Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/15/022

Address :
'The Antrim Arms Hotel' 75 Castle Street Ballycastle County Antrim BT54 6AS

Townland:
Ballycastle Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

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

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Hotel

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

IG Ref:
D1143 4066

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Large three-storey hotel with long three and two-storey returns, built c.1760, with returns added in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The property is situated on a slope at the east end of Castle Street (at the junction of Fairhill Street), in Ballycastle town centre. Front elevation The front elevation faces N and consists of two distinct sections, the large, symmetrical, five openings wide section that makes up the bulk of the façade and a single window wide portion to W which was a separate property from much of the 19th century at least. To the centre of the of the ground floor of the larger section is the main entrance. This consists of a panelled timber double door with semicircular fanlight over with ‘spoke’ timber tracery. The doorway is encased with moulded pilasters. These pilasters were probably originally ‘supported’ a moulded tympanum, however the doorway is now set within a portico, whose flat roof cuts across the top of the fanlight and all of the of the area where the tympanum would -in theory- have been located. The portico roof itself has an oversailing cornice and the name ‘Antrim Arms’ is spelt out in raised lettering across the roof’s ‘frieze’. The roof is supported on two fluted Composite columns. To the left of the doorway are two rectangular windows with horned timber sash frames, broad boxes, plate glass glazing and cills which are almost flush with the wall. There are two identical window to the right of the doorway, with five more to the first floor and five shorter windows to the second floor. The western section to right has a single window to each floor, similar to those on the eastern section, but broader. The whole of the front elevation is finished in painted lined render with moulded ‘in-out’ quoins. East elevation The long E elevation of the building consists of the gable of the main front section of the building (to right), and the E face of the long eastern three-storey return. The gable has a partly exposed basement level, which has a recessed window to right and a much smaller window, with similar frame, to right. To the first floor there are two windows similar to those to front. To the first floor are two similar, but slightly narrower windows, with two more to the first floor (of differing size). To attic level there is a small rectangular window with timber sash frame (three panes over three); this window is set within a pointed arch recess. The gable is finished as the front façade and is topped with a large rendered chimneystack. Due to the slope of Fairhill Street, the ground floor level of the E face of the long eastern return is actually level with the basement of the main front section of the building, the first floor the equivalent of the ground floor of the main section etc. To the right hand side of the ground floor level there are three windows of differing size, two with relatively recent-looking timber frames, with a metal frame to the other. To the left of these windows there is a large segmental-headed vehicle entrance with timber-sheeted double door. To the first floor there are eight evenly-spaced uniform windows with modern timber multi-pane frames. To the second floor there are seven windows of uniform size, six with horned timber sash frames (four windows to right with two panes over two, with plate glass glazing to those to left). The third window (from left) has a modern timber frame. The W elevation of the property is largely non-existent, due to the presence of the neighbouring property, with only a small section of the W face of the two-storey western return exposed, and devoid of openings. Rear elevation The rear (S) elevation consists of the two-storey return to left (W) and the three-storey return to E, a low two-storey flat-roofed section set in between these, and the with the second floor level of the rear façade of the main section of the building behind. The S gable of the W return has a large window to the first floor with a recent bowed timber frame. The S gable of the E return has two similar bowed window to the first floor with a much smaller window to the second floor with a modern timber frame. In the gap between these returns is the low two-storey flat-roofed projection, with a fire escape stair descending from its roof against the W (inner) face of the eastern return. To the S face of this flat-roofed section there is a large doorway with modern mainly glazed double door. The ground floor level appears to project slightly beyond the line of the first floor, but does not appear to possess any openings. The exposed second floor level of the rear façade of the main section of the building could not be seen in its entirety. To far left there appears to be a large projecting gabled half dormer, with a smaller (flush) gabled half-dormer to right of this. The latter half-dormer has a window similar to front, the larger dormer could not be observed clearly. To right again there is a shallow projecting hip-roofed section with a window with single pane [?]timber frame. The rear elevation is finished in painted render. ‘Inner’ faces of the returns Only the very left hand end of the E (‘inner’) face of the W return appears to be exposed. It does not appear to have any openings. The W face of the E return is fully exposed at second floor level with only the very right hand end of the other floors exposed. There appear to be no openings to the ground floor, with a single window to the first floor, and at least six openings to the second floor. Of these six openings, two (to left) appear to be doorways, which open out on to the flat roof of the section set in between the re returns. The inner faces of the returns are finished in painted render. Roofs etc. The gabled roof of the main section is slated, with a small skylight to rear. There are two ridge chimneystacks to this roof, one to the E gable (see above), the other to the W of centre, in line with the division between the two formerly separate properties now making up the main section of the building (see above). The gabled roof of the W return appears to be covered in fibre cement ‘slate’ (to the eastern side at least). The covering on the gabled roof of the E return could not be seen at all. The rainwater goods appear to be largely, (if not wholly), cast-iron. To the rear of the building there is a large yard which is enclosed from Fairhill Street (to the E) and Mill Street (to the S), by a high wall. This wall appears to have been originally wholly rubble constructed, but large sections to the E have been patched in concrete brick and red brick. With an original gateway to the S now blocked in concrete brick also. The SE corner of the wall is constructed in semi-coursed red sandstone which one suspects may have been salvaged from elsewhere.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

