Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB16/22/006

Address :
1 Main Street Bessbrook Co. Armagh BT35 7AJ

Townland:
Maytown

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
15/05/1981 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Shop

Former Use
Health Centre

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
266/1NE

IG Ref:
J0497 2868

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Two-storey three-bay double fronted former dispensary in uncoursed squared local granite with red brick dressings, built in c. 1876 to designs by an unknown architect. Rectangular plan form on a corner site facing both NW onto Main Street and SW onto Derrymore Road. Gabled and hipped fibre cement tile roof has angled fibre cement ridge tiles and a rectangular section red brick chimney with stepped corbel courses, red brick cornice, a decorative half round red brick coping and four terracotta clay pots (chimney newly refurbished). Double red brick course, a single buff brick course and an alternating red and buff brick corbel course to flush eaves; uPVC RWGs with half round guttering discharging to circular section downpipes. Generally, squared blocks of random-coursed local Newry Granodiorite walling with stepped red brick dressings to jambs, stone cills and square-headed gauged-brick door and window opes. Double hung 2/2 sliding timber sash windows, with horns (unless otherwise stated). Principal elevation Main elevation faces NW onto Main Street having a door to centre at GF flanked by window openings; painted sheeted timber door with square headed two part fanlight above. Timber framed shop window to SW of door has 6 panes and window to NE is a double hung 2/2 timber sash. Two equally spaced timber sash windows to FF are in-line with GF windows. Elevation has a hipped roof and is set back from the public footpath. Set of painted sheeted timber vehicular gates to NE of building lead to an enclosed yard and NE elevation; gates are hung on rectangular section stone and red brick pillars, with granite caps. Yard is enclosed by high stone walling. Southwest elevation SW elevation faces onto Derrymore Road and is set back from a paved wide public footpath. Elevation consists of a three bay facade with door to centre bay. Eight panelled painted timber door, with square headed fanlight above, opens onto two concrete steps. Timber framed shop window to NW of door has six glazed panes and window to SE is a timber sash. Bay with shop window to NW end of elevation is the widest of the three . FF has three timber sash windows in-line above GF opes. Red brick chimney to ridge is located between 1st and 2nd bays from NW side. Southeast elevation Rear elevation is gabled and faces SE onto lower ground having a plinth of uncoursed rubble stone walling. Smooth cement render finish above plinth and original high stone yard boundary walling to NE. Gable has a rectangular vent to centre above plinth. Northeast elevation NE elevation faces into an enclosed yard having three windows to FF grouped towards centre and SE. Two opes to GF: door at SE and timber sash window at NW; painted sheeted timber door with glazed top half and a two part fanlight above. Red brick chimney is located to ridge between 1st and 2nd window from NW. Generally lined cement render finish to elevation. Stone yard boundary walling is of random-coursed rock-faced local stone with random stone coping and red brick quoins. Stone boundary wall is to height of FF level rising to mid FF level at SE end of yard. Small single-storey corrugated tin outbuilding attached to NE boundary wall on external face, facing onto Mount Charles North; pitched corrugated tin roof; timber sheeted double doors. Setting No. 1 Main Street is located in the hearth of Bessbrook Village, along the main road running through the conservation village. College Square is located directly to the NW; a formally designed late-Victorian square consisting of 53 mill workers dwellings in total, arranged as three terraces around a central bowling green and playground. College Square also includes Bessbrook's 'Town Hall' or Institute Building (H16/22/009) and the former National School (HB/16/22/016). Materials Roof: Fibre cement RWGs: uPVC Walling: Newry Granodiorite Windows: Timber sash

