7-9 Ferryquay Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid-terraced two-bay three-storey with attic rendered and painted brick commercial building with dressings to upper floors, modern shop front on ground floor level and a large rendered return to the rear; mansard slate roof to main building and pitched slate roof to rear return. Built in 1903 to designs by Robert E. Buchanan. Rectangular on plan with a balustraded parapet wall concealing a small dormer window behind with slated cheeks to each side. Principal elevation faces North East onto Ferryquay Street, situated adjacent to Austin's Department Store (HB01/19/019) which overlooks The Diamond to the North. Set within a terrace row of commercial buildings of varying scale and style, situated within the Historic City Walls.

Principal elevation (NE) is of smooth-render with painted finish and stucco dressings; modern shop-front on ground floor level contains large projecting bold signage mounted to front facade; ground floor is divided by three plain pilasters with shop entrance to the left side of the elevation and a single entrance doorway to the right hand side; pilasters to either end of elevation have paired brackets supporting a moulded cornice spanning the width of the elevation, pilasters are topped by small curved pediments. Upper floors bays are divided by v-jointed quoins topped by classical capitals of the Corinthian order; three-sided canted bay window on first floor left side, right side windows are paired and aligned with windows above on second floor level; canted bay has timber casement window, first floor windows are 1/1 timber sliding sashes on moulded sills with small support brackets below; continuous moulded string-course between first and second floor levels; console brackets at eaves supporting a salient moulded dentilled cornice above; large-scale pedimented wall-head dormer to attic level has paired segmental-arched headed 6/1 timber sliding sash windows and date stone of '1765' and '1903'; low balustraded parapet wall to right side of elevation concealing a pitched slated dormer window behind.

North west and south east sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties Austin's Department Store (HB01/19/019) and No. 13 Ferryquay Street. South east side elevation projects above roof of neighbouring property, walling is of red brick with concrete coping to mansard roof; large projecting chimney stack, centred on elevation, has terracotta clay pots.

Access to the SW elevation at the rear was not possible.

SE elevation gable-end rises above adjoining property; walling is of red brick finish with concrete coping and a stepped red brick chimney stack, centred on elevation and with six circular buff clay pots.

Materials:
Roof Natural Slate
RWG Cast-iron/uPVC
Walling Render (front)/Brick (rear)
Windows Timber Sliding Sash/Casements (NE)

Setting:
Located on the south west side of Ferryquay Street, with The Diamond to the north and the Historic City Walls to the south east side. Situated within a terrace row of commercial buildings of varying scale, type and style, all set within the Historic City Conservation Area.

Historical information

Nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street, a three-storey four-bay building possessing a mansard roof located next to Austin’s Department Store (HB01/19/019), was constructed in 1903 but with portions thought to date from the mid-18th century. As one of the four main streets leading from The Diamond to the city gates, Ferryquay Street was laid out in the early-17th century and is contemporary with the construction of the walled city. Raven’s 1622 map of Londonderry records that the street was originally known as Gracious Street but, due to its proximity to the ferry across the River Foyle, the name was first changed to Ferry Quay Street by 1689. The names of the street switched between Grace Church Street in 1695, Ferry Quay Street in the 18th century and George’s Street in 1811; the street was finally redesignated Ferry Quay Street in 1831 (Calley).

The current Edwardian appearance of Nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street was the result of a major refurbishment and enlargement which was carried out to the previous building on the site in 1903. The date plaque located in the attic pediment records the dates ‘1765’ and ‘1903’ suggesting that the original building on the site dated from the mid-18th century. The Townland Valuations (c. 1834) described the original structure on the site as a 1B- class building (that is a building of medium age that had deteriorated and was not in perfect repair) that measured 28.3ft in width by 21.9ft in depth and 34.9ft in height. The valuer set the total rateable value of the building at £44 and 6 shillings and recorded that the building possessed a rear return and a cellar. A photograph of Ferryquay Street (dated c. 1890) depicted the original building as a classical Georgian-style structure that possessed a projecting cornice and a shopfront at ground level. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1837) record that all houses on Ferryquay Street had been completely replaced by commercial buildings by the early-19th century (OSM, p. 101).