In the first valuation of 1835* two separate properties are recorded on this site, both equating to the division still apparent in the asymmetrical front façade fenestration. The larger property to east, then in the hands of a Charles McGildowny Esq, is stated as measuring 39½ft x 28 x 25, with an ‘addition in rere’ of 10 x 7½ x 25, ‘cellars as dwellings’ of 39½ x 28 x 7½, and offices of 23 x 19½ x 11½. The smaller building to the west was occupied by an Alexander McGee and is recorded is measuring 15 x 28 x 25, with its own ‘addition in rere’ of 8 x 9 x 23½, cellars ‘half store half dwelling’ of 11½ x 20½ x 11½, and a stable of 12 x 20½ x11½. As subsequent valuations do not record the demolition of these structures or any truly major structural alterations (outside of the addition / extending of the returns), we can assume that these properties make up that we see today. The valuers grade both buildings ‘1B+’ suggesting they were both of considerable age at that point, certainly over thirty years old, and most probably 18th century. The prolific traveller, (and erstwhile Archdeacon of Dublin), Dr Richard Pococke, who visited Ballycastle in 1752, refers to ‘a very good inn’ built by the town’s then landlord Hugh Boyd. Local historian Hugh Alexander Boyd, writing in a 1967 newspaper article relating to the hotel, appears to suggest that this ‘inn’ stood on the site of the present hotel, and that the present building replaced it in 1767, when Alexander Boyd leased the site to a local surgeon named Robert McCarroll. C.E.B. Brett repeats this information in his ‘Buildings of County Antrim’, but Cathal Dallat, writing in 1989, states that the current building is of a slightly earlier date, built in 1754. Though there appears to be no conclusive evidence for either date, the fact that much of Castle Street was largely developed in the 1740s and 1750s suggests that the earlier date is not unreasonable. The OS Memoirs of 1831 refer to Ballycastle as having only one inn which was ‘dirty in the extreme’. This is odd seeing as how ‘Pigot’s Directory’ of seven years previously lists two ‘inns and hotels’ in the town, one in ‘Main Street’ [i.e. Castle Street], run by a Hugh O’Hall, and the other in ‘Church Street’ [The Diamond] run by a Matthew Fullerton- the former undoubtedly the Antrim Arms, latter probably the present ‘Boyd Arms’. Moreover, a later (c.1833-35) entry in the Memoirs themselves makes mention of ‘two inns which afford only moderate accommodation to travellers’. Whatever the actual number of hotels, it appears clear that none could be rated as top quality establishments. Things may have improved in the following years, for Alexander Knox, writing roughly a decade later, is less disparaging, making note of the Antrim Arms by name and referring to the ‘very good posting [i.e. carriage] establishment’ associated with the hotel. In Slater’s ‘Directory’ of 1846 an Archibald McDonnell listed as the manager. By 1859 Archibald had been succeeded by a John McDonnell, who was renting both of the formerly separate properties from the McGildowny family, the valuers specifically pointing out that the smaller house was now part of the hotel. The dimensions quoted by the valuers at this stage are remarkably similar to those of 1835, indicating that nothing had been added, (or taken away), in the interim, however they do reveal something of the interior, referring to ‘six rooms and garrets’ in the section to the west. Their notes relating to the section to the east are slightly difficult to read, but appear to refer to four rooms to the ground and four to the first floor, with ‘kitchen beneath and room’ (presumably in the cellar), and a ‘servants’ water closet in return room’. The near contemporary (1857) OS map shows a short return to the east of centre, a long narrow return to the west linking to a structure (possibly a stable) at the south end of the yard, with a large freestanding structure to the east side of the yard. None of the returns we see today appear to have been present at this point, as indicated by the dimensions supplied by the valuers. James McDonnell was succeeded by Mary McDonnell