Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB01/19/029

Address :
No.2 Castle Street & 14 Shipquay Street Londonderry Co. Londonderry BT48 6HQ

Townland:
Londonderry

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
26/02/1979 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Office

Former Use
Library

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
36-8NW

IG Ref:
C4349 1676

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Late Georgian end-of-terrace former library and reading room built in 1825 for the Library Association. Rectangular on plan, principal elevation faces south-west onto Castle Street with direct access off pavement level. The building comprises a four-bay two-storey rendered office and retail building fronting onto Castle Street with two-bay two-storey over basement rendered elevation fronting onto Shipquay Street. It also includes a three-bay ashlar sandstone office building adjoining the Castle Street elevation. Pitched and hipped replacement fibre cement slate roof having black clay ridge tiles and several modern rooflights behind a solid parapet wall. Windows are square-headed 6/6 timber sliding sash (with horns) unless otherwise noted. Principal (south-west) elevation comprises a four-bay rendered element to right and a three-bay ashlar sandstone element to left. Two-storey four-bay element to right is of painted render with moulded plinth, rustication up to first floor string course level and smooth render above. Large doorcase to the left containing six panel replacement timber door flanked either side by Ionic columns on square plinth blocks and plain sidelights either side. Large semi-circular fanlight above with timber glazing bars on a dentilled entablature with moulded cornice. Three windows to right of door on painted concrete cills. Two partially concealed square-headed openings to basement level directly below windows to right. Flat painted smooth plaster string course to first floor level with four windows directly above ground floor openings. First floor windows have plain moulding with lugged surrounds and painted concrete cills supported by small brackets. Painted solid rendered parapet concealing roof behind with projecting dentilled cornice. Three-bay ashlar sandstone element to left has a moulded plinth with three full height round-arched windows with flying diamond-faced keystones and projecting moulded string course at impost level. Replacement casement timber windows with integral plate glass double doors at ground floor level. Diamond-faced quoin stones to either end form pilasters which rise to an architrave, plain frieze and projecting moulded cornice with dentilled course at eaves below low parapet. Bush hammered finish to sandstone between window arches and architrave. Replacement cast aluminium hopper and downpipe to left side of elevation. North-west side is completely abutted by neighbouring property No. 4 Castle Street. Rear (north-east) elevation is abutted by neighbouring property No. 16 Shipquay Street. South-east two-bay two-storey over basement elevation facing onto Shipquay Street is rendered and is set back from the pavement behind an iron railing allowing ramped access to the basement level. Moulded plinth to ground floor level with rustication up to first floor string course level and smooth render above. The basement has a plate glass door to the left with a square plate glass window to the right. Two windows centred on elevation with painted concrete cills to ground. Flat painted smooth plaster string course to first floor level with two windows directly above ground floor openings. First floor windows have plain moulding with lugged surrounds and painted concrete cills supported by small brackets. Painted solid rendered parapet concealing roof behind with projecting dentilled cornice. Setting: Located on a corner site at the junction of Castle Street and Shipquay Street, the principal elevation faces onto Castle Street with a basement to Shipquay Street elevation set behind iron railings. Situated in a prominent site half way up the Shipquay Street hill within the Walled City Conservation Area. Materials: Roof Fibre-cement RWG Cast aluminium Walling Render/ Sandstone Windows Timber

