23 FOYLE ST.

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Victorian mid-terraced six-bay three-storey rendered commercial building with stone dressings to upper floors, modern shop front on ground floor level and a large cement-rendered return to the rear with a slate hipped roof. Built in 1894 to designs by John Guy Ferguson. Rectangular on plan with a low solid and open parapet wall concealing a slate pitched roof behind with slated dormers to each side. Principal elevation faces North East onto Foyle Street and is set within a terrace row of commercial buildings of similar scale and varying in style.

Principal (NE) elevation is of smooth-render with painted finish and stone dressings to window surrounds; modern shop-front on ground floor level contains large projecting bold signage surmounted to fascia; ground floor contains a series of wide and narrow shouldered-arched openings; to the right side of the elevation there is a diamond-faced six-panel timber door with transom light over; cornice above ground floor has an ornate carved foliated detail spanning between paired carved console brackets that align with pillasters above. Upper floors are divided in to two; at second floor level by v-jointed quoins and at first floor level by carved moulded pilasters; semicircular arched headed windows on first floor, containing uPVC casements on painted masonry sills have moulded architrave surrounds and a string course to the spring of the arch at window heads; continuous moulded string-course between first and second floor levels; segmental-arched windows to second floor having 1/1 timber sliding sashes with horns; v-jointed chamfered corner quoin stones on carved moulded pilasters to either end of elevation; large-scale projecting stone cornice above second floor windows, low parapet wall above with alternating solid and open sections between square piers and decorative iron balustrades to open sections.

North West and South East sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No 21 Foyle Street (HB01/19/044D) & 31 Foyle Street.

South West elevation to the rear is of rough-cast render finish, three-storeys high with attic storey. The fenestration pattern is irregular with square headed window openings (with metal window bars), many containing sliding sash windows. From left to right (where seen), it comprises; three window bays, a two-storey flat-roofed extension abutted by a further two-storey double hipped roof extension, and another two window bays wide; the latter abutted by a metal external fire-escape stair that rises to attic level. A large shouldered rectangular chimney stack to the main building is positioned to left of centre, and extends from eaves level.
The flat roof extension is smooth rendered and painted and to the adjoining double-hipped natural slate roof extension is rough-cast rendered with a large cement-rendered chimney stack that has a single terracotta pot; single square headed window openings on ground floor and first floor level to SE elevation of rear extension, two of the same on ground floor level to the SW elevation, NW elevation has a single-storey lean-to rough-cast render extension with slate roof and two square headed windows above on first floor level; windows are a mix of 1/1 or 2/2 timber sliding sashes. Rear yard is enclosed by a high metal fence close to the existing historic city walls; uPVC and cast-iron rainwater goods to rear elevation and rear return.

Pitched slate roof has black clay ridge tiles, pitched roof projects above neighbouring property to the SE side; six slated dormers to the front and five dormers to the rear, all having timber casement windows; two rendered chimney stacks rising from each gable end have buff clay pots.

Materials:
Roof Natural Slate
RWG Cast-iron (NE) /uPVC(SW)
Walling Render with stucco dressings; painted to NE
Windows Timber Sliding Sash/Casements (NE) Timber sliding Sash (SW)

Setting:
Located on the South West side of Foyle Street, directly overlooking the bus station with the River Foyle beyind to the North and Guildhall (HB01.19.038) to the North West. Situated within a terrace row of commercial buildings of similar scale varying in type and style and overlooking the historic city walls immediately to the rear (SW) side, all set within the Historic City Conservation Area.

Historical information

Nos 23-29 Foyle Street, a three-storey six-bay late-Victorian building located to the south-east side of nos 19-21 Foyle Street (HB01/19/044D) was constructed in 1894. 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 John Guy Ferguson (c.1830-1901), a local civil engineer and surveyor, who was one of Londonderry’s most prominent architects and was responsible for the design of many of the city’s most 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 and were treated as a single composition. The centrepiece of the project was the Commercial Buildings at nos 5-15 Foyle Street (HB01/19/044B) which was constructed for William Mitchell, a local shipping merchant. Ferguson flanked the sandstone and granite Commercial Buildings with three-storey red brick blocks that possessed retail units at their ground floors and office or storage space above. The UAHS guide for Londonderry recorded that Joseph Ballantine of the Strand Road was contracted to construct the Commercial Buildings and it is likely that he also built the adjoining structures (DIA; UTD).

