Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB24/01/047

Address :
8, 8A and 8B High Street Portaferry Co Down BT22 1LQ

Townland:
Ballyphilip

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
07/09/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Shop

Former Use
Shop

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
206/12

IG Ref:
J5950 5093

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Owner Category

Private Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Two and three storey terrace house and warehouses, of possible late 18th century construction, now largely given over to commercial use. No.6 was a warehouse but has been much altered and renovated in recent times, and now incorporates a shop (which is amalgamated with the slightly taller building to the SE). No.8 is a relatively large house with classical door surrounds, large tripartite sash windows and an attached warehouse. The property has been altered in recent years and now incorporates two shops and an apartment, with warehouse disused and in poor condition. The entire block is situated within the terrace on the NW side of High Street, to the NE of Portaferry town centre. The front elevation faces SE. No.6 High street consists of two distinct terrace buildings, now amalgamated to make one large shop. The building to left (SW) is slightly taller than that to the right and has a modern, traditional style, shop front with large projecting entablature-like boxed shop sign set on simple stepped brackets. Below the sign are modern timber shop windows with a timber glazed door between. The ground floor of the building to the right has a similar shop front but with traditional tripartite (simulated) sliding sash windows with Georgian panes, flanking a slightly recessed glazed panelled door. The first floor of the building to SW has three, tall, three pane timber windows on stone cills and an eaves course. The upper storey of the right hand building was originally a warehouse with two levels, with centrally located doors on each level and a small gable with a pulley directly above, and windows on either side of the doors. Much of this arrangement is still visible with the central doors both finished with plain timber sheeting and sash windows, with Georgian panes, to either side. Now defunct pulley wheel in the centre of the small gable. Exposed gables of SW section of the premises rendered. To the rear of the property (which could only be seen from a distance) there appears to be a full height gabled return, which may be of largely modern construction (the gable is in breeze block). This appears to link to an even more overtly modern looking warehouse extension, clad in corrugated iron. Both buildings which make up No.6 have gabled roofs with Bangor blue slates and two rendered chimney stacks with matching pots, with a third yellow brick stack between the right hand side and No.8. Velux windows to front and rear of SW section. Cast iron gutters and down spout. No.8 High Street has a long front façade with a shop to the left, a smaller shop in the centre, and a dilapidated warehouse to the right. The entire facade is rendered with limestone chips with a plain render plinth. To the left is the original entrance to the house (now the entrance to the larger shop), which consists of a panelled timber door (8 panels) with fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals, and a blank semicircular fanlight with panelled arch surround. To the left of the door is a large, tripartite sash window, now partly covered in a grill and with fan fitted into one of the panes. To the right is a similar window whose upper half has been boarded over. To the right of this is a plain doorway (to the first floor apartment) which is undoubtely a relatively recent insertion. To the right of this is a large shop window with fixed light. This window may originally have been the same as those to left, but its shape has been altered. To the right again is another recently inserted doorway (to smaller shop). To the first floor of this whole section are three unevely spaced windows, as ground floor left. Directly above the former house doorway are two internally illuminated PVC signs. No access to the rear of this section. The warehouse section of No.8, to the far right, has a broad timber sheeted double door to the ground floor. The upper level was originally similar to that of No.6 except that it has windows to the right hand side only, which are now filled with dilapidated modern three pane timber frames. This whole section has a very large, three storey, L shaped warehouse section to the rear. This is now in poor condition and basically a shell, without floors or roof. The roof of the whole main front section of No.8 is gabled and covered with Bangor blue slates. There are three yellow brick chimney stacks with decorative corbelling. Some chimney pots missing. Cast iron gutters and (broken) down spout.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The SW end of High Street is shown developed on Patrick O'Hare's map of 1799 and the OS map of 1834. The valuation records tell us that in c.1835, this section of terrace was occupied with two storey dwellings and warehouses (of similar height), all of which were probably of late 18th century construction or older (they are all graded ' B'-'C'). It is difficult to pinpoint exactly who owned the buildings at this point, possibly a James McKee. In 1861, the house and the warehouse to the south west (now part of No.6) all belonged to one Hugh Donnan, with a starch works located within the large outbuildings to the rear. Donnan (or his son of the same name) appears to have retained the property until at least 1870, when he is listed in Slater's Directory as a 'corn merchant'. The south west portion of the present No.6, does not appear to be as old as its neighbours and may date from the mid 19th century. Significantly it was not included within Hugh Donnan's holdings of the mid 1800s. When surveyed in 1971, No.8 appears to have been an office with the small shop to the right already present at that stage. The three level former warehouse (now the north east portion of No.6) appears to have been still part of the property at this stage (as it had been in the mid 1800s) References- Primary sources 1 PRONI D.552/B/3/3/1 Savage/Nugent Papers: ‘A Plan or Map of the Town of Portaferry’ by Patrick O’Hare, 1799 [The Savage/Nugent Papers contain many documents relating to Portaferry and the surrounding area] 2 Linen Hall Library ‘Pigot & Co.’s Dublin and Hibernian Provincial Directory’ (Manchester 1824) 3 'Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II', ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991) 4 PRONI OS/6/3/32/1 OS maps, 1st ed., 1834, Down sheet 32 5 PRONI VAL/1B/37 1st valuation, Ballyphilip, c.1835-38 6 PRONI VAL/1D/3/4 Valuation town plan of Portaferry, c.1838 7 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1846), p.520-23 8 PRONI and Linen Hall Library ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ Vols.1-21, 1852-1900, (Belfast, Henderson [1852-65], Belfast News-Letter [1865- ]) 9 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1856), p.592-95 10 PRONI OS/8/23/1- OS town plan of Portaferry, 1859 11 PRONI Second ('Griffith's') valuation, 1863 [in print] 12 PRONI VAL/12E/112/1- Valuation maps of Portaferry, c.1863, with revisions of 1902 13 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1870), pp.341-43 14 PRONI OS/8/23/2 OS town plan of Portaferry, 1874 15 George Henry Bassett ‘County Down Guide and Directory’ (Dublin 1886) 16 PRONI OS/8/23/3 OS town plan of Portaferry, 1900 17 UFTM WAG 609, 611, 612 W.A. Green Collection, photographs of Portaferry Quay, harbour, Shore Road etc. 18 PRONI VAL/12E/112/2- Valuation maps of Portaferry, 1902, with revisions of 1935 Secondary sources 1 G. Philip Bell, C.E.B. Brett, Sir Robert Matthew, 'Ulster Architectural Heritage Survey: Portaferry & Strangford' (Belfast UAHS 1969) 2 Harry Murray, Willie Neilson & William McMullan, "W. & A. McMullan" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.10' (1986), p. 10 3 Dick Oram, "The Buildings of Portaferry" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.16' (1992), p. 24

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

Two and three storey terrace house and warehouses, of possible late 18th century construction, now largely given over to commercial use. No.6 was a warehouse but has been much altered and renovated in recent times, and now incorporates a shop (which is amalgamated with the slightly taller building to the SE). No.8 is a relatively large house with classical door surrounds, large tripartite sash windows and an attached warehouse. The property has been altered in recent years and now incorporates two shops and an apartment, with warehouse disused and in poor condition. The former dwelling at No8 still contains sufficient architectural and historic interest to merit listing.

General Comments

Originally listed as 6-8 High Street. No. 6 no longer included in the listing.

Date of Survey

30 June 1997