Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB06/02/038

Address :
39-41 Toberwine Street Glenarm Ballymena Co Antrim BT44 0AP

Townland:
Glenarm Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
23/10/1979 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:
45/12

IG Ref:
D3111 1512

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Owner Category

PolicerMr William Pullens

Exterior Description And Setting

Substantial three storey terrace shop and apartment, with mid 19th century double fronted timber shop front and large return, of possible pre 1832 construction but raised a storey in c.1840s. The property is situated on the W side of Toberwine Street just N of the junction with Castle Street and next to the former court house. The shop now contains the village Post Office. The front (E) façade is asymmetrical. Much of the ground floor is taken up with the large shop front. To the centre of the shop front is a panelled and glazed double door with rectangular fanlight having geometric tracery. To either side are large shop windows with large Georgian-like panes. The windows (and door) are framed with timber pilaster jambs with simple Greek Key patterns. The low stall risers are rendered. A metal post box (ER II) is incorporated into the shop window to right. To the right of the shop front is a timber-panelled door (leading into the apartment). This is framed with pilaster jambs as before (though these are double thickness- the door is recessed). This doorway also has a rectangular fanlight (with tracery in similar style to previous). A painted timber signboard with projecting cornice extends over both the shop front and the door. To the first floor there are three evenly spaced sash windows with Georgian panes (6/6). There is a modern projecting PVC [?internally illuminated] sign between the second and third windows. To the second floor are three smaller sash windows with Georgian panes (6/3). The second floor windows are set close to the eaves. The front façade is finished in painted rough cast with in-out quoins to first and second floor level. Cast iron rw goods and natural slate roof covering. To the N and S of the ridge there are plain rendered chimneystacks. To the rear of the property there is a full width two storey (former) outbuilding, which it is connected to by a single storey return to the main building and encloses a very small yard which now appears to be largely roofed over. Because of all of this it is difficult to see anything of the rear façade of the main building. All that could be seen was the W face of the former ‘outbuilding’ which is finished in rough cast and has a window to the centre of both floors, with door to the left on the ground floor. To the right on the ground floor there extends a small single storey gabled return. The window to the upper floor of the outbuilding has Georgian panes (but appears to be fixed light), whilst that to the ground floor has a modern frame. The door to left on the ground floor is timber sheeted and the return has a large modern window and glazed door to its N face. The ‘outbuilding’ has a slated gabled roof with rendered chimneystack to the S gable. The main building has a slated gabled roof with two (shared) rendered chimneystacks. Metal rw goods.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

TOBERWINE STREET Toberwine Street (‘Street of the ‘sweet well’) may represent the original area of settlement within the village of Glenarm, its narrowness betraying something of its antiquity. The original 13th century castle of Glenarm, around which the village developed, is believed to have stood at the south west corner of the street, on the site now occupied by the former court house. The castle itself was deliberately ‘broken’ by Sorley Boy MacDonnell in 1597 and, seemingly, not repaired- Sorley’s descendant, Sir Randal McDonnell, building a new residence on the other side of the river. Some historians state that the old castle was occupied by tenants (and therefore presumably repaired in some fashion), in the later 17th century, but Richard Dobbs makes no reference to it in his 1683 description of the village. The first mention of ‘Toberwine’ within the Antrim Papers appears to be in a lease of November 1672, which refers to a house within the area, with ‘Toberwine Street’ mentioned in a lease of August 1709. On John O’Hara’s 1779 map of Glenarm (the earliest extant plan of the village) the street is shown fully developed on both sides, with the market / court house to the south west end. There is no verifiable indication of any remains of the old castle shown on the map, but the remark made in the 1835 OS Memoirs concerning ‘the foundations of a very extensive old castle which stood at the centre of the town until a few years ago’ indicates that ruins of some kind may have lingered into the early 19th century. Evidence provided by the valuation of 1833 suggests that most of the buildings we now see on the west side of the street were present (in some form) at that date and that many were probably 18th century. The east side of the street witnessed a much greater degree of development after 1833 however, with nos.4-12 all c.1840, and nos.20-34 and 62 post c.1860- some of the latter replacing modest single storey dwellings. There is evidence to suggest that large three storey former Antrim Arms Hotel (and possibly its neighbour no.56) may have been standing in the early 1830s, but this is not certain. No.39-41 This site is shown occupied on John O’Hara’s map of 1779 and all others thereafter. The 1833 valuation states that the building on site at that date (occupied by one John Park) was a relatively old two storey property measuring 23½ft x 24½ x 16 with a two storey ‘office’ to the rear. By 1859 the height of the main building is given as 20ft, suggesting that it had been rebuilt in the interim or the eaves level simply raised 4ft to give an extra storey. Given that the valuers of 1859 still believed the building to be relatively old, and given the closeness of the second floor windows to the eaves, it is likely that the walls were raised rather than the whole structure rebuilt. It is probable that at the shop front was added at this stage also. The leaseholder in 1859 is recorded as James Hannah, Lord Antrim’s agent. The property has served as the village post office since the mid 1900s. Prior to this the post office was situated on the other side of Toberwine Street (the present no.24). References- Primary sources 1 PRONI D.2977/3A/4/65/2, 30, 34A, 36, 37A-B, 43-45, 70A-B etc. Antrim Papers Leases relating to property in ‘Toberwine’ / Toberwine Street, 1672, 1709, 1736/7, 1753 etc. 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 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 D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building

Historic Interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Substantial three storey terrace shop and apartment, with mid 19th century double fronted timber shop front and large return, of possible pre 1832 construction but raised a storey in c.1840s.The buildings period character survives internally and externally to a degree that merits the B1 grade.

General Comments

Date of Survey

08 May 2001