5 - 15 Foyle Street (Commercial Buildings) Londonderry Co.Londonderry BT48 6AL

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Victorian mid-terrace twelve-bay three-storey uncoursed rock-faced Barony Glen sandstone commercial building with cut sandstone dressings. Built in 1882 to designs by John Guy Ferguson. Designed as four shops with a central carriage archway. Rectangular on plan with a rear courtyard facing onto the historic city walls to the SW side. Principal elevation faces North East onto Foyle Street overlooking a small garden and the River Foyle beyond.

Low solid stone parapet wall with coping stone concealing slate pitched roof behind with terracotta clay ridge tiles; centred above the parapet is a sculpted 'The Lady of Trade' (Britannia) carved in sandstone.

Principal elevation (NE) is twelve windows wide and three storeys high, of uncoursed rock-faced Barony Glen sandstone with stepped corner quoins and sandstone dressings to window surrounds; ground floor alternates between wide and narrow archways of doorways and shop windows, between arches are polished paired engaged columns alternating red and black granite with carved foliated sandstone capitals; wider segmental archways have carved head keystones representing the continents with which the city traded; carvings on each springing-stone have an individual motif including flower heads, a bird and a feline creature. First floor bays have semicircular arched heads with carved shoulder-course; second floor bays have segmental arched heads; all windows on upper floors are 1/1 timber sliding sashes; moulded string-course with carved plain console brackets above supporting a moulded cornice to parapet wall above at eaves level. Initials and date are carved on a shield centred on elevation above first floor window bays; "W.M. 1882". A large sandstone statue of 'The Lady of Trade' (Britannia) is centred on the parapet with the name 'COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS' carved below.

North-West and South-East sides are abutted by adjoining properties No.3 & No.17 Foyle Street (HB01/19/044 A&C).

South-west elevation to the rear is of three-storeys smooth-rendered painted finish with painted red brick dressings to window surrounds. The fenestration pattern is irregular with a mix of blind bays and door openings with a detached flat-roofed boiler house outbuilding to the right of central carriage archway. First floor and second floor bays have a mix of square headed and segmental arched headed timber casement windows with a mesh grille attached to the wall either side of window opening. uPVC rainwater goods to rear elevation.

Materials:
Roof Natural Slate
RWG uPVC (SW)
Walling Sandstone
Windows Timber Sliding Sash (NE) Timber casements (SW)

Setting:
Located on the south-west side of Foyle Street directly overlooking the River Foyle to the north-east and Guildhall and Shipquay Place to the north. Situated within a terraced row of generously scaled red brick and stone commercial buildings, set on the pavement to the south of the City Walls, set within the Historic City Conservation Area.

Historical information

Nos 5-15 Foyle Street, a three-storey twelve-bay sandstone and granite building, was constructed in 1882. Foyle Street was laid out in the 18th century on land that was reclaimed from the River Foyle (originally the north-eastern section of the city walls extended to the river banks). The 18th century maps of Londonderry show that the newly created street was divided into two sections, the western side was known as Brewery Lane whilst the eastern section was called East Walk; the street had gained its current name by at least 1831. Calley states that Foyle Street ‘developed into a commercial street throughout the 19th century with a few residential houses … the build-up of these businesses created a canyon of commerce and added greatly to the city’s atmosphere of industrial acumen’ (Calley, p. 203).

Foyle Street underwent an extensive reconstruction in the late-19th century which resulted in the construction of a row of Victorian commercial buildings. The majority of the surviving buildings along Foyle Street were designed by one man. John Guy Ferguson (c. 1829-1901), a local civil engineer and surveyor, was one of Londonderry’s most prominent architects and was responsible for the design of many of the city’s important civil, ecclesiastical and commercial buildings in the late-19th century. The Listing File records that Ferguson was responsible for the design of nos 3-29 Foyle Street as well as nos 1-5 Shipquay Place (HB01/19/043A-C), all of which were constructed between 1882 and 1894.

Nos 5-15 Foyle Street was also known as the ‘Commercial Buildings’ and was the centrepiece of Ferguson’s project. The building was constructed for William Mitchell, a local merchant. In his economic history of Londonderry Brian Mitchell states that William Mitchell imported flour and grain from the United States which he then distributed throughout Ireland. Mitchell started his enterprise in c. 1870 and established the Foyle Line in 1890, a fleet of merchant ships which were all constructed in the Derry shipyards. The Annual Revisions note that Mitchell’s firm occupied the largest share of the offices and stores within the Commercial Buildings but, upon his death in 1902, the Foyle Line was dissolved and its remaining ships were sold off (Mitchell, p. 94).

