28 Shipquay Street (The Gift Box)

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Three storey three bay rendered terrace building, built c. 1856. Rectangular plan form facing South East and a large extension to the rear with a lean-to slate roof. Semi-circular headed windows to first floor and segmental headed windows to second floor level. Principal elevation faces South East onto Shipquay Street situated within the city walls with Shipquay Gate directly to the North East; all within the northern quadrant of the Historic City Conservation Area.

Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles. Timber fascia and soffit with paired decorative corbel brackets to parapeted cornice with a rendered moulded string-course below; half-round cast-aluminium guttering and circular cast-aluminium downpipe to front elevation.

Front (SE) elevation has rendered moulded architraves with moulded shoulder-courses to upper floor window bays and a sill-course to second floor windows spanning the width of the building; all windows to upper floors are timber casements; shop front to ground floor contains a shallow three-centred arch opening to the left side and an elliptical arch opening to the right side, both have moulded surrounds with keystones and decorative capital heads at spring of arch with a deep moulded cornice above between floor levels. Left side archway contains a modern chamfered timber shop front with a low timber stall riser and a recessed central timber and glazed door with a plain fanlight above; recessed roller-shutter concealed behind signage board; right side entry contains a pair of decorative painted metal gates leading to rear yard.

South West and North East sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.26 and No.30 Shipquay Street (HB01/19/033).

Rear elevation to the North West side is abutted by a lean-to extension of painted rough-cast render with a slate roof that spans the full width and then stops on the left side to allow access to the yard via the carriage arch from Shipquay Street; the right side continues to form a rear return. Two timber casement windows at first floor level, one on the NW elevation above arched entry and one on the NE (return) elevation. Edge of carriage arch opening cased in plywood, with rustic finished and the same treatment is used within the archway to trim columns spaced regularly along both sides and beams that support a flat soffit. Moulded dado rail and large framed panels between columns. Square headed door opening on ground floor level contains painted flush timber door opening out onto rear yard; rear extension has timber fascia boards and a half-round cast-metal guttering discharging to a circular cast-metal downpipe on the NW elevation.

Roof : Natural Slate
RWGs: Cast metal
Walling Painted Render (SE) Rough-cast (NW)
Windows Timber Casements

Setting:
Located on the North West side of Shipquay Street, with a shared courtyard to the rear accessed via an arched entry from Shipquay Street; courtyard backs on to the Craft Village. Set within the Historic City Walls with Shipquay Gate directly to the North East and River Foyle beyond.

Historical information

No. 28 Shipquay Street, a three-storey three-bay building, was constructed by the mid-19th century. Griffith’s Valuation noted that No. 28, as well as the adjoining No. 30 (HB01/19/033), were constructed by at least 1856. Both buildings were valued as a single property in Griffith’s Valuation which described the structure as a house, stores, office and yard that was valued at £160 and was leased by John Cunningham to Robert Bond, a ‘wholesale grocer, oil and colour merchant’ (Ulster Town Directories). Robert Bond continued to operate his business from nos 28-30 Shipquay Street until 1868-69 when Stevenson, Ramsay & Co., local tobacco and snuff manufacturers, took possession of the building (UTD). Nos 28-30 Shipquay Street continued to be utilised as a single business premises until 1883 when Robert J. Black purchased both buildings outright and leased out No. 30 Shipquay Street to a Mr. John J. Johnston (see HB01/19/033 for full history). The value of No. 28 was reduced to £115 as a result of the change.

Robert James Black was a wholesale grocer who originally established his business on Foyle Street in 1860. Industries of the North (1888-91) described his new premises at No. 28 Shipquay Street as a ‘commodious four-storied [sic] building extending back three hundred feet to Magazine Street, in which there is a goods entrance, and having a well-appointed suite of offices, and sample room on the ground floor, with extensive stores and warehouses on the upper floors. These are fully stocked with every description of groceries of the finest quality, including the teas for which the firm are celebrated, selected from the choicest growths of China, India and Ceylon, and in well-established demand for their purity, fragrance and strength; spacious storage accommodation is also needed for the large quantities of flour and bran held by the firm and which is supplied wholesale to the leading members of the trade in the district. The trade connection is of an extensive and influential character, including a wide circle of retail grocers and provision dealers in the North of Ireland whose support and patronage has been gained by the consistently high-class quality of all goods supplied by the firm. The services of a large number of clerks, assistants, warehousemen, &c, are retained in the various departments of the business, which is capably managed under the supervision of the principal, whose energetic and enterprising administration has been rewarded with well-deserved and conspicuous commercial success’ (Industries of the North).

