Bedlam Market

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Symmetrical terraced multi-bay four-storey over railed basement brick former townhouse, built c.1820, with front entrance removed. Rectangular on plan, facing west lining the east side of Pump Street. Currently interconnected with Nos.10-14 (HB01/19/067A).

Artificial slate roof with synthetic ridge tiles and replacement steel rainwater goods. Painted red brick walling laid in Flemish bond, rendered to the basement and rear elevation. Gauged brick flat-arched window openings with patent rendered reveals, painted masonry sills and timber sash windows; possibly original to the upper floors, 3/3 to third floor, 6/6 to remainder. Replacement 6/6 timber sash windows with ogee horns to the ground floor.

Symmetrical front elevation is four windows wide with a railed basement area and continuous painted masonry sill course to ground and first floors.

North side elevation abutted by adjoining terraced building No.10-14 (HB01/19/067A).

Rear elevation is largely boarded up with a railed basement area, a single 6/6 timber sash window to the first floor and a pair of flat-panelled timber doors to the south bay.

South side elevation abutted by adjoining terraced building No.18 (HB01/19/067C).

Roof Artificial slate
RWG Replacement steel
Walling Painted brick / cement render
Windows Timber sash

Setting:
Located on the east side of Pump Street in the heart of the old city, the basement area is enclosed by decorative iron railings set into painted rendered plinth wall. Concrete paved garden to rear shared with Nos.10-14.

Historical information

The former Convent of Mercy on Pump Street consists of three buildings. The three-storey seven-bay block at nos 10-14 (HB01/19/067A) was constructed in 1780 as a hotel. No. 16 Pump Street, a four-storey-over-basement four-bay structure, was erected in the early-19th century whilst No. 18, a four-storey three-bay building (HB01/19/067C) was constructed in 1900. All three buildings were acquired by the Convent of Mercy between 1848 and 1927 and continued to be occupied by the religious institute until 2005. The street was first known as Pump Street in c. 1630 due to the presence of the town’s pump in the immediate vicinity. Calley states that ‘it is a fine street [which] was the haunt of doctors, dentists, nuns, newspapers, lady tailors and others.’ Nos 10-14 Pump Street is the earliest surviving building along the street (Calley, p. 311).

No. 16 Pump Street was erected in the early-19th century and became one of the first offices of the Londonderry Sentinel. The Townland Valuations note that No. 16 was utilised as a warehouse by a Mr. Edward Doherty in c. 1830. At that time the building was valued at £61 8s. 6d. And had not yet been acquired by the Londonderry Sentinel. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs note that the Sentinel was established on 19th September 1829. It sold 65,700 copies of the periodical in 1834 giving the paper a weekly circulation of over 1,263 (OSM, p. 152). The newspaper had certainly occupied the building by the 1850s when the value of the ‘Londonderry Sentinel Newspaper Office’ was decreased to £40 under Griffith’s Valuation (1856). The Sentinel continued to print from the premises until 1884 when the paper moved across the road to new purpose-built premises at No. 13 Pump Street. The former printing works remained vacant until 1890 when they were acquired by the adjoining Convent.

Following its acquisition by the adjoining Convent of Mercy, (nos. 10-14), the formerly separate buildings were depicted as a single structure in the 1899 Valuation map of Derry. The original entrance to the former Sentinel offices (which was at the southernmost two bays of No. 16) was removed by 1899 and replaced with the current windows. The 1911 Census described the Convent of Mercy on Pump Street as a 1st class property that consisted of 40 rooms and accommodated 47 Sisters, servants and pupils in that year. The Convent of Mercy underwent a further extension in 1927 when it acquired the adjoining No. 18 Pump Street, a four-storey three-bay Victorian building which had been reconstructed (or remodelled) in 1900 from two smaller properties. The total rateable value of the Convent of Mercy at nos 10-18 Pump Street was raised to £440 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935). The convent school continued to operate from the premises on Pump Street until 1929 when new premises were acquired at Thornhill House. The school was transferred to Thornhill in 1932 whilst Nos 10-18 Pump Street were retained by the Sisters of Mercy as a convent. The value of the convent was slightly increased to £528 by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72).

The Convent of Mercy became part of the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and was listed category B in 1979. The NIEA HB Records note that the Inner City Trust acquired the building in 1993 and subsequently carried out renovations. The three-storey annex to the rear of the convent was demolished in 1994 whilst alterations were undertaken in 1995 in order to provide additional accommodation space for the order. The total cost of the renovation was estimated at £1.7 million. The Sisters of Mercy finally vacated the convent on Pump Street in 2005 after which point No. 18 was utilised as the parochial house for Long Tower Parish. The Derry Journal records that the former hotel and convent was converted into commercial premises for Bedlam, a vintage and antique curiosity shop, which occupied the premises in 2011 (NIEA HB Records; Derry Journal).

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/12/E/157/1/14 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873)
4. PRONI VAL/1/B/547E – Townland Valuations (1832)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16D – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1898-1929)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. Ordnance Survey Memoir of Parish of Templemore (1837)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
12. Census of Ireland (1911)
13. First Survey Record – HB01/19/067 (1970)
14. First Survey Image – HB01/19/067 (No Date)
15. NIEA HB Records – HB01/19/067
16. Foyle Civic Trust – Living City Project (Pump Street – including 1899 Town Plan of Londonderry)
17. Derry Journal (13 Nov 2011)

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.Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002.
4.Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.
5.'Londonderry Historic City Conservation Area Booklet’ Department of the Environment, 1977.
6.'A Design Guide for the Historic City Conservation Area’ Department of the Environment, 2012.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Symmetrical terraced multi-bay four-storey over railed basement brick former townhouse, built c.1820. A substantial former townhouse, initially offices for 'Londonderry Sentinel' newspaper, and latterly part of the Convent of Mercy, this Georgian building retains some of its external detailing, albeit with the loss of its original doorcase to Pump Street. It has significant group value and interest with 10-14 & 18 Pump Street (HB01/19/067A & C), and is currently interconnected with the former; previously all three properties were under ownership of the Convent of Mercy. Set behind a low plinth wall and railings that further enrich the quality of its setting, this building is one of the grandest Georgian townhouses in Derry city.