John Guy Ferguson designed nos 5-15 Foyle Street with four retail units and a central carriage entrance on the ground floor with the upper floors utilised as office premises and storage space. The Natural Stone Database records that the building was constructed of Scottish-imported Barony Glen sandstone with polished red granite utilised for the ground floor pillars. The construction of the Commercial Buildings was carried out by Joseph Ballantine, a local builder who possessed business premises on the Strand Road (UTD). The Commercial Buildings possesses a number of ornamental features including William Mitchell’s initials, and the year ‘1882,’ which are inscribed between the first and second floors. Over the ground floor openings are keystones on which were carved heads representing the main trading regions in the Victorian period. Located in the centre of the building’s parapet is a statue of 'The Lady of Trade' (Britannia) which overlooks Foyle Street (DIA; NSD; Foyle Civic Trust, p. 10).

Upon its completion the Commercial Buildings was valued at £267 and 10 shillings. Nos 5-15 Foyle Street swiftly became one of Londonderry’s main commercial hubs where many of the city’s most prominent local firms and businessmen could be found. The Ulster Town Directories note that the building was utilised by a number of local insurance firms and shipping firms whilst the Annual Revisions record that the Hibernian Bank had a branch at the site (UTD). Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the occupants of the upper offices of the building included the Londonderry Company of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the City of Glasgow Friendly Society and The Exchange Telegraph Co. Ltd. The total rateable value of the building was increased to £315 under the First Revaluation but this was further raised to £613 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the Commercial Buildings continued to be occupied by the same variety of local firms.

In 1970 the UAHS guide for Derry described the Commercial Buildings as ‘a three-storey rock-faced sandstone façade, symmetrically arranged. The ground floor piers are finished with pairs of short polished red granite three-quarters columns with sandstone sculpted capitals. The windows are interestingly handled, with segmental and round-headed arches alternately over large and small openings … on the piers above the pairs of capitals are decorative panels and circles, one of these representing a cornucopia’ (UAHS guide, p. 44). Nos 5-15 Foyle Street was incorporated into the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and was listed in 1979. The NIEA HB Records note that the building was damaged in a fire in c. 1977. The First Survey Image (1977) shows that nos 5-17 Foyle Street were completely gutted by the blaze but a renovation, carried out in 1978-80, restored the original façade of the building. Calley and the Foyle Civic Trust note that the statue of 'The Lady of Trade' (Britannia) was removed in c.1980 as it was in a dangerous condition and the bearing was strengthened before the current replacement was installed in the parapet of the property. The Commercial Buildings received light damage to its façade when a bomb exploded on 15th January 1992 destroying all its original sliding sash windows (NIEA HB Records; Calley, p. 204; Foyle Civic Trust).

References

Primary Sources
1. Volunteer map of Londonderry (1780)
2. Porter’s plan of Londonderry (1799)
3. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/11 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/13 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1943)
9. First Survey Record – HB01/19/044 (1970)
10. First Survey Image – HB01/19/044 (1977)
11. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/044B

Secondary Sources
1. ‘The Foyle Civic Trust: Review Issue 9’ Londonderry: The Foyle Civic Trust, 2003.
2. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
3. 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.
4. Mitchell, B., ‘The making of Derry: An economic history’Derry: Genealogy Cente of Derry, 2002.
5. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.
6. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. Natural Stone Database - http://www.stonedatabase.com//buildings.cfm?bk=1962

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

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

Evaluation

Victorian mid-terraced twelve-bay three-storey sandstone building with stone dressings. Built in 1882 to designs by John Guy Ferguson, located within a terraced row of buildings on the south-west side of Foyle Street, overlooking the River Foyle to the east and the Guildhall to the north. Nos 5-15 Foyle Street is known as ‘Commercial Buildings’ and was the centrepiece of Ferguson’s project, built at the same time as Nos 3-29 Foyle Street (HB01/19/044A-H) and Nos 1-5 Shipquay Place (HB01/19/043A-C). The building was designed for William Mitchell as four shops with a carriage archway on ground floor level. Mitchell was a local merchant who imported flour and grain from the United States which he then distributed throughout Ireland. He established the Foyle Line in 1890, a fleet of merchant ships which were constructed in the Derry shipyards. This is a distinctive and elaborately decorated building incorporating carved head keystones representing the continents with which the city traded and a sandstone statue of 'The Lady of Trade' (Britannia) centred on the parapet. Despite the modern shopfronts to ground floor level, externally this building retains architectural detailing and character with a fine setting, being located immediately in front of the City Walls. This range of commercial buildings has group value and the Historic City Conservation Area is enriched by its presence.