Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB01/21/017 A

Address :
Post Office 3 Custom House Street Londonderry Co. Londonderry BT48 6AA

Townland:
Londonderry

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Survey 2:
B1

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

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Post Office

Former Use
Post Office

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
36/4SW

IG Ref:
C4354 1694

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Classical-style post office building of rock-faced 'block-and-sneck' Barony Sandstone with cement strap pointing and cut-stone dressings to openings, all on a moulded stone plinth. L-shaped plan form with a hipped slate roof treated as a single composition with adjoining Custom House building [HB01/21/017B] to east side. Built 1876. Post Office principal elevation faces south onto Custom House Street with a combination of semicircular arched headed window bays and segmental arched headed grouped window bays in asymmetric layout. Located on a corner site overlooking Harbour Square and Queens Quay to the east side, set within a group of three blocks with street frontage creating a characteristed composition overlooking the River Foyle beyond. South elevation is stepped, merging with Custom House facing onto Custom House Street. Main entrance faces east via a short flight of concrete steps and ramp approached from Custom House Street, set behind a high sandstone wall with coping stone; large semicircular arched headed window bays to ground floor level with deep chamfered reveals and angle-roll to arched head above, slightly projecting stone string-course between bays with ashlar cut-stone dressings and splayed stone sills; windows on floor above are segmental-arch headed set within deep reveals with ashlar cut-stone dressings and angle-roll to arched head; stepped corner ashlar quoin stones to either end of each elevation terminating on a moulded stone plinth; large carved stone modillions to deep projecting stone cornice at eaves level with cast-iron guttering above. All windows on upper floors are 1/1 timber sliding sashes with timber casement (bottom-hinged) windows on ground floor below. West elevation faces onto rear access yard overlooking Northern Counties building (HB01/21/016), four windows of the same as south elevation to ground floor level and four windows of the same above, the fenestration pattern is similar to that of the south elevation including all identical material finishes to plinth, main section of facade and eaves level. North elevation is abutted by a yellow brick three-storey extension with a hipped slate roof merging with the main hipped roof on the west end; north elevation on the east end is also abutted by an L-shaped red brick three-storey extension with cast-iron segmental headed windows, gable-ends to east and west sides, stepping down to a single storey extension on the north side with a hipped glazed roof light over. Red brick extension has brick piers between segmental arched headed openings on concrete unpainted sills, exposed rafter tails to timber soffit and fascia board at eaves level, all on a concrete unpainted plinth with uPVC rainwater goods. Square-headed uPVC casement windows to yellow-brick three-storey extension at south end, ground floor windows have metal grilles and uPVC rainwater goods throughout. East elevation faces onto Harbour Square, containing a large semicircular arched headed entrance doorway accessed via flight of steps and a ramp approached from Custom House Street, ashlar cut-stone dressings to door opening with chamfered reveal to either side of a modern automatic metal door with glazed panes top and bottom, set within a plain timber architrave surround, plain glazed transom light above door and plain glazed fanlight to arched opening above with angle-roll to chamfered arched head; segmental arched headed bay above, aligned with door entrance below, contains a 1/1 timber sliding sash window. Hipped slate roof with lead rolled ridge, west end block has a central projecting hipped roof with rendered sides (over main banking hall). Large stone chimney stacks with stone cornice, mid-ridge of south elevation and to east elevation with four clay pots. Cast-iron rainwater goods to principal Post Office building; uPVC to north end three-storey brick extensions. Materials: Roof Natural Slate RWG Cast Iron Walling Sandstone - 'Block-and-Sneck' Windows Timber Sliding Sash Setting: Located adjacent to the west side of the Classical-Italianate Harbour Office, set within a prominent group of three blocks along Queens Quay with excellent street frontage creating a characterised and architectural composition overlooking Harbour square and the River Foyle to the north, bounded by the Guildhall to the east and adjoined to the former Customs House to the west. There is a double Elizabeth ll post-box located in front of the front facade.

Architects

Historical Information

The Post Office on Custom House Street, a two-storey sandstone building was built along with the adjoining Custom House (see HB01/21/017B), and was constructed in 1876. Prior to the erection of this building, Londonderry’s chief post office was located at Castle Street. The first post office in the city was established within the city walls following Westminster’s passing of the Post Office Act in 1784 (OSM, p. 254; Mullin, p. 70). Tenders for the erection of the Post Office and its adjoining Custom House were invited as early as 1874 and the buildings were completed by 1876. The new building was erected along Ship Quay, in close proximity to the quayside and docking ships. The buildings were first recorded on the c. 1873-1910 Annual Revisions Town Plan of Londonderry on which a proposed plan of the Post Office and Custom House was marked which depicted the buildings along their current layout. The Ulster Town Directories records that the construction of the Custom House and Post Office cost was estimated at £10,000 and that the pair were originally known as ‘Government Buildings’ and also included the Inland Revenue Office and Income Tax Office (UTD). The architect of the Government Buildings is not known, however, locally quarried Barony Glen Sandstone was used in the masonry of both structures whilst utilising Derry Schist as a secondary material for the Custom House (Natural Stone Database). Following the completion of Government Buildings, the rateable value of the Post Office section of the building was set at £175 (this was slightly increased to £180 in 1884 when a parcel depot was incorporated at the site). The value of the Post Office was increased to £250 in c. 1900 when it became the Postmaster General Office. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the Postmaster General Office was increased to £440, but under the Second Revaluation (1956-72), the formerly separate values of the Post Office and Custom House were combined at £1,768. In 1970 the UAHS guide for Londonderry described the Post Office and adjoining Custom House as ‘stone-faced, with dressed stone round-headed windows and door openings, deep reveals giving strong sturdy form;’ the Custom House and Post Office were both subsequently listed in 1979 (UAHS Guide, p. 38). The NIEA HB Records note that the Post Office underwent an extensive renovation in 1985 that included the cleaning and repointing of its stonework, the reslating of its roof in natural slate, the replacement of its original windows and the installation of new cast iron rain water goods (NIEA HB Records). Although the Custom House has fallen out of its original use and is now utilised as a restaurant, during the Second Survey the adjoining building continued to be used as a post office. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853) 2. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/10 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910) 3. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897) 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2D-2F – Annual Revisions (1898-1931) 5. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/4 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935) 6. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 7. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837) 8. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943) 9. First Survey Record – HB01/21/017 (1970) 10. First Survey Image – HB01/21/017 (No Date) 11. NIEA HB Records – HB01/21/017A 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. Mullin, T. H., ‘Ulster’s historic city: Derry – Londonderry’ Coleraine: Coleraine Bookshop, 1986. 4. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003. Online Resources 1. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//stone_types.cfm?stc=45

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

Built together with the neighbouring former Customs House (HB01/21/017B), with which it has group value, the Post Office is a two storey three-storey sandstone building, constructed in 1876. The asymmetric principal elevation faces onto Custom House Street and exhibits cut stone dressings and large carved stone modillions to a deep projecting stone cornice at eaves level. An important building which maintains a civic presence and represents the prosperity and confidence of the era in which it was conceived in its setting overlooking Harbour Square and the River Foyle beyond, bounded by the former Harbour Commissioners’ Offices and Guildhall to the south east. Despite the loss of the plan form and much interior historic detailing, the Historic Conservation Area is much enhanced by its presence as a historic public building. The adjacent double post box although of a much later date adds to the Post Office's interest.

General Comments

Previously HB01/21/017

Date of Survey

28 May 2014