in 1875, who in turn was followed by a Thomas E. Linden in 1878, and an Albert R.H. [?]Wegg in 1880. In that same year the valuers make reference to an ‘addition’ to the property; once again the handwriting is unclear, but judging from later evidence it may have involved the building of part of the present large return to the east. In 1886 Robert Hunter took over the management of the premises. In George Bassett’s 1888 ‘Book of County Antrim’ (a guide book and directory) there is an advertisement for the Hotel which includes an illustration of the building. This shows the main front section much as today, but with the eastern return only three-storey as far as the carriage archway, two-storey beyond this. To the south end of the return the gable of another structure can be seen. In 1897 the whole of the eastern return was raised to three-storey beyond the carriage archway. A plan in the valuers’ office notebook drawn up in this year to show this change to return, also throws light on the rest of the building. It details the presence of shallow (10ft-11ft deep) two and three storey projections to the centre and left and side at the rear, two of which would appear to have been the ‘additions in rere’ standing in 1835, the other seemingly added after 1859, but not apparently recorded by the valuers at the time of its construction. Interestingly, a small section of one of these projections in noted as having a glass roof. To the south end of the yard, there was a large building of 50ft x 18 x 20, probably the same structure shown on this site on the 1857 OS map and possibly a stable block. To the west wall of the yard there was a long narrow (probably lean-to) single-storey open shed of 57 x 8 x 4½. Finally, the notebook also tells us that the new three-storey extension to the eastern return added ten rooms to the hotel, which with the ’12 rooms in [the] old inn’ meant that the building now contained '19 single and 3 double bedrooms’. The hotel remained in Hunter family management until 1913, when an Ida McCambridge is listed as the occupant. In the same year the valuers also record the demolition of the long open shed at the west side of the yard and the building of the two-storey return. Photographic evidence, dating from c.1920 shows the words ‘Ulster Bank’ spelt out in raised lettering above the two windows to the immediate right of the entrance, indicating that the bank operated for the premises at this point. The Ulster Bank’s official history states that a branch was opened in Ballycastle in 1917, but, strangely, the valuers make no mention of any part of the building being sublet or used as a bank at this time (although the western part of the building was sublet from the 1930s). The branch may have been part time, perhaps renting a room out to conduct business on one or two days a week, as happened in many provincial towns and villages. Ida McCambridge was succeeded by Edmund Francis McCambridge in c.1932. A Joseph Sandford is recorded as renting the (formerly separate) western section of the building for use as ‘offices’ from c.1935, followed by a John Scally in 1945, and William McGill from 1952 to 1969. The main eastern portion of the building is noted occupied by Kevin and Patrick McKaigney from 1947, but was back in the hands of the leaseholders the McCambridge family (in the person of Ena McCambridge) after 1952 and remained as such until 1972 at least. In 1969 the western section of the building (which is noted as a bookmakers) ceased to be let out as a separate concern. [*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 which buildings the valuers are referring. The writer has circumvented this problem however by adopting the somewhat involving 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. Pococke, Richard, ‘Richard Pococke’s Irish Tours’, ed. John McVeagh (Irish Academic Press, 1995) (1752) 2 Taylor, George, and Skinner, Andrew, ‘Taylor and Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland, surveyed 1777’ (Dublin, 1778), Map 20 etc. 3 Linen Hall Library, Belfast, ‘A Map of County Antrim…by J. Lendrick’ (1780) 4 ‘Pigot & Co’s City of Dublin and Hibernian