Architects

Historical Information

No. 1 Main Street, a two-storey corner-site building that possesses three-bays on the Derrymore Road and three-bays on Main Street, was originally constructed in 1876 as Bessbrook’s local dispensary. The dispensary was constructed as part of the civic and industrial development of the village of Bessbrook which had been initiated by the Richardson family from as early as the 1840s. Bessbrook was effectively founded in 1845 when John Grubb Richardson (1813-1891), a linen merchant from Lambeg, purchased one of the derelict mills at the site and began to build housing for the textile workers in the immediate vicinity. Richardson, in his own words, ‘had a great aversion to be responsible for a factory population in a large town, so on looking around, fixed upon a place near Newry … with water power and a thick population around, and in a country district where flax was cultivated in considerable quantities’ (Harrison, p. 50). Bessbrook was established as a ‘model village’ in a number of phases with the layout influenced by the work of William Penn, an American Quaker who had been responsible for the planning and development of Philadelphia in the late-17th century. Richardson was also a member of the Religious Society of Friends and, according to Harrison, possessed a ‘typical Quaker mix of pragmatic and altruistic expectation to provide jobs and good working conditions for his employees.’ By providing his workers with good standards of living Richardson hoped to ensure good relationships between employers and the employed. He therefore established the village as a social experiment where his workers could both live and work in contentment. Harrison states that Richardson’s philanthropic spirit led him to bring the poor, the unqualified and beggars from the surrounding countryside to work and live at Bessbrook, hoping that he could encourage them to improve themselves and excise old habits. Bessbrook is often referred to as a village without the ‘Three P’s’ due to Richardson’s stipulation that there would be no ‘Public House’ or ‘Pawn Shop’ in the settlement and therefore no need for ‘Police’ to be stationed there. In exchange for keeping the village free of alcohol Richardson provided recreational and educational facilities at the Institute (HB16/22/009), a number of well-stocked shops (located at nos 1-5 Charlemont Square East) and also had milk, tea and cocoa distributed to his mill workers. The strategy was effective as the majority of the population voted to preserve the ordinance in the 1870s and, to this day, there remains no public house at Bessbrook. Police were not stationed at the village until the turn of the 20th century (Harrison; Brett, p. 243). The dispensary in Bessbrook was constructed in 1876 and replaced an earlier health centre which was located at No. 41 Fountain Street. In the 1860s Richardson had laid out extensive housing for his workers at Charlemont Square as a result of the rapid increase in the population of Bessbrook. Between 1861 and 1871 the population of the village had increased from 637 to 2,215 with the number of houses rising from 73 to 296. The construction of new healthcare facilities at Bessbrook was necessitated as workers continued to flock to the village. By the turn of the 20th century the village’s population stood at approximately 4,000 (Harrison, pp 100-101; UTD). The dispensary at No. 1 Main Street was constructed by the Bessbrook Spinning Co. to dispense medicine and provide free medical advice for its employees. The dispensary was first recorded by the Annual Revisions in 1884 which recorded that the building was valued at £12 and was divided into the dispensary (at ground level) with a private dwelling located in the upper floor which was occupied by either the local doctor or nurse. The medical dispensary was first recorded on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1906) of Bessbrook which depicted the building along its current rectangular layout. The dispensary continued to operate from No. 1 Main Street until c. 1912. Following the passing of the National Insurance Act (1911), and the introduction of state medical insurance in the following year, the Bessbrook Spinning Co. discontinued its medical policy in the village. The former dispensary was converted into a Public Bath House, known as the ‘Sissilian Baths’ [sic], which was opened in 1913. No. 1 Main Street does not appear to have been utilised as a Public Bath House during the 1930s. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the building was occupied as a private dwelling (by a Mr. John Cunningham) and possessed two retail units to its ground floor; the valuer increased the total rateable value of the site to £20 and 10 shillings. In c. 1949 the dwelling at the site was occupied by a Ms. Edith Hill whilst the ground floor shops continued to be leased out to other tenants. During the 20th century the mill at Bessbrook continued to expand gaining the Bessbrook Spinning Co. international fame. During the Second World War the mill workers were tasked with supplying cloth for uniforms. The Bessbrook Spinning Co. continued to retain ownership of housing in Bessbrook until the 1960s when many of the dwellings in the village began to be sold to private individuals and firms. The sale of property at Bessbrook was necessitated by the post-war downturn in the local textile market which foreshadowed the closure of the mill in 1972 (the building was subsequently occupied by the British Army – see HB16/22/039). No. 1 Main Street was purchased outright by a Mr. George Preston in c. 1968. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the building continued to be subdivided into two shops with a dwelling on the first floor, with the site’s total rateable value standing at £29 and 15 shillings. No. 1 Main Street was listed in 1981 and was included in the Bessbrook Conservation Area, designated in 1983 in recognition of Bessbrook’s ‘historical significance as a planned mill village and its distinct form and character.’ The NIEA HB Records note that No. 1 Main Street was utilised as a ground floor shop with an apartment located in the upper floor until c. 2005 when the building fell vacant. Field inspection of the site, carried out as part of the Second Survey, has found that plans are underway to convert the former dispensary and Public Baths House into a funeral home. This work was completed 2015-2016. (Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide; NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/2/26/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1861) 2. PRONI OS/6/2/26/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1906) 3. PRONI OS/8/31/3 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1906) 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/22A-F – Annual Revisions (1866-1929) 5. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/15 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 6. PRONI VAL/4/B/2/24 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 7. George Bassett: The Book of County Armagh (1888) 8. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1918) 9. First Survey Record – HB16/22/006 10. NIEA HB Record – HB16/22/006 Secondary Sources 1. ‘Bessbrook: A record of industry in a Northern Ireland village community and of a social experiment, 1845-1945’ Belfast: Nicholson & Bass Ltd., 1945. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of County Armagh’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1999. 3. Harrison, R., ‘The Richardson’s of Bessbrook: Ulster Quakers in the linen industry (1845-1921)’ Dublin: Original Writing Ltd., 2008. 4. ‘Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment (N. I.), 1983. Online Resources 1. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com/

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

Evaluation

Two-storey three-bay double fronted former corner dispensary in uncoursed squared local granite with red brick dressings, built in c. 1876 to designs by an unknown architect and refurbishment for use as a funeral parlour c. 2015. Rectangular plan form facing both NW onto Main Street and SW onto Derrymore Road, Bessbrook. The former dispensary, public baths and corner shop has well designed proportions and good detailing with most external features intact including original yard walling. The building is of significant local architectural and historical significance, as part of an early planned mill village begun in the 1840s by the prominent linen merchant John Grubb Richardson (1813-1891) from Lambeg and contemporary to the other English model villages of Port Sunlight (1888) and Bourneville (1895). Prominently sited on a corner at the SE end of College Square (HB16/22/014A-L), the building has group value with the sqaure and the other former public buildings associated with the model village, The Institute (HB16/22/009) and The Old School (HB16/22/016).

General Comments

According to Buildings Database, this was previously known as 1 Fountain Street

Date of Survey

20 January 2015