22-26 Shipquay Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A Georgian-style three-storey five-bay terrace commercial building with diminishing scale and low parapet. Built pre-1830. Rectangular plan form facing south-east with large two-storey extension with hipped slate roof to rear. Square headed 6/6 timber sliding sash windows to first and second floor levels. 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 fibre-cement slate roof has black clay ridge tiles set behind plain rendered low parapet with concrete capping; upvc hopper terminating into circular upvc downpipe to right side of front elevation.

Front elevation has smooth painted render finish to first and second floors; all windows to upper floors are 6/6 timber sliding sash; shop front to ground floor of polished granite cladding with mahonany framed glazing. Left side contains a modern chamfered timber shop front with a low granite stall riser and a recessed central timber and glazed door with a plain transom light above and plain sidelights; right side contains solid 4 panelled timber door, two steps up from pavement. Two modern Velux rooflights to roof behind parapet.

South West and North East sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.20 and No.28 Shipquay Street (HB01/19/030 & 032).

Rear elevation to the North West side (only the first floor and roof was visible at the time of survey) abutted by a two storey stepped extension of smooth unpainted render with two slated hipped roofs; the fenestration pattern is irregular with two timber casement windows at first floor level, one on the NW elevation and one on the NE (stepped) elevation. Rear extension has timber fascia and soffit boards and half-round upvc guttering terminating to circular upvc downpipes to each corner. Large flat roofed extension beyond.

Setting:
Located on the North West side of Shipquay Street, with a contained yard to the rear access from a shared yard behind No. 28 accessed off Shipquay Street. Front elevation faces South East onto Shipquay Street, set within the Historic City Walls with Shipquay Gate directly to the North East and River Foyle beyond.

Roof Fibre-cement Slate
RWGs uPVC
Walling Painted Render (SE) Unpainted Render (NW)
Windows Timber sliding sashes/ Timber Casements

Historical information

Nos 22-26 Shipquay Street, a three-storey five-bay commercial building located between the adjoining No. 20 (HB01/19/030) and No. 28 Shipquay Street (HB01/19/032), was constructed pre-1830. The building was recorded in the Townland Valuation of Londonderry (c. 1830) and was depicted on the accompanying Town Plan (1834). The valuer described the building as a class 1B dwelling (that is a building of medium age that was slightly decayed, but still in good repair) that measured 36.6ft in width by 30ft in height (approximate dimensions of current building) and was valued at £59 and 5 shillings. The building, which possessed three cellars and a stable amongst its outbuildings, was occupied by a Mr. Horner in the 1830s.

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 Street 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 as ‘imposing but 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 merchant and professional residences were converted into commercial premises as desirable Georgian-style dwellings were constructed in the newly formed suburbs to the north in Edenballymore. 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’ (Hume).

Griffith’s Valuation (1856) records that Nos 22-26 Shipquay Street was owned by the estate of Connolly McLecky, a local borough magistrate and member of the gentry, in the mid-19th century. McLecky leased the building, which had been slightly decreased in value to £55, to Messers Richard Waller and Thomas Chambers, local solicitors who operated their office from the building until c. 1880. In that year the Annual Revisions noted that nos 22-26 Shipquay Street was subdivided with two shops on the ground floor with the upper floors utilised as offices for local businesses. The ground floor shops were initially occupied by Robert Mitchell, a stationer and bookseller, and William Gilbey, a local wine and spirit merchant, in the 1880s. Following the reorganisation of the interior of the building the total rateable value of nos 22-26 Shipquay Street was increased to £75. The lease of the building had passed to Robert Mitchell in c. 1880 and he continued to be recorded as owner of the property until c. 1930. Calley states that the building gained a new appearance in the late-19th century when the Georgian-style façade was replaced with ‘a more ornate one with a high parapet divided by piers and moulded architraves’ (Calley suggests this was done in c. 1890 but it was more likely adopted in c. 1880 when the reorganisation of the interior took place – Calley, p. 377).

By the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the building was increased to £160 with the ground floor shops occupied by the Royal Insurance Co. Ltd. And by William Gilbey’s licenced shop (which continued to operate from the address until 1965). Calley states that the upper offices of the building were occupied by such local businesses and organisations as the Catholic Social Services, Spillers and Bakers (flour merchants) and Harkin’s stockbrokers. The late-Victorian façade was removed in the early-1960s and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value of the building stood at £428 with a café and licenced shop occupying the ground floor units. Nos 22-26 Shipquay Street was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977. The ground floor of the property was converted into a single shop unit in 1980 when the current occupant, D. Cooley Jewellers, occupied the building (Cooley Jewellers website).

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/1/D/5/9B – Townland Valuations Town Plan (1834)
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/547E – Townland Valuations (c. 1830)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/5-16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/157/1/11-15 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1898)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2D-E – Annual Revisions (1898-1929)
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: Parish of Templemore (1837)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
13. 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.
3. ‘A design guide for the Historic City Conservation Area Londonderry’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 2012.

Online Resources
1. Digital Atlas of Derry - http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry (includes Ordnance Survey Town Plan – 1848 49)
2. D. Cooley’s Jewellers website - http://cooleyjewellers.co.uk/?page_id=1397

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Three-storey five-bay rendered mid-terraced former dwelling with pitched roof behind a parapet and a large unpainted smooth rendered extension to the rear with a slate hipped roof. Built pre.1830, set within a terrace row of former merchants' townhouses and commercial buildings lining the North West side of Shipquay Street, stepping up and down the hill. A generously scaled and well proportioned front facade retaining some of its original character; ground floor has been altered over the years. Renovations in 1980 included replacement of the roof, restoration of the shop front on ground floor level including interior renovations and conversion into a single shop unit. Substantial flat roofed extension to rear. Whilst the building makes a positive contribution to the group value and overall character of Shipquay Street and to the Historic Walled City Conservation Area, the building does not merit listing.