Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/08/030

Address :
131 Main Street Bushmills Co. Antrim BT57 8QB

Townland:
Magheraboy or Bushmills

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:
02/12/1980 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:
02/06/2017 00:00:00

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
7/9NW

IG Ref:
C9407 4066

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Two-storey two-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house. Rectangular plan-form with a fibre cement pitched roof having a brick chimney stack to the SE and NW sides. Set within a terrace row along Main Street Bushmills. Built c. 1834; the name of the architect is unknown. Located within the village of Bushmills, on Main Street, which is aligned parallel to the Bush River. Set on the West side of the street, due South of Market Square. At the time of the survey the building was occupied as a single private dwelling. Walling has smooth rendered finish (painted) to front and rear elevation; a single entrance doorway on ground floor level is accessed directly from the footpath on the Main Street. All windows are top-hung casements on painted sills (timber to front); half round cast-iron guttering to front elevation discharges to a uPVC downpipe. Principal elevation faces North-east; three bays wide on ground floor and two bays on first floor above (end bays are aligned) all set on a painted rendered plinth. Entrance doorway, off-centred to left, contains a timber painted panelled door with multi-paned glazing to upper section. South-east and North-west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No. 133 & 127 Main Street [HB05/08/029 & 031]. South-west elevation to the rear (access limited) is set within an open shared courtyard with a stone outbuilding to the SW side; main elevation is abutted by a projecting two-storey flat-roofed extension with boxed fascia, added c. 1984, which spans across its full width; doorway on the ground floor leading to rear yard; all windows and rainwater goods to the rear are of uPVC. Materials: Roof: Artificial slate RWGs: Cast-iron (NE gutter) & uPVC Walling: Painted render Windows: Timber casements (NE); uPVC (SW). Setting: Set in a terraced row of similar scaled buildings on the West side of Main Street within the Bushmills Conservation Area, between No.127 Main Street (HB05.08.031) to the right and No.133 Main St (HB05.08.029) to the left. Lime-washed stone vernacular outbuilding to the rear is adjoined to a slightly higher gabled stone outbuilding; natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles, projecting eaves coarse and raised verge to gable end. Its NE elevation, which faces in to the yard, contains three openings with heads set at eaves level; two timber vertically sheeted farm-style doors and a fixed light in the middle, informally arranged. Internally, walls are rubble-stone (unfinished) and cut-timber roof comprised of purlins, rafters and battens to underside of slates are exposed.

Architects

Historical Information

No. 131 Main Street, a two-storey two-bay building located on the west side of Main Street in Bushmills, was originally constructed between 1834 and 1857. An earlier building on the same site was depicted on the Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834), however the contemporary Townland Valuation (1835) records that this was a dilapidated single-storey structure. The valuer also noted that a single-storey rectangular-shaped Methodist chapel was located in the yard to the rear of the current building, although this house of worship was demolished by the mid-19th century. The Bushmills Conservation Area Guide records that Bushmills was a significant settlement before the end of the 18th century but from the 1820s the village was extensively rebuilt by the MacNaghten family of Bushmills House (who had acquired the estate in 1787). No. 131 Main Street was constructed prior to 1857 as it was first depicted on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of that year and was recorded in the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation of 1859. Griffith’s Valuation noted that No. 131 Main Street was valued at £4 and was initially occupied by a Mr. Daniel Lamont who leased the site from John Hill, a local national schoolmaster. The occupants of the house changed with frequency over the following four decades and by the turn of the 20th century No. 131 Main Street was occupied by James Hattie, a local labourer. The Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Bushmills (1902) depicted the house along its current layout whilst the contemporary 1911 Census of Ireland described No. 131 Main Street as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of six rooms and possessed piggery and turf house as its sole outbuildings. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) No. 131 Main Street was raised in value to £5 and 10 shillings and was leased by the Dinsmore family (occupants of the public house at nos 135-137 Main Street) to a Ms. Anne Laverty. The Laverty family continued to reside at No. 131 Main Street until c. 1968 when the building was purchased outright by Martin Kerr (occupant of the adjoining No. 133) who leased the site out to a Ms. Minnie Johnston. The occupant and owner of the house remained unchanged by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the total rateable value of the building stood at £10 and 10 shillings. In 1972 the UAHS Guide for North Antrim described the buildings along Main Street in Bushmills in the following general terms: ‘A well-scaled street. Many good doorways and shopfronts remain, although there is the usual profusion of signs. While no building apart from the former Courthouse is worthy of individual mention, the unity of the street frontages must be maintained’ (UAHS Guide, p. 16). No. 131 Main Street was listed in 1980 and was subsequently included in the Bushmills Conservation Area. The conservation area was designated in 1992 in order to preserve the built heritage of the village which possesses the highest number of listed buildings in the North East of Northern Ireland. The NIEA HB Records note that the current two-storey extension was added to the rear of No. 131 Main Street in c. 1984 (Bushmills Conservation Area Guide; NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/7/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/7/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/7/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904) 4. PRONI OS/6/1/7/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922) 5. PRONI VAL/1D/1/7 – Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834) 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/132 – Townland Valuations (1835) 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/25A – Griffith’s Valuation (1859) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/8A-D – Annual Revisions (1859-94) 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/6A-C – Annual Revisions (1895-1929) 10. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/13 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 11. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/22 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 12. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918) 13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 14. First Survey Record – HB05/08/030 15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/08/030 Secondary Sources 1. ‘Bushmills Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment (N. I.), 1983 – including the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1902. 2. Girvan, W. D., ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in North Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Historic Interest

Evaluation

Two-storey two-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house, set within a row along Main Street in the Bushmills Conservation Area and built between 1834 and 1857; the name of the architect is unknown. Rectangular plan-form with artificial slates to pitched roof and concrete brick chimney stack to the both sides. Whilst the original form, proportion and modest scale survives at the front, together with a white-washed stone outhouse to the yard, the exterior retains little original detailing with the roof, chimneys and windows all replaced with inappropriate materials that detract from its character. Internally, the staircase is not original and the plan form has been substantially altered on the ground floor. A two-storey flat-roofed return with heavy boxed fascia obscures much of the rear and is out of keeping with the style of the building. The cumulative effect of all these changes mean that it has insufficient architectural and historic interest to be considered as special.

General Comments

Date of Survey

10 April 2015