Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB09/13/017 A

Address :
19 Molesworth Street Cookstown Co Tyrone BT80 8NX

Townland:
Loy

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
24/10/1975 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Public House - Terrace

Former Use
Public House - Terrace

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
124/07

IG Ref:
H8116 7825

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

This is a three-storey sandstone end-of-terrace former police barrack and court house of c.1850, that is now in use as a public house, The property contains a pub and forms part of a long row of mixed three-storey buildings, built in stages between 1850 – 80, now largely converted to shops, pubs and offices. The building is long, narrow and rectangular in plan, stretching back to the South with a further two-storey and single-storey return beyond. A further single-storey flat roofed extension to the West of the two-storey return is a later addition, c. 1960’s. Beyond this, an adjoining two-storey ‘furniture shop’ with a single-storey entrance abuts the return. This addition is a rendered building with a metal clad curved roof, c. 1960s. Access to the furniture shop is via a laneway to the west of the main terrace. External walls are sandstone, with splayed flat brick arches and quoin style brick surrounds to openings. The front North elevation of the main terrace building is street fronted. The ground floor is composed of 2 shopfronts, with a doorway to the left and a shopfront to the right. A panelled painted timber doorway with overlight leads to the first floor commercial property. The doorway is covered by a simple bracketed canopy. A painted timber modern signboard is fixed above the canopy. The shopfront to the right contains a doorway on the left and a modern multi-paned window set over a rendered stall riser on the right. Three painted cut stone pilasters separate the bay with painted stone plinths to the base. A painted timber signboard over an outsized painted timber fascia surmounts the shopfront with projecting timber cornice above Three bay to upper levels containing 1/1 timber sliding sash windows. Each window opening contains splayed flat brick arches as before. The classical proportions of the windows reduce to the upper levels. Sandstone plinth to the base of front elevation. A projecting internally illuminated sign is attached to the first floor level. The West elevation is gable ended to the left, and has the returns to the right with 1/1 timber sliding sash windows to ground and first floor, and a single boarded doorway to the ground floor. A large extractor fan covers one of the ground floor windows, whereas a large modern advertisement billboard partially covers the first floor windows. A centrally positioned cut sandstone chimney with projecting stone cornicing and clay chimney pots is set to the ridge line of the West elevation of the main terrace building, with projecting stone eaves and verge courses. Windows to the first floor of first return have been partially closed up; however, radial flat brick arches and quoin style brick window surrounds remain intact. Two smaller window openings at first floor are later additions, surrounded by thin render bands. At ground level an 8/8 timber sliding sash window is partially obscured by the 1960s single-storey flat roof addition and projecting glazed canopy (recently added smoking area, c.2007). The extension is finished with painted render and a flat corrugated iron roof and contains an arrangement of replacement timber windows and a painted timber door. The second return is lower, and is also finished in a similar style, with random rubble and sandstone external walls, with window surrounds as before. This extension also abuts immediately onto the rear ‘furniture store’. Exposed aluminium rainwater goods are visible to the North and West elevation. Natural slate and red ridge tiles to the single continuous terrace roof. Natural slate to all pitched roof returns. The building is set in North East of the town centre.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

