33 Fountain Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Victorian mid-terrace two-bay two-storey with attic polychromatic brick townhouse, with fibre cement roof, built c.1883. Cranked plan as the property occurs at the ‘bend’ on Fountain Street. Principal elevation faces South-east onto Fountain Street overlooking former industrial buildings to the opposite side of the street and set at the back of the pavement. Built as part of a terrace row of fourteen similar houses of this type, No. 33 differs from the neighbouring properties due to the ‘cranked’ plan form.

The South-east elevation is set in English Garden Wall brick bond with Victorian industrial brickwork dressings in contrasting colour; ornamental projecting brick cornice at eaves level with double band of black brick below; pair of segmental arch-headed window openings to the ground floor and two on the first floor, one to each facet of the facade with a single pitched roof dormer to the roof above the first floor windows. Segmental arch-headed entrance door opening, (with graphic panels depicting a six panel door at the time of survey).

All openings have red brick voussoirs to heads with three black bricks to the centre forming a ‘key-stone’ detail. Continuous decorative brick stringcourse in contrasting black colour occur on ground and first floors at sills and heads with a further row of black brick separated by three courses of red brick above sill and below head level. (Ground and first floor openings have graphic panels depicting windows at the time of survey). All sills are stone and have painted finish.

North-east and South-west sides are abutted by adjoining buildings No.31(HB01/19/094K) Fountain Street and No.35 (HB01/19/094M) Fountain Street which are also vacant properties.

North-west elevation to the rear is of painted rendered finish, with a single window opening to the ground floor and a pair of windows to the first floor (boarded at the time of survey). A single pitched roof dormer is located to the rear to North-east side (LHS) which has a panel depicting a paired window. A single storey flat roofed extension extends from the rear of the property. (Partially missing). The South-east boundary to the rear yard is formed by the historic city walls.

Pitched fibre cement tiled roof with black ridge tiles to the main roof. (Partially patched with timber sheet boarding). Large redbrick chimney stack rising from the north-east side, centred on the ridge with 6 clay pots. Double band of black brick below a projecting decorative brick course with render above projection. U-PVC rain water goods on drive through brackets to the front (SE) and rain water goods missing from the rear (NW)

Setting:
Built as part of a terrace row of fourteen similar houses of this type lining the north-west side of Fountain Street which is located just outside and backing onto the historic city walls between New Gate and Ferry Quay Gate and to the east of St Columb's Cathedral (HB01/19/001).

Materials:
Roof Fibre cement
RWG U-PVC to front (SE) / none to rear (NW)
Walling Brick (SE) / Painted render (NW)
Window openings boarded up with graphic panels at time of survey.

Historical information

Nos 11-35 Fountain Street, a terrace of two-storey red-brick houses located to the south-east side of the historic city walls, were laid out in 1883. The terrace is the most recent in a series of buildings that have been built on the current site since the 17th century. Fountain Street is one of the earliest streets to have been developed outside the walled city. Calley states that houses on the current site were depicted on maps as early as 1685 and that the street may have been ‘developed almost immediately after the walls were built, by those brave, or foolhardy, enough to settle without the walls [although] it was originally only built upon that side of the street away from the walls which would have been kept clear for defence.’ The street was named Fountain Street by the 1830s in reference to the fountain that was located next to Church Bastion (Calley, p. 200).

The 1848-49 Ordnance Survey Town Plan and c.1873-1910 Annual Revisions map records that Fountain Street originally extended from Ferryquay Street around the city walls before terminating on Bishop Street. The Annual Revisions suggest that the previous terrace, located between Ferryquay Street and Hawkin Street, incorporated a number of irregular-sized buildings that were leased by Hamilton Graham, a local book keeper who resided on the Northland Road (PRONI Wills). The original row was demolished and replaced with the current uniform two-storey two-bay terrace in 1883. The terrace continued to be leased by Hamilton Graham (who died in 1892) and was occupied by working class labourers, the majority of whom were employed in the neighbouring factories and other local industries (many were undoubtedly employed by the Welch Margetson Shirt Factory on the opposite side of the street). The terrace first appeared (in plan form) on the c. 1873-1910 Annual Revisions Town Plan for Londonderry which depicted the terrace along its current layout.

Calley described the new row as a ‘stepped terrace of two-storey, two-bay houses of red-brick with black brick string-courses and keystones. They have segmental-headed openings and bold, decorative brick roof cornices’ (Calley). The Annual Revisions note that No. 11 Fountain Street was valued at £8 following the completion of the terrace. The first recorded occupant of the house was James McGonigle, a bank messenger whose wife and daughter were machinists in a local factory. The 1901 census building return described No. 11 Fountain Street as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of six rooms and possessed a coal house as its sole outbuilding. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the house was increased to £12. The valuer noted that the building was occupied by a Mr. Robert Greer in the 1930s and was purchased by the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy (located on Pump Street) in 1945. Under the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the house was occupied by a Mr. A. Shields and had been further raised in value to £15 and 10 shillings. The flat roof rear return was added to the rear of No. 11 Fountain Street in the late-20th century.

In 1970 the UAHS guide for Londonderry described Fountain Street in the following terms: ‘The relatively narrow streets, the two-storey brick houses, the stepped roofs and the small domestic scale of the dwellings and the streets are typical of the environment’ (UAHS guide, p. 55). In the 1970s the stretch of Fountain Street extending from Hawkin Street to Bishop Street was demolished and the area redeveloped with a modern housing estate. Calley states that ‘along with this part of Fountain Street and its many terraced buildings an entire neighbourhood, including Albert Street and Place, Fountain Place, Victoria Street, Clarence Place, one side of Kennedy Street and all but a single forlorn tower of the City Gaol, were obliterated’ (Calley). Nos 11-35 Fountain Street are one of only a small number of terraces that survived the redevelopment of the area in late-20th century. The terrace is a remnant of the once strong industrial working-class character of the Fountain area, which provided many workers for the local shirt-making and ship-building industries during Londonderry’s prosperous late-Victorian period. The terrace was included in the Historic City Conservation Area in 2006. The Design Guide noted that the terrace on Fountain Street ‘displays the Victorian taste for polychrome brickwork derived from the Venetian Gothic’ (Conservation Area Design Guide, p. 23).

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/12/B/32/11Q-11W – Annual Revisions (1879-1897)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/1A-1B – Annual Revisions (1897-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/13 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1943)
9. PRONI Wills Catalogue (27 Oct 1892)
10. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)

Secondary Sources
1. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013 (includes 1899 Valuation Map).
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. Digital Atlas of Derry - http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry - includes Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1848 49) and 17th century maps (1689)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Mid-terrace two-storey, late nineteenth-century redbrick house built 1883 (Architect unknown). A modest 2 storey 2 bay terraced house which differs from the neighbouring properties within a terrace of 14 houses of similar type in that it has a cranked plan form at the change in direction of Fountain Street. The terrace is set in red brick with Victorian brick dressings in contrasting colour, ornately finished with decorative projecting cornice at eaves level and stringcourses on ground and first floor levels. No.33 has retained many external features to the front elevation which are consistent for their time and style (although window openings boarded at time of survey). A new single storey flat roofed extension is present to the rear (partially missing) and the North-west boundary of the yard is formed by the historic city walls. No. 33 has group value along with Nos. 9-35 Fountain Street and is within the City Conservation Area, but has insufficient architectural detail remaining for it to be of special interest.