Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/08/031

Address :
127 Main Street Bushmills Co. Antrim BT57 8QB

Townland:
Magheraboy or Bushmills

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Survey 2:
Record Only

Date of Listing:
02/12/1980 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:
02/06/2017 00:00:00

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
7/9NW

IG Ref:
C9407 4067

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Two-storey two-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house. Rectangular plan-form with artificial slates to duo-pitched roof and unpainted rendered chimney stack to the NW side. Built c. 1834; the name of the architect is unknown. Located within the village of Bushmills, on Main Street, which is aligned parallel to the Bush River. Set on the West side of the street, due South of Market Square. Walling has smooth rendered finish (painted) to front elevation; a single entrance doorway on ground floor level is accessed directly from the footpath on the Main Street. All windows are uPVC top-hung casements on painted sills; moulded uPVC guttering to front elevation discharges to a circular painted cast-iron downpipe that runs between No. 127 & No.125. Principal elevation faces North-east; three bays wide on ground floor and two bays on first floor above (end bays are aligned). Entrance doorway, off-centred to left, contains a timber painted panelled door with multi-paned glazing to upper section. South-east and North-west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No. 131 & 125 Main Street [HB05/08/030 & 032]. South-west elevation to the rear, where seen, is abutted by a two-storey flat roofed return with rendered walling and uPVC guttering.. Materials: Roof: Artificial slates RWGs: Cast-iron downpipe & uPVC gutter (NE) Walling: Smooth render (painted) Windows: uPVC, top hung casements. Setting: Set in a terraced row of similar scaled buildings on the West side of Main Street within the Bushmills Conservation Area, between No.131 Main Street (HB05.08.030) to the right and No.125 Main St (HB05.08.032) to the left.

Architects

Historical Information

No. 127 Main Street, a two-storey two-bay building located on the west side of Main Street in Bushmills, was originally constructed in c. 1834 as part of the redevelopment of the village of Bushmills in the early-19th century. The Bushmills Conservation Area Guide records that Bushmills was a significant settlement before the end of the 18th century but from the 1820s the village was extensively rebuilt by the MacNaghten family of Bushmills House (who had acquired the estate in 1787). No. 127 Main Street was first depicted on the Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834) as a simple terraced structure. The building was not recorded in the contemporary Townland Valuations (1835) suggesting either that the building lay unfinished at that time, or that it was not worth the £3 minimum required for inclusion in the source. In 1859 Griffith’s Valuation recorded that No. 127 Main Street was valued at £3 and was leased by a Mr. John Taylor (occupant of the adjoining No. 125) to Messers William Kane and David Graham who utilised the building as a private dwelling. The occupants of the house changed with frequency over the following four decades and by the turn of the 20th century No. 127 Main Street was occupied by James Adair, a local car driver. The Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Bushmills (1902) depicted the house along its current layout with a small outbuilding to rear. The contemporary 1911 Census of Ireland described No. 127 Main Street as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of five rooms and possessed a stable and piggery as its sole out offices. James Adair continued to reside at No. 127 Main Street under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which increased the value of the property to £5 and 10 shillings and recorded the Dinsmore family (occupants of the public house at nos 135-137 Main Street) as owners. No. 127 Main Street was purchased outright by a Mr. Alexander Laverty in c. 1952. The Laverty family resided at the address until at least the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the total rateable value of the building stood at £10. In 1972 the UAHS Guide for North Antrim described the buildings along Main Street in Bushmills in the following general terms: ‘A well-scaled street. Many good doorways and shopfronts remain, although there is the usual profusion of signs. While no building apart from the former Courthouse is worthy of individual mention, the unity of the street frontages must be maintained’ (UAHS Guide, p. 16). No. 127 Main Street was listed in 1980 and was subsequently included in the Bushmills Conservation Area. The conservation area was designated in 1992 in order to preserve the built heritage of the village which possesses the highest number of listed buildings in the North East of Northern Ireland (Bushmills Conservation Area Guide; NIEA HB Records). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/7/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/7/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/7/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904) 4. PRONI OS/6/1/7/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922) 5. PRONI VAL/1D/1/7 – Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834) 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/132 – Townland Valuations (1835) 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/25A – Griffith’s Valuation (1859) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/8A-D – Annual Revisions (1859-94) 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/6A-C – Annual Revisions (1895-1929) 10. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/13 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 11. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/22 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 12. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918) 13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 14. First Survey Record – HB05/08/031 15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/08/031 Secondary Sources 1. ‘Bushmills Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment (N. I.), 1983 – including the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1902. 2. Girvan, W. D., ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in North Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

Historic Interest

Evaluation

Two-storey two-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house, set within a terrace row along Main Street in the Bushmills Conservation Area and built c.1834; the name of the architect is unknown. Rectangular plan-form with a slated pitched roof and rendered chimney stack to the NW side. Whilst the original form, proportion and modest scale survives at the front, the exterior retains little original detailing with the roof and windows both replaced with inappropriate materials that result in loss of historic fabric and detract from its character. The rear is abutted by a two-storey flat-roofed return that is out of keeping with its style and the cumulative effect of these changes means that the building is of insufficient architectural and historic interest to be considered special.

General Comments

Date of Survey

10 April 2015