8 Palace Street, Londonderry, BT48 6PS

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A four-bay storey-and-a-half rendered vernacular dwelling, built c.1834 abutting St. Augustine's Church Hall (HB01/19/012B). Rectangular on plan with small dormer window to front elevation on artificial slate roof with red brick chimney stack rising from the south-west elevation. Principal elevation faces south-east onto Palace Street, set on the edge of a triangular site comprising St. Augustine's Church (HB01/19/012A) and graveyard to the north. The house is abutted on the north side by the former St. Augustine's School now used as a church hall, all situated within the Historic Conservation Area.

Pitched artificial slate roof has terracotta clay ridge tiles and a small red brick chimney stack centred on the ridge with two clay pots.

Principal (south-east) elevation is of smooth-rendered painted finish with black painted dressings; three windows all square-headed 6/6 timber sliding sashes with exposed boxes, one to left of door and two to the right. Square-headed entrance doorway, off centre, with moulded architrave surround, raised-and-fielded four-panel timber door with plain single pane overlight. Small dormer to roof, to left of door with a Upvc casement window and artificial slate cheeks. Cast-iron half-round guttering and circular downpipe to front elevation.

North-east gable elevation is abutted to the right by the former St. Augustine's school (HB01/19/012B) now used as a church hall. Exposed section is white painted render with a single Upvc window at attic level.

South-west gable elevation sits adjacent to the modern extension of the church hall and is surmounted by a small red brick chimney stack topped by two circular clay pots. Unpainted rendered finish with two small Upvc windows at attic level.

Rear (north-west) elevation is abutted to the right by a modern single-storey flat roofed extension. Exposed section of rear wall has a square Upvc window to first floor and two dormers with Upvc casement windows and artificial slate cheeks to artificial slate roof.

Setting:
Located on the corner of Palace Street, a narrow residential passage way off Bishop Street leading to the ecclesiastical site of St. Augustine's Church. The latter is recognised as the former historic site of St. Columba's original monastery, founded in 546AD. 8 Palace Street is set on the edge of a triangular site comprising St. Augustine's Church (HB01/19/012A) and graveyard to the north and is abutted on the north by the former St. Augustine's School now used as a church hall, all situated within the Historic Conservation Area.

Materials:
Roof Artificial slate
RWG Cast Iron (E)
Walling Render
Windows Timber/Upvc

Historical information

No. 8 Palace Street, a one-and-a-half-storey four-bay vernacular dwelling adjoining St. Augustine’s Church Hall (HB01/19/012B), was constructed in the early-to-mid-19th century. Palace Street, a narrow residential passage way off Bishop Street leads to the ecclesiastical site of St. Augustine's Church. The latter is recognised as the former historic site of St. Columba's original monastery, founded in 546AD. 8 Palace Street is set on the edge of the triangular site comprising St. Augustine's Church (HB01/19/012A) and graveyard.

Palace Street, named after the Bishop’s Palace on Bishop Street (HB01/19/006), is one of only a few lanes within the historic city walls of Londonderry that does not follow the geometric street plan laid out on Thomas Raven’s maps of 1622 and 1625. The street was first depicted on Thomas Phillips plan of the City of Londonderry and environs (1689) and Nevill’s map (also 1689) which both show that the lane extended northwest from Bishop Street before being diverted north towards the city walls. The street bent sharply to avoid the rubble wall of the Bishop’s gardens and the site of St. Augustine’s Church (HB01/19/012A). Palace Lane was known as ‘Back Lane’ on Stewart’s 1738 map of the city and by the late-18th century it had been renamed ‘Register Office Lane’ on the 1780 Volunteer map, and Porters 1799 maps of Londonderry. By the early-19th century the street had been renamed ‘Chapel Lane’ which it would remain for a century (Calley; Digital Atlas of Derry).