Robert J. Black & Co. continued to operate from No. 28 Shipquay Street until c. 1902 when the building was converted into offices and printing works for the Derry Standard, one of Londonderry’s principal newspapers, and increased in value to £125. It was most likely at this time that the ground floor of the building was altered. Photographs, plans and postcards of the building (pre-1900) show that the ground floor originally consisted of three round-headed openings with a door taking up the centre opening, but by the Edwardian period the ground floor of the façade had been altered to accommodate a wide arch to the left and a narrower arch to the right side. Mitchell states that the Derry Standard (originally known as the Londonderry Standard) was established on 30th November 1836 and became ‘the principal public organ of the Derry’s Presbyterian community … [but] in 1932 the Derry Standard made the news itself, when its employees took over its ownership and ran it as a workers’ co-operative, the first of its kind in Ireland’ (Mitchell, pp 179-180). The newspaper was closed in 1964. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the building was leased by Wholesale Newspaper Services and had been increased in value to £204.

In 1970 the UAHS guide for Derry described No. 28 Shipquay Street as ‘a three-storey rendered terrace building with semi-circular-headed first floor windows and segmental-headed second floor windows. The ground floor originally consisted of three semi-circular headed openings handled in a successful manner. The whole façade has strongly modelled articulation’ (UAHS guide, p. 23). No. 28 Shipquay Street was listed and included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977. The NIEA HB Records note that in 1990 the building underwent a renovation that included the repair of its roof, the installation of cast aluminium rain water goods and the restoration of its shopfront (NIEA HB Records).

No. 28 Shipquay Street originally extended back as far as Lower Magazine Street where its yard was accessed by a goods entrance. The establishment of the Craft Village, opened by President Mary Robinson in 1992, cut the building off from its Lower Magazine Street entrance. The narrow arch on the ground floor was recently used as an entrance to the Craft Village. During the Second Survey, No. 28 Shipquay Street was occupied by a gift shop on ground floor whilst its upper floors contained offices.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
2. PRONI VAL/12/B/157/1/11-15 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873)
3. PRONI VAL/2/B/5-16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1898)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2D-E – Annual Revisions (1898-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. Industries of the north: One hundred years ago – Industrial and commercial life in the north of Ireland (1888-91)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
10. First Survey Record – HB01/19/032 (1970)
11. First Survey Image – HB01/19/032 (No Date)
12. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/032
13. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Shipquay Street)
14. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Lower Magazine Street)

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
2. Ferguson, W. S; Rowan, A. J; Tracey, J. J., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in and near the city of Derry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970.
3. Mitchell, B., ‘The making of Derry: An economic history’ Derr: Inner City Trust, 1992.
4. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.
5. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

Three-storey three-bay rendered building, built c.1865 within a terraced row of former merchants' townhouses and commercial buildings lining the North West side of Shipquay Street. Generously scaled and well proportioned, it retains much of its historic character including ornate stucco dressings to upper floor windows and paired decorative brackets below the cornice. The ground floor arches are Edwardian and although not original, add considerable interest to the street frontage. Built around the same time and used as a single property with the adjoining No.30 Shipquay Street (HB01.19.033), it shares group value with the latter. Despite the replacement windows, the wet-dash rendered extension to the rear and the loss of historic fabric inside, No.28 Shipquay Street retains a unique facade and strong presence within the Historic City Conservation Area. It is of special historic interest having accommodated the offices of the Derry Standard from 1902 until 1964, which is of particular note as, in 1932, its employees took it over and ran it as a workers’ co-operative, purported to be the first of its kind in Ireland.