No. 6 London Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Late-Georgian mid-terrace three-bay smooth-rendered townhouse with shop-front to ground floor, built pre 1830. Rectangular on plan with large projecting three-storey rear return. Principal elevation faces south onto London Street, within the Cathedral Quarter of the Historic Walled City. Slated pitched roof with black clay ridge tiles to main house and rear return.

Principal elevation (SW) is of smooth-rendered painted finish with traditional-style shop window on the left side and a recessed round-headed arch entrance doorway two-steps up with slightly projecting wide plaster surround with raised stringers and keystone, decorative iron gate to archway, all to the right of shop window on ground floor level; windows are squared headed on painted masonry sills, three 6/6 timber sliding sashes on first and second floors. Timber fascia board to eaves and cast-iron half-round guttering and circular downpipe.

East and West sides are abutted by adjoining properties No.4 and No.8 London Street (HB01/19/087A).

No access could be obtained to the rear of the building at time of survey.

Materials:
Roof Slated
RWG Cast Iron (SW)
Walling Painted Render
Windows Timber Sliding Sash

Setting:

Located on the north east side of London Street just off Bishop Street Within situated on a terrace row alongside Darcus and Cathedral Cottages, within the Cathedral Quarter of the Historic Walled City, overlooking St. Columb's Cathedral and church yard on the south side.

Historical information

The buildings on London Street, extending from Bishop Street to New Gate, predominantly date from the late-Georgian and Victorian periods but the street itself likely dates from the laying out of the walled city in the early-17th century. Both Nicholas Pynnar’s plan (1618-19) and Thomas Raven’s maps of Londonderry (1622; 1625) depicted a street in the southeast quadrant of the new city extending off from Queen’s Street (Bishop Street) that occupied the exact current layout of London Street. These early maps were intended as proposals with many of the buildings depicted on them not being constructed until later. However the plans did accurately reproduce the current geometric pattern of the city, suggesting that side streets such as Pump Street, Castle Street and London Street were also laid out in the early-17th century. London Street is divided by Pump Street into two sections (a west end and east end). From the 18th to mid-19th centuries the east end was known as Widow’s Lane and then Widow’s Row. The west end (originally unnamed) was known as Cross Lane in 1734, Church Lane in c. 1780 and Post Office Lane in 1799. The west end of the street was renamed London Street in 1811 in honour of the City of London companies who had founded the city as part of the Plantation of Ulster (Calley, p. 247).

Hume states that London Street ‘had originally a residential air similar to neighbouring Pump Street and Ferryquay Street [noting that] three doctors resided in it in 1832 and the buildings were generally substantial. The red brick here … points to a great deal of rebuilding in the nineteenth century.’ Even after the city’s merchant and professional characters began to move out of the walled city towards the new terraced streets in Edenballymore in the mid-19th century, Pump Street retained its residential character (Hume, p. 13).

No. 6 London Street, a three-storey three-bay late-Georgian building, was constructed prior to 1832. The Townland Valuation map (1834) and Londonderry Corporation map (1857) show that the building was originally utilised as a store belonging to the three-storey five-bay building on Bishop Street (Nos 18-20 Bishop Street). The Townland Valuation (1832) noted that the property on Bishop Street was occupied by Andrew Moore who operated his merchant business from the site. The valuer described the store on London Street as a 1d class structure (that is an old slated building that was dilapidated and scarcely habitable at time) that measured 17ft in width, 26.6ft in depth and 26.6ft in height and was valued at £9 7s. 10d.

Griffith’s Valuation (1856) records that in the mid-19th century the buildings at the corner of Bishop Street and London Street were valued at £120 and were leased by Margaret Kelso to Samuel Gilliland, a flour miller, grocer and wine and spirit merchant. From 1872 the buildings were occupied by Henry McDonnell & Son who established a furniture store at the site (the store on London Street possessed a shop on its ground floor at that time and was used as a furniture workshop). There was no change to the configuration of the buildings until 1895 when the store on London Street was sublet by Henry McDonnell to other tenants. In that year the ground floor of No. 6 London Street was occupied by John Stewart, a local hairdresser, whilst the remainder of the building was used as Delf stores by John McColgan. The total value of No. 6 London Street was set at £17 in 1895. The contemporary 1899 Valuation Map depicted the building along its current layout. No. 6 London Street continued to be occupied by John McColgan & Co. Ltd., which also occupied nos 16-20 Bishop Street, until at least the 1970s. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) McColgan’s buildings on Bishop Street and London Street were jointly valued at £175. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the combined value of the buildings were increased to £435.

London Street had fallen into a state of poor repair and dilapidation by the 1970s but Calley states that ‘it was from here that moves towards historic preservation within the city was partially inspired and launched; in 1975 the street featured in the European Architectural Heritage Year celebrations’ (Calley, p. 247). No. 6 London Street was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977. During the Second Survey the building was occupied by the London Street Salon (Foyle Civic Trust).

References

Primary Sources
1. Pynnar’s plan of the Walled City (1618-19)
2. Thomas Raven’s plans of Londonderry (1622; 1625)
3. PRONI OS/6/5/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1830)
4. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
5. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/14 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/547E – Townland Valuations (1832)
7. PRONI VAL/1/D/5/9B- Townland Valuation Map (1834)
8. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16D – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1898-1929)
11. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
12. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/14 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
13. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
14. Derry Almanac (1870-1953)
15. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
16. Foyle Civic Trust – Living City Project (London Street – including 1899 Valuation Map of Londonderry)

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013 – including the Londonderry Corporation map (1857).
2. Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002.
3. Ó Baoill, R., ‘Island city: The archaeology of Derry – Londonderry’ Belfast: Northern Ireland Environment Agency, 2013.
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.

Online Resources
1. Digital Atlas of Derry - http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Late-Georgian mid-terrace three-bay three-storey rendered townhouse with shop window and arched entrance on ground floor level, situated on the north east side of London Street with St. Columb's Cathedral and Church yard to the south side. Built pre 1800, as part of a terraced row of similar houses of this type with which it has group value. Some external historic detailing remains however there has been much internal alteration and it is therefore not the best example of its type and does not meet the criteria for listing. It is located within the Historic Walled City Conservation Area which provides the appropriate level of protection.