It is possible that the cottage was constructed as early as 1799; a building was depicted on the site on Porter’s map in that year. In 1834 the Townland Valuations town plan depicted a structure that was smaller than the current dwelling but followed its general layout; the plan also depicted a small outbuilding to the north side of the dwelling. The contemporary Townland Valuations (1832) described the property on this site as a 1d+ class building, that is a slated building that was old, dilapidated and scarcely habitable (the lowest possible rating bestowed by the valuer). In the 1830s the valuer noted that the property was occupied by a Mrs Campbell, the outbuilding was utilised as a stable, and that the entire site was valued at £11 and 18 shillings.

Between the 1834 Townland Valuation Map and the 1848-49 Ordnance Survey map, the building on the site was increased in size (the northern stable was also enlarged so that the two formerly separate buildings became joined). It is not possible to be certain but, due to the very poor condition of the building in 1832 and the increase in its size between 1834 and 1848-49, it is possible that the cottage was constructed after the 1830s or at least heavily modified. Calley states that ‘it looks 18th century but short of detailed examination, it would be hard to date precisely’ (Calley, p. 304).

Griffith’s Valuation notes that the cottage was occupied by a Mr. James McMahon in the 1850s. The valuer records that the building was leased to McMahon by the estate of James Galbraith and that the value of the dwelling had been lowered to £10 since the 1830s. Over the following decades the occupants of the dwelling changed with great frequency. In 1884 the property was acquired by the Lord Bishop of Derry. In c. 1884 the outbuilding to the north side of the cottage was demolished and the St. Augustine’s School erected in its place. Chapel Lane had been changed to ‘Palace Street’ by at least the 1901 Census of Ireland. The First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) records that No. 8 Palace Street was increased in value to £11 10s. The valuer notes that the dwelling was leased by the trustees of St. Augustine’s Church and was occupied by a Mr. Robert Elliot at that time. Under the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the building continued to be utilised as a private dwelling and had been further increased in value to £19. By 1956 No. 8 Palace Street was occupied by a Mr. J. Cochrane but by the end of the revaluation the house had passed to a Mr. Edward Quigley.

The modern single-storey church hall extension to St. Augustine’s Church was constructed to the north-west side of No. 8 Palace Street in the 1960s whilst the flat roof extension to the cottage’s north-west side was added in the 1970s (Foyle Civic Trust). No. 8 Palace Street was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977. Calley, writing in 2013, described the cottage as ‘perhaps one of the prettiest buildings within the walls, especially when viewed from Bishop Street.’

References

Primary Sources
1. Thomas Raven’s plans of Londonderry (1622; 1625)
2. Thomas Phillip’s Plan of Londonderry (1689)
3. Nevill’s plan of Londonderry (1689)
4. Volunteer map of Londonderry (1780)
5. Porter’s plan of Londonderry (1799)
6. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
7. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
8. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/14 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
9. PRONI VAL/1/B/547A-F – Townland Valuations (1832)
10. PRONI VAL/1/D/5/9B – Townland Valuation Town Plan (1834)
11. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
13. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/5B-5C – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
14. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
15. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
16. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1943)
17. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
18. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Palace 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.

Online Resources
1. Digital Atlas of Derry - http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry (including 1848-49 Ordnance Survey Town Plan).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

A four-bay storey-and-a-half rendered vernacular dwelling, built c.1834 and situated on the edge of the historically sacred site of St. Augustine's, recognised as the former site of St. Columba's original monastery, founded in 546AD. It has a fine setting being located on the southern edge of a triangular site comprising St. Augustine's Church (HB01/19/012A) and graveyard to the north and abutted to the north by the former St. Augustine's School now used as a church hall, all situated within the Historic Conservation Area.
No.8 Palace Street may have been constructed as early as 1799 and only altered in c.1834; a dwelling was depicted on the site on Porter’s map in that year. The dwelling passed into the possession of the Lord Bishop of Derry in 1884 and it has remained in the Church's possession ever since. Although the dwelling has been modernised both internally and externally, it is robust in character and is of note as a rare surviving example of an early vernacular dwelling located within the City Walls.