The Annual Revisions note that Nos 23-29 Foyle Street replaced a pair of dilapidated houses which were demolished in 1893. The Annual Revisions noted that the current building was completed in 1894 and cost £2,050 to construct. The building was initially valued at £90 and was leased by The Honourable The Irish Society to James Johnston, a local magistrate and hotel proprietor. Johnston established the Criterion Hotel at nos 23-29 Foyle Street which continued to operate from the site until the 1940s. The Annual Revisions note that the building possessed a licenced restaurant and a single shop unit at ground floor. With James Johnston’s death in 1900 the Criterion Hotel passed to his son Alexander Johnston. In the following year the census building return described the building as a 1st class hotel that consisted of 35 rooms. The hotel was severely damaged by a fire in 1922 and was largely reconstructed in 1925 by William James Doherty (1887-1951), a local architect who was a pupil of Edward J. Toye (Irish Builder, p. 893). The ground floor of the building was reorganised as part of the reconstruction with the former restaurant and shop unit replaced with three retail units (the hotel only occupied the upper floors of the building from 1925 onwards). Following the restoration of the building the Annual Revisions increased the value of the hotel and the ground floor retail units to £155.

The upper floors of the building continued to be utilised as a hotel until 1948 when they were occupied by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and converted into meeting rooms and a dance hall. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the total value of nos 23-29 Foyle Street was increased to £267. The Ancient Order of Hibernians was founded in New York in 1836 as an Irish-American benevolent society. The organisation possessed 100,000 American members by 1900 but was initially slow to develop in Great Britain and Ireland. The Belfast Nationalist leader Joseph Devlin became president of the AOH in 1905 and revitalised the order as a political wing of the Irish Parliamentary Party. Following this transformation membership in the British Isles jumped from 10,000 in 1905 to 60,000 by 1909. Hepburn states that the AOH was ‘attractive to businessmen for its freemason-style activities, to workers for its benevolent activities, and to young Irish Catholics as a rival to the Orange Order.’ Following the Partition of Ireland, the Northern Ireland branches of the AOH remained closely associated with the Nationalist Party but greatly waned in popularity by the 1970s (Oxford Companion to Irish History, pp 14-15). The Ancient Order of Hibernians was recorded as owner of the entire building (including the ground floor retail units) during the Second Revaluation (1956-72) which further raised the value of nos 23-29 Foyle Street to £543.

Nos 23-29 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 underwent a renovation in 1990 that included the reslating of its roof and the restoration of its first floor windows. In c. 1994 the Ancient Order of Hibernians carried out a modernisation of their premises on the upper floors of the building. The NIEA HB Records note that the renovation resulted in the conversion of two rooms into a single function room, the installation of new stairwells and a disabled lift, the upgrading of basic sanitary provisions and the addition of a small museum (NIEA HB Records). During the Second Survey the upper floors of nos 23-29 Foyle Street remained occupied by the Ancient Order of Hibernians whilst the ground floor of the building continued to be used as a retail unit and a public house.

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. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
10. Irish Builder (31 Oct 1925)
11. First Survey Record – HB01/19/044 (1970)
12. First Survey Image – HB01/19/044 (1977)
13. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/044E-H

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. Hepburn, A. C., (contributor in) ‘Oxford companion to Irish History’ Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
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.

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie/
2. Digital Atlas of Derry - http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Victorian six-bay three-storey former hotel, built c.1894 to designs by John Guy Ferguson and following fire damage, reconstructed in 1925 by William James Doherty, a pupil of E.J. Toye. No's 23-29 are set within a terrace row of commercial buildings of similar scale and varying in style, lining the South West side of Foyle Street, with Guildhall Square to the NW and the historic city walls directly overlooking to the rear (SW). Despite the timber casement windows to the first floor and the inappropriate materials to the shop front, the exterior retains sufficient detailling, including elaborate stucco work to the cornice, pillasters and windows surrounds and ornate metal ballustrading at parapet level. The solid to void ratio of the principle facade is noticeably at odds with the rhythm employed in the remainder of the terrace, however its retention adds to the coherence of the whole by way of intact form and alignment. Historically, the building is of economic siginficance due to its former use as a hotel and it also has social value, having accommodated the meeting rooms and dance hall of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.