10 BOND'S HILL

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid-terrace two-bay two-storey rendered early-Victorian house, built c.1840s (Architect unknown). Rectangular plan form facing west. Plain render to front elevation with painted stucco details to window surrounds. Part of a terrace of sixteen buildings of varying styles which line the east side of Bond’s Hill stepping up the hill. (HB01/09/006 B-R).

Pitched natural slate roof with a two-stage rendered chimney stack with four buff clay pots centred on ridge at the party wall with No.9 (HB01/09/006B) to the right. Slightly projecting rendered eaves with half-round cast iron guttering on drive through brackets discharging to cast iron circular downpipe to right of front elevation. All openings have 1/1 double hung timber sliding sash windows with moulded horns unless otherwise noted.

Front (west) elevation is smooth cement rendered with painted finish. Window openings are square-headed with plain architrave plastered surrounds and painted sills in contrasting colour. Six-panelled timber door to left with single pane overlight all set within a square-headed opening with plain plaster band surround. Single square-headed bipartite 1/1 timber sliding sash window with sash box dividing panel to right. First floor has two square-headed windows (not aligned with ground floor openings) with plain plaster banding surrounds and painted replacement concrete sills in contrasting colour.

North side is abutted by No.11 Bond’s Hill (HB01/09/006D).

Rear (east) elevation not accessible at time of survey.

South side is abutted by No.9 Bond’s Hill (HB01/09/006B).

Setting:
Part of a terrace of sixteen buildings of varying styles which line the east side of Bond’s Hill stepping up the hill. (HB01/09/006 B-R).

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate
RWGs: Half round cast iron
Walling: Painted Cement Render
Windows: Replacement Hardwood Sliding Sash (replacement concrete sills)
Door : Replacement Hard wood front door.

Historical information

Bond’s Hill was laid out in c.1839 in order to provide access to Ebrington Barracks (which had been constructed between 1839 and 1841) and was one of the first streets to be developed on the Waterside District of Londonderry during the 19th century. The current site of Bond’s Hill remained undeveloped in the 1830s with no buildings were on the first edition Ordnance Survey map. Hume states that prior to 1841 the Waterside consisted of a single street and possessed 105 houses. The area was slow to develop due to the steepness of its hills and as a result of expensive tolls that were imposed on carts and pedestrians crossing the city’s wooden bridge. Hume states that the construction of the barracks and the setting up of industrial establishments initiated the rapid development of the Waterside and drew people into the city from the rural hinterland east of the Foyle. In 1849 the Londonderry Standard described the change in the area in the following terms: ‘The Waterside, which from being some 20 years since, little more than a small street, has now become a place of considerable importance having a distillery, two large mills for the manufacture of oatmeal and a third about to be erected’ (Hume, pp 32-34).

Calley states that Bond’s Hill was named after the owners of Clooney House, a late-18th century house which stood at the top of the hill (now demolished and replaced with terraced housing). The street was first depicted on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1848-49 which records that a number of houses (including a church on the current site of the Former Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter’s) Church – see HB01/09/010) had already been constructed along the route by that time. Nos 9-24 Bond’s Hill, a terrace of two and three-storey Victorian houses also known as Melrose Terrace, was constructed in stages between c.1840 and 1891. Nos 9-17 Bond’s Hill were the first buildings to have been built on the street and can be seen on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1848-49 (Calley, p. 59).

No.10 Bond’s Hill, a two-storey two-bay house, was constructed between c.1839 and 1848-49. Griffith’s Valuation (1856) records that the house was valued at £9 and was initially owned and occupied by John Connor, a local publican. Connor continued to reside at No.10 Bond’s Hill until his death in the 1880s when his widow Mary Connor took possession. In 1893 the house was occupied by Patrick McFadden, a local storeman. The 1901 Census described No. 10 Bond’s Hill as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of eight rooms and possessed a shed as its sole outbuilding. The house was depicted on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1904-05 which records that the building did not possess its two-storey rear return at that time. In 1910 ownership of nos 9-10 Bond’s Hill passed to William Reynolds, a car proprietor who also held No.11A. Reynolds leased No.10 Bond’s Hill to Charles S. Craig, a clerk at a local bacon curing factory. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) ownership of No.10 Bond’s Hill passed to a Ms. Margaret Wilson who leased the property to a Mr. William Wilson. The valuer increased the value of the site to £15 and 10 shillings at that time. A Ms. Sylvia Laird was recorded as owner under the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) which set the total rateable value of the house at £18 and continued to record William Wilson as occupant.

Nos 9-24 Bond’s Hill were listed in 1979. The NIEA HB Records note that No.10 Bond’s Hill underwent a renovation in 1988 which included the rerendering of its façade and chimney. Further work was undertaken in 1992 when new windows were installed, a new bathroom added and the floors to the parlour room replaced (NIEA HB Records). Field inspection of No.10 Bond’s Hill, carried out as part of the Second Survey, has found that the building continues to be utilised as a private dwelling.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
3. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
4. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16H – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/14A-14G – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/4C-4D – Annual Revisions (1898-1930)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/13 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57))
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/18 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Londonderry Standard (5 Jul 1849)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1918)
11. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
12. First Survey Record – HB01/09/006B (No Date)
13. NIEA HB Records – HB01/09/006C

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
2. Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002.
3. Thomas, A., ‘Irish Historic Town Atlas, No. 15: Derry – Londonderry’ Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 2005 - includes Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1904-05).

Online Resources
1. Digital Atlas of Derry - http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry - including Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1848-49)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An early-Victorian mid-terrace two-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1840 and situated on the east side of Bond’s Hill. Part of a terrace of sixteen buildings of varying styles, it has group value with Nos 9 & 11-21 Bond’s Hill (HB01/09/006B & D-O). Bond’s Hill was laid out in c.1839 to provide access to Ebrington Barracks (HB01/09/002A-II) which was constructed between 1839 and 1841. The terrace properties were constructed along the east side of the street over a fifty year period resulting in a terrace which displays the progression of design and detailing through the Victorian period.
The house was modernised in the late twentieth century with the loss of some historic fabric including replacement windows and a replacement front door. Although altered, it is integral to the group value and interest of the terrace that, as a whole, is a good example of the type.