13 Shipquay Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Late Georgian red brick four-storey two-bay mid-terrace house of c.1830 with square-headed windows and stone cornice below low rendered parapet and slated hipped roof. The property is set on the East side of Shipquay Street with Richmond commercial premises to the rear.

The front elevation faces West onto Shipquay Street, modern shop front behind roller grille under large fascia signage with recessed entrance to ground floor. Flemish bond red brick to upper floors with two square-headed one-over-one timber sliding sash windows with cement reveals and painted masonry sills to each floor.

Side elevations, North and South are abutted by adjoining buildings No 15-17 Shipquay Street (HB01/19/027) & No. 9 Shipquay Street (HB01/19/026A).

To the rear is a small passageway accessed to the right of the entrance to the Richmond Mall, off Shipquay Street.

Setting:
Set North east of The Diamond, on the east side of Shipquay Street, facing west, abutted by 11 & 15 Shipquay Street and close to shopping centre at rear.

Windows: Timber sliding sash.
Rainwater Goods: PVC.
Doors: Not original.
Roof: Natural Slate.

Historical information

No. 13 Shipquay Street, a four-storey two-bay redbrick building, was constructed in the early-19th century. The exact date of the Georgian-style building is not known, but it was certainly constructed prior to the 1850s along with the adjoining No. 11 Shipquay Street (HB01/19/026B). The building may have been constructed by the 1830s as the Townland Valuations recorded a house occupying the same dimensions in 1832. This house was valued at £56 11s. and was occupied by a Mr Freel.

Raven’s 1622 plan of Londonderry shows that the layout of Shipquay Street has not been altered since the laying out of the walled city. The map records that Shipquay was originally known as ‘Silver Street’ but the current name had been adopted by the early-18th century. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1837) described Shipquay Street’s appearance in the following terms: ‘although otherwise imposing, [the street] is necessarily marred by the broken line of the roofs. This street contains … several respectable private residences’ (OSM, p. 101). Prior to the mid-19th century the character of Shipquay Street was predominantly domestic. However, between 1825 and c. 1850, many of the former residences were converted into commercial premises as large Georgian-style dwellings were constructed in the newly formed suburbs in Edenballymore to the north. In 1849 the Derry Standard recorded that ‘a wonderful transformation has taken place, the houses of private gentlemen having been changed into shops and private businesses.’

No. 13 Shipquay Street was most likely adapted during this commercial redevelopment of the street in the early-19th century. Griffith’s Valuation (1856) set the value of No. 13 at £50 and noted that the building, which was used as a shop and dwelling, was occupied by James Hempton, a book seller, printer and stationer; the Ulster Town Directories note that Hempton had not occupied No. 13 Shipquay Street by 1852 but that his relatives, John and Matthew Hempton, possessed book shops in The Diamond and Ferryquay Street in that year (UTD).

James Hempton continued to operate his business from No. 13 Shipquay Street until his death in 1904 (PRONI Wills). Following Hempton’s death, his family continued to operate the bookstore from No. 13 under the business name ‘Hempton & Co.’ The Ulster Town Directories note that Hempton & Co. were not only suppliers of books and stationary, but also operated a lending library and sold musical instruments (UTD). The value of No. 13 Shipquay Street was increased to £110 under the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland (1935). The building continued to be occupied by Hempton & Co. until 1967 when the Association for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge took possession. The total rateable value of the building stood at £224 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72).

Photographs of Shipquay Street dating from the late-19th century show that the building originally possessed a more traditional shopfront which jutted out from the main body of the building, but the First Survey image shows that this had been replaced with a plain modern shopfront by at least 1977. No. 13 Shipquay Street was listed in 1979. No. 13 Shipquay Street continues to be utilised as commercial premises. The Foyle Civic Trust Living City Project described the building as ‘four-storey, two-bay, diminishing scale, brick façade. Slate roof concealed behind corniced parapet. Chimney. One-over-one vertical sliding sash painted timber windows with flat arch heads and rendered reveals. Calley criticised the addition of the modern shopfront describing No. 13 Shipquay Street as ‘charming, of almost domestic scale all undone by the poor treatment of the ground floor’ (Foyle Civic Trust; Calley, p. 386).

References

Primary Sources
1. Thomas Raven’s plans of Londonderry (1622; 1625)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
3. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/157/1/11-15 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873)
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/547A-F – Townland Valuations (1832)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
9. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
10. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
11. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Londonderry (1837)
12. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837)
13. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943)
14. O’Hagan’s plan of Londonderry (1847)
15. First Survey Record – HB01/19/026 (1970)
16. First Survey Image – HB01/19/026 (1977)
17. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/026
18. Foyle Civic Trust Living City Project – Shipquay Street

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.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A red brick four-storey two-bay mid-terrace house of c.1830; a modest vestige of a late-Georgian mid-terrace townhouse remaining inside the City Walls, situated on steeply sloping Shipquay Street, North East of The Diamond. Despite the loss of the interior and the insertion of a modern shopfront, sufficient architectural character remains on the exterior - proportion, detailing and materials are consistent with their time and style. It has group value with the other listed Georgian-style buildings in this part of Shipquay Street.

General comments

Additional listing criteria apply - R - Age & S - Authenticity