Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB19/05/013 B

Address :
30 Main Street Hillsborough County Down BT26 6AE

Townland:
Hillsborough

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
01/12/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House - Terrace

Former Use
House - Terrace

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
184/05

IG Ref:
J2429 5868

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Mid-terrace two-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1760. Rectangular on plan facing west lining the east side of Main Street, Hillsborough with integrated carriage arch and lean-to rear projection. Pitched natural slate roof, black clay ridge tiles, redbrick chimneystack and cast-iron rainwater goods on iron brackets to brick eaves course. Painted rough-cast rendered walling, deep projecting plinth course and plain render quoins. Square-headed window openings with smooth render surrounds, painted masonry sills and replacement 9/6 timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes. Front west elevation is three windows wide with central square-headed door opening having smooth render surround and replacement panelled timber door with rectangular overlight and opening onto two concrete steps. The single window opening to the ground floor has an early twentieth-century style bipartite fixed-pane timber window and concrete sill. Elliptical-headed carriage arch opening with early vertically-sheeted timber doors. North side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.28 (HB19/05/013A). Rear elevation has a catslide roof to a rear projection with pebbledash rendered walls and uPVC windows. South side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.1 The Square (HB19/05/031A). Setting: Part of a pair of interlocking houses and set among a terrace of varying dates and scale lining the east side of the main street of Hillsborough as it rises to meet The Square. Lofted single-bay former coach house to rear with pitched natural slate roof, rubblestone and redbrick walling, sheeted doors and flight of stone steps. Original large rear garden to east is now in ownership of No. 28 Main Street (HB19/05/13A). Roof Natural slate RWG Cast-iron / plastic Walling Rough-cast render Windows Replacement timber sash

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

No. 30 Main Street first appears on a c. 1800 map of Hillsborough where it is depicted as an oblong building possessing two large office buildings in the yard; in 1800 Nos. 28 and 30 Main Street appear to have been a single property owned by a Mr. McPherson. At that time the house was valued at £10 and was later occupied by a Mr. Mark Blythe in the Townland Valuation (c. 1830s). The Townland Valuation map and first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 shows that the two large out offices at the rear of the building were replaced by the 1830s by the current outbuilding which was used as a coach house and stables. In 1861 Griffith’s Valuation records the owner as the Revd. James Moorhead who let the house to a Mr. John Foots at £9 rent. The house, a 1B- class two-storey building measuring four by eight yards was valued at £6 10. The valuer also noted the presence of a large single-storey kitchen, measuring five by four yards, and a ‘Forge office’ of the same dimensions; this was situated in the single-storey rear return of the building. Between 1864 and 1879 the Marquis of Downshire came into possession of Nos. 28 and 30 Main Street. In 1872 Robert McCarthy, an embroidery agent, became the new occupant of No. 30. Residing there until 1878 when a Mr Robert Heron came into possession. The 1901 Census records that a Mr. Thomas Balmer, a 47 year old shoemaker, lived at No. 30 with his wife Ellen (48) and his four children. At that time the house was used by Balmer as a shoe makers shop; the rear outbuilding was used as a stable and barn. Balmer lived at No. 30 Main Street until his death c. 1927 when his wife came into possession and continued to live there until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930. Stylistically, the house appears to date from the mid to late eighteenth century; a previous owner of No. 28 Main Street possessed the original deeds to the building which date the building to c. 1760 (HB 19/05/013A). Nos. 28 and 30 Main Street were listed in 1976. The original character of the house has been well preserved; the original coach arch survives although the Georgian glazing bars were added sometime after the First Survey in 1975; the ground floor window at the front of the house was replaced with twentieth century style glazing around the same time. Further changes include the addition of a small single-storey extension which has been added to the rear return of the building. The former stable and coach house to the rear of the house has survived and is used by the current owners as a shed; the outbuilding has been well preserved although the roofing of the rear elevation has been replaced with corrugated iron. The house continues to be used as a private residence and is historically significant, having been continuously occupied for 250 years making No. 30 one of the earliest Georgian townhouses to have been constructed on Hillsborough’s Main Street. References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI D671/M/8/25 – Hillsborough Map c.1800 2. PRONI D671/M/8/57/1 – Hillsborough Illustrated Map 1803 3. PRONI VAL/1/B/344 A-B – Townland Valuations 1834 4. PRONI VAL/1/D/3/5 – Town Plan 1834 5. PRONI OS/6/3/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1834 6. PRONI OS/6/3/14/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858 7. PRONI OS/6/3/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-1903 8. PRONI OS/6/3/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-1920 9. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/45A-C – Griffith’s Valuation 1861 10. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14A – Annual Revisions 1864-1879 11. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14B – Annual Revisions 1880-1889 12. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14C – Annual Revisions 1890-1908 13. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14D – Annual Revisions 1909-1928 14. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14E – Annual Revisions 1928-1930 Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in the towns and villages of Mid Down: Hillsborough, Dromore, Dromara, Ballynahinch, the Spa, Drumaness and Saintfield’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1974. 2. Walker, S., ‘Hillsborough: An illustrated history and companion’ Belfast: Cottage Publications, 1994). 3. NIEA First Survey Card – HB 19/05/013B (1975) 4. NIEA File – HB19/05/013B.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

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

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest Z. Rarity R. Age T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

Mid-terrace two-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1760. The house retains its overall composition and forms an important part of the historic streetscape on Main Street, Hillsborough, as it joins The Square. Originally constructed as part of a pair of houses at the same time as No. 28 Main St. (HB19/05/013A), the buildings are notable for their early appearance. Despite the loss of much original fabric the front elevation has been sensitively restored and it still retains its original stable and coach house to the rear. It constitutes an important part of the heritage of the Hillsborough area as an example of an early Georgian townhouse.

General Comments

Please note this record has been renumbered it was previously recorded as HB19/05/013 Listing Criteria R & T also apply.

Date of Survey

12 October 2010