In the 1830s nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street was occupied by Dr. James Eames, a surgeon and pharmaceutical chemist who also operated as apothecary to Londonderry’s Lunatic Asylum (UTD). Eames continued to operate from the address during Griffith’s Valuation (1856) which increased the total rateable value of the property to £75. The valuer noted that Eames and his family resided in the upper floors of the building. James Eames died in c. 1860 at which time his surgery and apothecary at Ferryquay Street passed to his relative William James Eames. In 1870 Eames vacated the site when Henry Prior, also a pharmaceutical chemist, acquired the property. Prior & Co. continued to operate a chemists from the address until at least the 1970s. The 1901 census described nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street as a 1st class shop and dwelling that consisted of 12 rooms and possessed a store as its sole outbuilding.

It was during Prior’s occupancy of the building that nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street underwent a substantial refurbishment which resulted in its current appearance. The Foyle Civic Trust records that reconstruction of the building was undertaken between 1902 and 1903 and was carried out in the months preceding and following the destruction of the adjoining Austin’s Department Store by fire in 1903. A photograph of Ferryquay Street (dated 1903) depicted the rubble and wreckage of the burned department store but also recorded the ongoing reconstruction of the adjoining building. The photograph shows the northwest gable of nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street exposed to the elements and scaffolding raised in front of the building as part of the reconstruction of its façade. It is not known with certainty who was responsible for the restoration and reconstruction of nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street. Calley suggested that the Edwardian façade hints of Alfred A. Forman or Robert Eccles Buchanan. The latter is more likely as Buchanan was also responsible for the rebuilding and enlarging of No. 4 Ferryquay Street in 1904 (now demolished). The reconstruction of nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street was completed in 1903 when Prior & Co. resumed their business. A contemporary photograph depicted the building along its current appearance in c. 1905 during the reconstruction of the adjoining Austin’s Department Store.

Following the refurbishment, nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street was increased in value to £86. The valuer noted that the building was leased to Prior & Co. by a Mr. R. A. Wilson and that the building was solely utilised as commercial premises at that time. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the total rateable value of the property was increased to £149. Whilst Prior & Co. continued to occupy the building until the 1970s, the upper floors were utilised as offices for a number of local firms. Between the 1930s and 1970s The Pearl Assurance Co. Ltd. held offices at the site, and in 1948 the architect Liam McCormick (of Corr & McCormick), one of Ulster’s most prominent modern architects, took up offices in the building. Prior & Co. continued to operate from the site by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) when the total value of nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street stood at £277 and 15 shillings.

Nos 7-9 Ferryquay Street was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 1977 and continues to be utilised as commercial premises. During the Second Survey the building was utilised as business premises for an opticians.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI VAL/1/D/5/9B – Townland Valuations Town Plan (c. 1834)
2. PRONI VAL/1/B/547A-F – Townland Valuations (c. 1834)
3. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16A-D – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
4. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/15 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-11ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
7. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/13 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1852-1918)
10. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
11. The Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Ferryquay Street – includes c. 1890 and c. 1905 photographs)
12. The Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (The Diamond)

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. ‘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. Austin’s Department Store website - http://www.austinsstore.com/pages/our-history (includes photograph of demolished store – 1903)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Edwardian-style mid-terraced two-bay three-storey with attic, rendered and painted brick commercial building with painted stucco dressings, built c.1903 to designs by Robert E. Buchanan, located within the Historic City Walls of Londonderry on the south-west side of Ferryquay Street, adjacent to Austin's Department Store (HB01/19/019). The building now has a modern shop front on ground floor level and retains little interior historic detailing. The historic detailing and ornamentation remaining on the front elevation is more appropriately protected by the Historic City Conservation Area.