Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB01/19/007 F

Address :
No.6 St Columb's Court Londonderry County Londonderry BT48 6JY

Townland:
Londonderry

---

Survey 2:
B2

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

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House - Terrace

Former Use
House - Terrace

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

---

OS Map No:
36-8NW

IG Ref:
C4336 1650

---

Owner Category

Church - C of I

Exterior Description And Setting

Late-Victorian end-of-terrace two-bay two-storey Arts and Crafts-style red brick house with attic level and three-storey rough-cast rendered rear return built at half landing height. Built 1899. Rectangular on plan with principal elevation facing South West onto St. Columb's Court. Built as part of a terrace row of houses of similar type. Pitched natural slate with black clay ridge tiles to main roof and a slate hipped roof to rear return, two large rebuilt (one shared) red brick chimney stacks centred on ridge, rising from the S-E and N-W, each with six circular terracotta clay pots. Modern velux roof lights to north-east and south-west sides of main pitched roof. Cast-iron rainwater goods throughout. Front elevation (South West) is of English Garden Wall brick bond; windows are square-headed with a single 2/2 timber sliding sash on the ground floor to the right of the doorway, two of the same type on first floor level; two modern roof lights to front of pitched roof; carved timber corbel brackets to timber soffit. Square-headed opening to entrance doorway, one step up, with plain architrave surround to a raised-and-fielded four panel timber door with plain flat topped fanlight above; two original painted metal vent grilles below ground floor window. North West side is abutted by adjoining property No.5 St. Columb's Court (HB01/19/007E). North East elevation is abutted by a three-storey rear return spanning the width of the entire elevation, built at half-landing height of rough-cast rendered painted finish with a hipped slate roof bounded by a high red brick wall and the south-west gable elevation of The Deanery stables. 2/2 timber sliding sash windows to first and second floors. Full access to rear was not possible at time of survey. There is no basement to this house despite No's 2-5 having basements. South East side gable end is of red brick on a rendered plinth, apex has half-timber treatment with rough-cast render and plain wide painted timber fascia board finish, single 2/2 timber sliding sash window on ground floor and a small 2/2 timber sliding sash window on first floor close to front (sw). Front corner of elevation abutts stone wall and steps leading to St. Columb's Cathedral (HB01/19/001), south-east elevation directly overlooks St. Columb's Cathedral graveyard. Materials: Roof Natural Slate RWG Cast Iron (SW) Walling Brick (SW) Rendered (NE) Windows Timber sliding sashes Setting: Located at the end of a terrace in St. Columb's Court just off the South East side of Bishop Street Within, with St. Columb's Cathedral (HB01/19/001) directly to the south-east, principal elevation faces South West onto St. Columb's Court overlooking The Courthouse (HB01/19/002), and the gable elevation directly overlooks St. Columb's Cathedral graveyard. The terrace is set within the Cathedral Quarter inside the City Walls, 40m above the River Foyle.

