13A LITTLE JAMES ST.

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A brick five-storey multi-bay former shirt factory erected 1897-98 for Messrs Hogg & Mitchell to designs by William A. Barker; the remaining factory building has been converted to apartments.

The factory is aligned east-west along the south side of Great James Street, at its junction with Little James Street. It originally extended south as far as Sackville Street, but this section was demolished and is now partly occupied by a modern multi-storey apartment block.

Hipped artificial slate roof with skylights and ogee metal gutters and down pipes. Red brick walls and rendered walls throughout.

The principal elevation of the surviving block faces north onto Great Patrick Street. Its ground floor is divided into six sections by fluted stucco pilasters with Corinthian capitals. Five sections contain shop fronts, each with an entrance door and large window, and all with roller shutters. The fourth section from left is the entrance to the Hogg & Mitchell Apartments on the floors above. This entrance contains three doorways set in a modern polished granite surround. Its doors are glazed and protected with decorative wrought ironwork. A moulded cornice runs across the top of the shop fronts and carries small planters.
The upper floors each have 18 regularly-spaced window openings, grouped into threes by banded stucco pilasters which terminate in fluted capitals at eaves level. There are similarly detailed stucco quoins at each end. The upper floors are delineated by stucco entablatures (with geometric motifs) running directly under the common cill courses of the windows above.

All windows are double-glazed 1x4-paned uPVC replacements. Their openings have moulded brick jambs and shallow segmental heads (also of moulded brick). All but the top floor opes also have advanced painted keystones.

The moulded stucco eaves cornice is enlivened by dentilated capitals at the top of the brick piers between the top floor windows.

The eaves course also forms the heads to these windows, all of which are of slightly diminished size compared with those below.
The ground floor of the east elevation is rendered and contains two flat-headed doorways (that at left is a fire escape). Its upper floors have three window openings apiece, all detailed as the façade.

The west elevation is slightly wider than the east end; it is six opes wide, divided into three pairs by stucco pilasters. The ground floor has three pairs of large shop front windows, and the upper floors each have three pairs of 1x4 windows. All the detailing to this elevation is identical to the front façade. A raised fire gable at its south end separates this elevation from a modern six-storey brick apartment block which continues along Little Patrick Street.

The south (rear) elevation is abutted at left by the six-storey apartment block (rendered rear wall). The exposed section of the original block is nine openings wide and rendered throughout with cement. Its upper floors opes all have 1x4-paned windows with shallow segmental heads and concrete cills.

Setting:
Shops line the street directly opposite the former factory. A narrow lane runs down the east side, with shops beyond. On the west side of Little Patrick Street is a Post Office sorting office. At the rear of the premises is a vacant yard, with Sackville Street beyond.

Materials:
Roof: Artificial slate
Rainwater goods: Ogee metal
Doors: uPVC and glass
Windows: 1x4 uPVC

Historical information

Strand Factory, as it was originally called, was built for Messrs Hogg & Mitchell, shirt and collar manufacturers. It was designed by William A. Barker, a local architect, and opened in 1898.

The Valuation Revision book entry for 1899 records Hogg & Mitchell's shirt factory along Little James St, and also a row of six shops along Great James St which were leased out by them. The factory had a rateable valuation of £255, and each of the shops was rated at £18. The 1902 entry records "additions in progress", resulting in an increase in the shirt factory's valuation by £120 to £375.

The 1904 OS map captions the premises as "Strand Factory (Shirt & Collar)". It occupied the entire block, between Great James St and Sackville St.

No significant changes to the factory are recorded in subsequent valuations (up to 1931), or maps (up to 1953).

Messrs Hogg & Mitchell were still in operating the shirt factory in 1950, but it was subsequently vacated. After a fire in 1997 much of the factory was demolished and only the five-storey block along Great James Street survived. It was converted to apartments in 2000.

References - Primary Sources:
1. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2C. Valuation revision books 1898-1910, pp 410, 420.
2. PRONI OS/10/5/14/10/1. OS 1:2500 town map, Co Londonderry sheet 14-10 (1904).
3. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2F. Valuation revision books 1910-31, pp 477, 495.
4. PRONI OS/10/5/14/10/2. OS 1:2500 town map, Co Londonderry sheet 14-10 (1932).
5. PRONI OS/10/5/14/10/3. OS 1:2500 town map, Co Londonderry sheet 14-10 (1949).
6. PRONI OS/10/5/14/10/4. OS 1:2500 town map, Co Londonderry sheet 14-10 (1953).
7. Belfast and Ulster Street Directory, 1950, p.1556.

References - Secondary Sources:
1. D. Calley, City of Derry - An Historical Gazetteer of the Buildings of Londonderry, p.246 (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013).
2. W.S. Ferguson, A.J. Rowan & J.J. Tracey, Historic Buildings in the City of Derry, p.46 (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1970).
3. Irish Architectural Archive Dictionary of Irish Architects 1720-1940, .
4. Information on site's recent history from Mr Columba Moore of C.M. Property Management.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
T. Historic Importance
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

A five-storey brick multi-bay former shirt factory erected 1897-98 for Messrs Hogg & Mitchell to designs by William A. Barker. Located on the south side of Great James Street at its junction with Little James Street, close to Strand Road. It originally extended south as far as Sackville Street, but this section was demolished after a fire in 1997 and is now partly occupied by a modern multi-storey apartment block. Only the historic five-storey block along Great James Street survived and this was converted to apartments in 2000. Despite loss of the original plan form due to internal alterations, the building is of architectural interest because of its massing, regularly fenestrated façade, and stucco embellishment to the brickwork. It was one of a number of 'second generation' shirt factories built in Londonderry during the late 1800s and early 1900s and along with other such factories in the city, it made Londonderry the 'shirt capital of the world' during this era. The factory was also of economic importance in giving employment to many generations of women. The urban setting of Great James Street is enhanced by its historic importance as a reminder of the industrial and manufacturing past of the city.

General comments

Original Address was 13A Little James Street as per Schedule