Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB06/02/006 A

Address :
18 Lower Castle Street Glenarm Ballymena Co Antrim BT44 0AT

Townland:
Glenarm Town Parks

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:
23/10/1979 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:
05/10/2005 00:00:00

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:
45/12

IG Ref:
D3107 1508

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

Plain, two storey rendered terrace house of c.1840s, one of a short block of three largely identical properties, with recently added two storey returns to rear. The terrace is set to the east side of Lower Castle Street, a short lane to the south of Castle Street itself. The front elevation faces roughly W and is asymmetrical. To the left on the ground floor is a timber sheeted door with five pane rectangular fanlight. To the right of this is a sash window with Georgian panes (6/6), with two similar windows to the first floor. The front façade is finished in painted rough cast. To the ground floor level of the N gable there appears, to have been, originally, a large lean-to (belonging to the property to the N, No.16 Castle Street). The W side of this former building remains (it is flush with the front elevation of this property), but to the gable itself there only appears to a be small shed. To the attic level of the gable there is a small two pane window. The gable is finished in rough cast, partly painted. To the right side of the rear elevation there is a large two storey flat roofed return, which appears to be of relatively recent [?c.1980s] construction. To the S face of this there is a door and modern window to the ground floor, with a similar window to the first floor. The rear façade of the main section of the house has an enlarged window with modern frame to the ground floor, with another to the first floor. The rear elevation is finished in dry dash. The gabled roof is slated. Rendered chimneystack to S. Cast iron and PVC rw goods.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

