions and good quality detailing; the contrast between local stone walling and polychrome brickwork, with matching walling and gates to front, give the building considerable character, making it one of the most distinctive buildings within the village. Internally, it retains some of its original plan and internal features, which adds to its interest, as does its setting and group value; having stone-built outbuildings to the rear and being in close proximity to the shop and former Quaker meeting house (HB16/22/007) and the Bessbrook Squares (HB16/22/001-4 & HB16/22/013-15). The building is of significant historical and social interest as part of the early planned mill village of Bessbrook, begun in the 1840s by the prominent linen merchant John Grubb Richardson (1813-1891) from Lambeg and contemporary to the other English model villages of Port Sunlight (1888) and Bourneville (1895), which latterly went on to contribute to 'town and country planning all over the world'.

General Comments

Date of Survey

16 March 2015