Commercial Directory (Manchester 1824) 5 OS Memoirs, Parish of Ramoan, (1831-39), reprinted in ‘Ordnance Survey memoirs of Ireland…’ ed Angelique Day, Patrick cWilliams and Noirin Dobson (Belfast, QUB, 1994), p.92 etc 6 PRONI OS/6/1/8/1 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 8 (1832) 7 PRONI VAL/1B/135 First valuation, Ramoan parish (1834) 8 Lewis, Samuel, ‘Topographical history of Ireland’ (London, 1837) 9 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1846) 10 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1856) 11 PRONI OS/6/1/8/2 OS map, Co Antrim, sheet 8 (1856) 12 PRONI VAL/2B/1/28c Second valuation, Ramoan parish (1859) 13 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3a Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle ED (1862-64) 14 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3b Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle ED (1865-76) 15 Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1870) 16 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3c Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle ED (1876-84) 17 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3d Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle ED (1884-93) 18 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3e Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle ED (1892/3-98) 19 Bassett, George Henry, ‘The Book of County Antrim’ (Dublin, 1888), pp.92-102 20 PRONI VAL/12A/1/19 Valuers’ office notebook (1897) 21 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3f Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle ED (1898-1907) 22 PRONI VAL/12E/8/1/1-3 Valuation plans of Ballycastle (1898-c.1935) 23 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ (Belfast, 1905) 24 PRONI VAL/12E/8/2/1 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, c.1905 25 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3g Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle ED (1908-21) 26 PRONI VAL/12A/1/24 Valuers’ office notebook (1913) 27 UFTM W.A. Green Collection WAG 826 Photograph of The Diamond, Ballycastle (c.1920) 28 PRONI VAL/12B/2/5a Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle UD North and South Wards (1921-27) 29 PRONI VAL/12B/2/5b Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle UD North Ward (1927-30) 30 PRONI VAL/12B/2/5c Annual valuation revision book, Ballycastle UD South Ward (1927-30) 31 PRONI VAL/3G/6/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1934-50 32 PRONI VAL/3B/1/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Ballycastle UD, 1935 33 PRONI VAL/3C/1/6 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, 1936-57 34 PRONI VAL/4B/1/12 Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland, Ballycastle UD (1956-72) Secondary sources 1 Boyd, Hugh Alexander, “Antrim Arms Hotel- Ballycastle: An Historical Survey” in ‘Coleraine Chronicle’, (1 July 1967) 2 Brett, C.E.B., ‘Historic Buildings…The Glens of Antrim’ (Belfast, 1971), p.47 3 Dallat, Cathal, ‘The Road to the Glens’ (Belfast, 1989), p.91 4 Brett, C.E.B., ‘The Buildings of County Antrim’, (Belfast, 1996), pp.256-57 [Brett believes that the Rev. Luke Connolly’s 1816, description of the ‘decent inn kept by a person by the name of Fullarton…opposite the church’, is a reference to the Antrim Arms. However it may actually be a reference to the ‘Boyd Arms’, which we know was being run by a Matthew Fullerton in 1824, and which, arguably, could be more accurately described as ‘opposite the church’ than the Antrim Arms.] 5 Gallagher, Lyn, ‘The Ulster Bank Story’ (Belfast, 1998), p.141 Other
references 1 EHS HB05/15/022 First Survey report (10 October 1972) 2 EHS HB05/15/022 Photograph (?1972)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest Z. Rarity Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Large three-storey hotel with long three and two-storey returns, built c.1760, with returns added in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. A rare example of a mid 18th century inn / hotel, which, externally at least, has been relatively well preserved.

General Comments

Date of Survey

30 September 2004