CASTLE STREET / LOWER CASTLE STREET Castle Street is the shortest of Glenarm’s four main original streets, leading westwards from the intersection of Toberwine and Altmore Streets to the bridge over the Glenarm River, with Lower Castle Street branching off southwards to the west end. The street was once part of the main road from Larne, a route of possible medieval origin which wound its way from the present Springhill in the south, north-westwards through The Vennel to Castle Street itself, and over the bridge before curving northwards to what is now the Straidkilly Road. The earliest leases within the Antrim Papers relating to plots and buildings along the Street date from 1711, however at least one building, the old parish church, was standing on the south-west end of the street (where the former school house is now) as early as 1683 and the old 13th century Bisset castle (probably a tower house type structure) is reputed to have stood at the north-east end; the still extant former courthouse (which itself is believed to have been standing at least since the 1750s) believed to incorporate part of its ruins. The bridge at the west end of the street was erected in 1682 (prior to this travellers forded the river), but had to be largely rebuilt in 1713 after flood damage. For obvious reasons the street was originally known as ‘Bridge Street’, a name which appears to have lingered on until the mid 1800s. On John O’Hara’s map of 1779 (the earliest extant plan of Glenarm) the street is shown fully developed on both sides, with rows of properties to the same extent as today present on the OS map of 1832. Given the evidence provided by the 1859 valuation, it is probable that most of the buildings indicated in 1832 are those we see today, with the short terrace in Lower Castle Street appearing c.1835-40. O’Hara’s map clearly shows the pre-eminence of Castle Street as part of the main route northwards form Larne, the road skirting the grounds of Glenarm Castle on the west side of the river. In the early 19th century this arrangement was radically altered with the old road superseded by the new Coast Road and new Glenarm Bridge (built 1813), to the north end of the village, and the grounds around the castle enclosed. This process, which was complete by the mid 1820s appears to have lead to a gradual diminution of the street’s status, and it is perhaps no surprise that whilst a notable such as Lord Antrim’s agent could be found living in Castle Street in the late 1700s, by the mid 1830s the agent was residing at the south end of newly widened, (and as a consequence, much grander), Altmore Street. No.18 Lower Castle Street The short terrace to which this house belongs is recorded in the valuation of 1859, but is not shown on the OS map of 1832. Judging from the grading supplied by the valuation it appears to have been built c.1835-40. The terrace was in the hands of a Mrs Eliza Boyd in 1859, with this particular property occupied by a Rachel Murphy and a Thomas Watson. References- Primary sources 1 PRONI D.2977/3A/4/65/32, 35a. Antrim Papers Leases etc. relating to property in ‘Bridge Street’ [i.e. Castle Street], 1711, 1736. 2 PRONI D.2977/3A/4/65/49a-b, 57 Antrim Papers Leases etc. relating to property in Castle Street, 1743 3 PRONI D.2977/1/5/1A, 1C, 1E-F, 1H, 6J, 6K, 18A, 18E, 18Q Antrim Papers Leases etc. relating to ‘Bridge Street’ / Castle Street, 1743-1871 2 PRONI D.2977/36/3/1A Antrim Papers Map, showing the Town of Glenarm, plus Glenarm Castle and demesne, by John O'Hara, 1779. [Includes a list of the tenants in Glenarm town.] 3 Ulster Museum A view of Glenarm Castle (painting dating from some time between 1768 and 1812) [This painting also shows the town itself.] 4 View of Glenarm c.1769-c.1812 (painting in possession of Lord Dunluce) 5 “The town and castle of Glenarm, Co. Antrim” [1830] by T.M. Baynes in ‘Ireland illustrated’ (London 1831) 6 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland…’ vol.13 [c.1830-35] ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1992), p.127 7 PRONI OS/6/1/29/1 OS map, Co Antrim sh 29, 1832-33 8 PRONI VAL/1B/149 First valuation, Tickmacrevan parish, 1833 [The map to accompany this valuation is now lost making it extremely difficult, (and in most cases impossible), to tell which properties the valuation book is actually referring to. In some cases (most notably the west side of Toberwine Street) the writer has been able to successfully correlate the information contained within the second valuation notebook for 1859 with that of the first valuation, in order to decipher some of the details contained within the latter, but for most properties within Glenarm (including Castle Street), this has not been possible.] 9 Samuel Lewis, ‘A topographical dictionary of Ireland’ vol.1 (London 1837), p.658 10 William Makepeace Thackery, ‘Irish sketchbook’ (1843), p.238 11 Mrs and Mrs S.C. Hall, ‘Ireland: Its scenery, character etc., vol.III (London 1843), p.130 12 PRONI VAL/2D/1/11 Valuation town plan of Glenarm, 1859 [with later annotations- ?c.1900] 13 PRONI VAL/2B/1/41B Second valuation [notebook], village of Glenarm, 1859 [In the light of the problems concerning the first valuation this notebook and its accompanying map are both invaluable. For many areas the details of the second valuation only survive in the final printed form, with the names of householders and leaseholders and the rateable value for each property supplied only. For some areas, Glenarm among them, the working notebooks compiled by the valuers have survived, providing information such as dimensions of buildings, their use, the number of rooms they contain, notes on age and condition, and, (occasionally), comments regarding the overall appearance of properties. In many respect these notebooks closely resemble those of the first valuation, but frequently contain more detail.] 14 PRONI OS/8/103/1 OS town plan of Glenarm, 1903 15 PRONI VAL/12E/31/1 Valuation town plan of Glenarm, 1907-[1935] 16 PRONI VAL/3G/20/1 Valuation town plan of Glenarm. 1936-57 Secondary sources 1 C.E.B. Brett, ‘Historic buildings…Glens of Antrim’ (Belfast 1971), p.16 2 Eileen Black, “A view of Glenarm Castle” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.7 (1979), pp.29-30 3 Jimmie Irvine, “A map of Glenarm- 1779” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.9 (1981), pp.52-61 4 Hon. Hector McDonnell, “The building of the parish church at Glenarm” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.10 (1982), pp.31-36 5 Felix McKillop, ‘Glenarm- A local history’ (Glenarm 1987)

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

Evaluation

Plain, two storey rendered terrace house of c.1840s, one of a short block of three largely identical properties, with recently added two storey returns to rear. Reconstructed and altered but some internal detail surviving. This, along with the important contribution this house makes to the immediate townscape means that remaining on the list at B2 grade is justified.

General Comments

Date of Survey

27 June 2001