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

No. 14 Shipquay Street and No. 2 Castle Street were originally constructed in 1825 as a single composition and were utilised as Londonderry’s library and reading room. The building consists of a three-storey (originally single-storey) three-bay sandstone-faced building on Castle Street and a two-storey building possessing a rusticated ground floor and a Georgian doorcase on the corner with Shipquay Street. The buildings were heavily damaged as a result of bomb explosions in the late-20th century. The library and reading room was originally constructed in 1825. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs noted that the ‘Library Association’ was originally established in the city in 1809 but was discontinued soon thereafter. The association was re-established in 1824. The library was constructed in the late-Georgian period when a number of public buildings were being built in the city (for example the Court House on Bishop Street in 1813-17). During the construction of the library the Londonderry Journal reported that ‘the city has of late been considerably improved and embellished and I am happy to find that a public building in addition to the ones of which it can justly boast is now being erected in the centre of Shipquay Street which will add much to the appearance of that already beautiful street.’ Hume states that it replaced an old house which had previously occupied the site. The memoirs described the library and reading room as ‘a plain building, faced with Dungiven sandstone. It was erected … at an expense of £1,800, late Irish currency, raised by private subscription, excepting two sums of £100 each, contributed by the Corporation. Its length is 42 feet, its breadth 23, and its height 35. It contains the committee-room of the Chamber of Commerce.’ The Library was located in the two-storey corner building, the upper floor of which was used by the librarian as private apartments. The reading room was located in the adjoining building with the three full-height round-headed windows designed to admit as much light as possible for those reading within (OSM, p. 112; p. 150). In c. 1835 the Townland Valuations described the library and reading room as a 1A class building (that is a new, or nearly new, slated building) that was valued at over £58. The sandstone building on Castle Street continued to be utilised as a reading room until the 1890s but the two-storey building at the corner of Shipquay Street was partially converted into a private dwelling as early as the 1850s. Griffith’s Valuation (1856) noted that the sandstone building had been increased in value to £45 since the 1830s but also noted that the adjoining two-storey library building was occupied by James Allen (a local hardware merchant) and was individually valued at £65. The contemporary Londonderry Corporation map recorded that the former library had been divided into two distinct buildings as early as 1857. In 1878 the building at the corner of Shipquay Street was converted into offices for the firm of William Andrews and Joseph Deane, local watch and clockmakers, and increased in value to £80. The National Telephone Exchange established its offices in the building in 1889. The Londonderry Sentinel reported that the city’s first ‘call-box’ would be installed in the former library ‘by which members of the Exchange could communicate with their own business premises … and by which non-members could enjoy the privilege of a three minutes’ use of the telephone on payment of 3d. There would be a similar ‘call-box in the Victoria Market, these being the two centres where businessmen most do congregate.’ The sandstone building on Castle Street was partially converted into an auction house for Thomas Bond in the 1880s but the Derry Almanac states that the library and newsroom also continued to operate from the site until c. 1895. The Ulster Town Directories note that in 1901 the city possessed a large number of newsrooms and libraries making the original library at the corner of Shipquay Street and Castle Street redundant (Derry Almanac; UTD). The Valuation Map of Londonderry (1899) depicted the buildings along their current layout. Both structures have continued to be utilised as commercial premises into the 20th century. The Derry Almanac notes that the sandstone building on Castle Street was acquired by the auctioneers firm of Frazer, Mitchell & Co. in the 1920s and remained in use as an auction house until at least the 1970s. The adjoining corner building remained in use as office premises for a number of local businesses throughout this period. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the total rateable value of both buildings was set at £141. In 1969 the buildings were purchased outright by the Belfast Bank Executor & Trustee Co. Ltd (who set up offices in the corner building) and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total value of the pair had been further increased to £285. In 1970 the UAHS guide for Derry stated that ‘architecturally the building is interesting, with a fine entrance with fanlight. The designer tried to express the exterior function externally, hence the interesting play with the fenestration’ (UAHS guide, p. 27). The buildings were included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and were subsequently listed in 1977. The NIEA HB Records note that the building at the corner of Shipquay Street was heavily damaged as a result of a bomb that exploded on Castle Street in 1982. The explosion ripped through the ground floor level of the building which had to be reconstructed. The restoration of the building included the replacement of the original roof, interior floors and chimney. In 1987 the building was the victim of a second bomb explosion which resulted in the almost total reconstruction of the building at the corner of Shipquay Street. In 2005 No. 14 Shipquay Street and No. 2 Castle Street underwent a renovation (carried out by the Townscape Heritage Initiative) that returned the buildings to something of their late-Georgian grandeur. During the Second Survey No. 14 Shipquay Street continued to be utilised as office premises whilst No. 2 Castle Street had been converted into a clothing store (the insertion of new floors has transformed the former reading room into a three-storey structure). Despite the heavy restoration of the buildings, following the repeated bombing of the site in the 1980s, Calley states that they ‘remain one of the best proportioned buildings on the street.’ No. 2 Castle Street survived both 1980s bomb attacks relatively intact and retains the most original historic fabric of the pair, allowing Calley to designate it ‘one of the most interesting buildings in the city of an elegant form which follows function and it is wonderful to see this important building preserved’ (Calley, p. 81; p. 375). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830) 2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853) 3. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/11 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910) 4. PRONI VAL/1/D/5/9B – Townland Valuation Map (1834) 5. PRONI VAL/1/B/547 – Townland Valuations (c. 1835) 6. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11X – Annual Revisions (1860-1897) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2A-2E– Annual Revisions (1897-1931) 9. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 10. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/13-14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 11. Londonderry Journal (5 Apr 1825) 12. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837) 13. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943) 14. Derry Almanac (1878-1953) 15. First Survey Record – HB01/19/029 (1970) 16. First Survey Image – HB01/19/029 (1975) 17. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/029 18. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Shipquay Street) 19. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Castle Street – including Valuation Map of 1899) Secondary Sources 1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013 – including Corporation Map of Londonderry (1857). 2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970. 3. Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002. 4. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003. 5. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012. Online Resources 1. Digital Atlas of Derry – http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

A late Georgian former library and reading room built in 1825 located at the corner of Castle Street and Shipquay Street within the historic walled City. It consists of two distinct elements; a two-storey with basement rendered building on the corner of Castle Street and Shipquay Street, and a sandstone building on Castle Street. The section at the corner of Shipquay Street was damaged by a bomb that exploded on Castle Street in 1982 resulting in the loss of historic fabric to the ground floor. In 1987 the building suffered a second bomb explosion which subsequently resulted in an extensive reconstruction of the building at the corner of Shipquay Street. The interior layout was altered with the loss of the original plan form, historic detailing and character. Despite this, the unique social history of the building as an early purpose-built library and reading room coupled with its more recent history when the building suffered during The Troubles has resulted in a building which has a rich tapestry of history. The building is a significant feature in the conservation area with strong architectural character and presence and is a building of special architectural and historical interest.

General Comments

Date of Survey

18 August 2014