Architects

Ballantine, Joseph

Historical Information

Nos 2-6 St. Columb’s Court, a terrace of five two-and-a-half-storey red brick buildings located between St. Columb’s Cathedral (HB01/19/001) and Bishop Street Within, was constructed in 1899. The terrace replaced a smaller terrace of three dwellings and an outbuilding that had stood on the same site since at least the early-19th century. A 1780 map of Londonderry depicted the southern side of Bishop Street as an uninterrupted row of buildings between London Street and Bishop’s Gate but the construction of No. 1 St. Columb’s Court (HB01/19/005) in 1768 suggests that the court dates from at least the mid-18th century. St. Columb’s Court was first depicted on Porter’s 1799 map whilst the original terrace of three buildings was first recorded in the Townland Valuations in 1832. Calley states that the buildings on and surrounding St. Columb’s Court ‘encapsulates the city’s four centuries of history in four structures - the 17th century Cathedral, the 18th century Irish Society Offices, the 19th century Court House (HB01/19/002) and the ‘nearly Art and Crafts’ terrace (Calley, p. 353). The four original buildings along St. Columb’s Court were utilised as private dwellings, although the c. 1873-1910 Annual Revisions Town Plan notes that the structure next to the Irish Society Offices was utilised as the Town Clerk’s offices, whilst another was used as the Church of Ireland Working Man’s Club. The original terrace was demolished in 1899 and replaced by the current red brick terrace which was erected to designs by Joseph Ballantine. A local architect and builder, Ballantine was active in the late-19th century and possessed business premises on the Strand Road (UTD; DIA). No. 6 St. Columb’s Court, the end terrace building, was originally valued at £15 by the Annual Revisions. The 1901 Census recorded that the first occupant of the new house was Thomas Greer, a clerk. The census building return of that year described No. 6 St. Columb’s Court as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of ten rooms and possessed a coal house as its sole outbuilding. By 1911 the property had passed to a Ms. Honoria Galwey. The Dictionary of Ulster Biography states that Galwey was a prolific local collector of music noting that ‘she travelled on the continent and when she returned, her enthusiasm for collecting music became central to her life.’ In 1910 she published Old Irish Croonauns and other tunes (DUB). Galwey continued to reside at No. 6 St Columb’s Court until her death in 1925 and by the 1930s the house had passed to a Ms. Matilda Stewart. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the house was increased to £24. In 1952 the house was occupied by William Kennedy who was the Verger to St. Columb’s Cathedral (a member of the laity who helped to organise church services). By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value of No. 6 St. Columb’s Court had been increased to £30. In 1970 the UAHS guide for Londonderry described St. Columb’s Court as ‘a terrace of plain red-brick three-storey houses of reasonable appearance designed as a unit, with symmetrical gables over two [sic] of the houses.’ Nos 2-6 St. Columb’s Court were included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and were subsequently listed in 1979. The NIEA HB Records note that No. 6 St. Columb’s Court underwent a renovation in 1986 when its chimney was rebuilt, its roof reslated and its windows replaced but much of this work was damaged in 1989 following a bomb blast that damaged the terrace. Minor repairs were made to nos 2-6 in 1989 following the explosion and in 1991 the entire terrace underwent an extensive renovation that included the reslating of its roof in natural slate, the replacement of all sliding sash windows and the replacement of all entrance doors (NIEA HB Records). A condition Survey plan of St. Columb’s Court, undertaken by Mullarkey Pedersen Architects in 2010, records that No. 6 St. Columb’s Court continued to be utilised as a private dwelling at the time of the Second Survey. References Primary Sources 1. Volunteer’s Map of Londonderry (1780) 2. Porter’s Map of Londonderry (1799) 3. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830) 4. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853) 5. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/14 – Annual Revisions Map (c. 1873-1910) 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/547A-F – Townland Valuations (1831) 7. PRONI VAL/1/D/5/9B – Townland Valuation Town Plan (1834) 8. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856) 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897) 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929) 11. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935) 12. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 13. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943) 14. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 15. PRONI Wills Catalogue (29 Jan 1925; 8 Mar 1955) 16. First Survey Record – HB01/19/007 (1970) 17. First Survey Image – HB01/19/007 (No Date) 18. NIEA Pink Files – HB01/19/007 19. The Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (St. Columb’s Court) 20. Mullarkey Pedersen Architects Condition Survey (2010) Secondary Sources 1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013. 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. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/ 2. Dictionary of Ulster Biography – http://www.newulsterbiography.co.uk/index.php/home/viewPerson/529

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest V. Authorship R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

A late-Victorian two-storey redbrick end-of-terrace house with attic level, built 1899 to the designs of Joseph Ballantine. Located within St. Columb's Court set on the South East side of Bishop Street Within, in the Cathedral Quarter of the Walled City with St. Columb's Cathedral situated directly to the South East, the latter is accessed from the steps that sit directly to the front of No.6. Although fairly plain in appearance, together with its neighbours it has group value. The gable end forms a boundary wall onto the graveyard in the grounds of the Cathedral and it sits in line with the rear of the stables to The Deanery. Detailing to the exterior remains and is consistent for its time and style. The architectural and historical interest of the terrace is greatly enhanced by the setting of the Cathedral, the Deanery and the Irish Society Offices which are all within close proximity.

General Comments

Date of Survey

22 July 2014