General note on the development of the southern side of Molesworth St. Molesworth Street, originally known as ‘Coagh Road’ was laid out some time around 1834, with Cookstown Third Presbyterian Church, built towards the south-eastern end in 1835. The impetus for further development was lacking, however, and for the next two decades the street was little more than another of Cookstown’s many country lanes branching off the town’s main thoroughfare. Following the establishment of the first of two railway stations at the east end of the street in 1856, things began to change, and over the next thirty years or so the street became the town’s commercial heartland. The south side of the street was marked out as ‘building ground’ by the Gunning-Moore estate in 1859, and between 1861 and 1880 the present imposing three-storey terrace (with the exception of no.19) was built in stages spreading from west to east. The name 'Molesworth Street' (a reference to Elizabeth Molesworth, the wife of the town’s former landlord, the celebrated James Stewart of Killymoon), is first recorded in the valuations in 1877. This building is marked on OS map of 1857 as ‘Police Barracks & Court House’, and recorded as such in the valuation of 1859. The police vacated the property in 1862 and moved to 'no.40 William Street' (number has changed since then). The main (front) building was then leased to an Anne Allen and given a rateable value of £22, however the return / rear portion of the building continued in use as a court house. Stables were added to the rear in 1868, lifting the rateable value to £30. Edward M.Allen took over as leaseholder / tenant in c.1898, and from that point the property recorded as a public ('licensed') house. After the building of the new court house in Chapel Street in 1900, Allen acquired the now former court house to the rear of his existing property and by 1907 had converted it to a billiard room, which is noted by the valuers as a separate property. In 1909 some offices ‘and a covered yard’ (presumably all to the rear) are recorded as another separate property, also in the hands of Edward M. Allen. William E. Allen is listed as the occupier of all three properties in 1924, with a Thomas Eastwood succeeding him in 1928 -1956. By 1972 the whole building was split into five properties, including a public house, bookmaker’s, shop and store (to the first floor), club room (first floor) and a hairdressing salon (?to the rear). References- Primary sources 1 ‘Pigot & Co's Provincial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1824) 2 PRONI OS/9/10/1 OS plan of Cookstown, 1833 3 PRONI VAL/1B/622A First valuation, Derryloran parish, 1834-c.1838 4 PRONI VAL/1D/6/2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, c.1838 5 Lewis, Samuel, ‘A topographical dictionary of Ireland…’ vol.1, (London, 1837) 6 ‘Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1846) 7 PRONI VAL/2C/63 Second valuation, Union of Cookstown (Dublin, 1859) [This is the printed version of the second valuation. The handwritten version (which may have been more detailed and include property dimensions etc.) no longer exists. The printed volume merely provides names of tenants and leaseholders, and rateable values.] 8 PRONI VAL/2D/6/3/1-2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1859-82 [2 sheets] 9 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5A Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1860-63 10 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5B Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1864-68 11 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5C Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1868-81 12 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5D Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1881 13 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5E Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1881 14 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5F Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1882-90 15 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5G Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1882-88 16 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5J Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1889-94 [The reference number for this book is out of sequence in the PRONI catalogue- the dates it covers are actually earlier than VAL/12B/37/5H.] 17 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5H Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1895-99 18 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5K Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1889-99 19 PRONI VAL/12E/171/1/1-2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1892-97 [2 sheets] 20 PRONI OS/33/1/1-5 OS plan of Cookstown, 1895 [5 sheets] 21 PRONI OS/9/10/2/1-2 OS plan of Cookstown, index map, 1895 [2 sheets] 22 PRONI OS/9/10/3/1-5 OS plan of Cookstown, 1895 [5 sheets] 23 PRONI VAL/12E/171/2/1-3 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1897-1910 [3 sheets] 24 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7A Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1901-07 25 PRONI VAL/12A/6/16 Valuers’ office notebook, Cookstown UD, 1901-10, p.56 26 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7B Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1909-15 27 PRONI OS/33/2/1-4 OS plan, 1909 & 1918 [4 sheets] 28 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7C Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1916-29 29 PRONI VAL/3G/142/1 /1-4 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1936-37 [4 sheets] 30 PRONI VAL/3C/7/8 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban, 1936-57 31 PRONI VAL/3G/142/2/1-4 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1937-51 32 PRONI VAL/4B/6/10 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban vol.1, 1956-72 33 PRONI VAL/4B/6/11 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban vol.2E, 1956-72 Secondary sources 1 Oram, R.W. and Rankin, P.J., Historic buildings…Dungannon & Cookstown (Belfast, UAHS, 1971)

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation H-. Alterations detracting from building K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is a quite large terraced house that is an important element of the nineteenth-century built heritage of Cookstown. The terraced former house makes a positive contribution to the group value of Molesworth Street. Continual additions to the mixed terrace represent the urbanization and increasing prosperity of Cookstown at this time, particularly reflecting the arrival of the railway. The terrace 19 - 53 Molesworth Street was built during a thirty year period; despite this time period and the fact that it was built in many stages it has maintained a remarkable uniformity. Despite numerous minor alterations that have mainly detracted from the historic fabric, this building continues to contribute to the character and appearance of the area.

General Comments

Date of Survey

31 October 2007