No 14 Great James Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid-terrace four-bay three-storey red-brick former factory with polychromatic brick dressings, built 1889 (architect unknown), extended to the North East side. Rectangular plan form, principal elevation facing South West onto Great James Street with double pile projections to the rear.

Pitched natural slate roofs with black clay ridge tiles, red-brick parapet wall concealed behind a large moulded salient cornice; two red-brick and rendered chimney stacks rising from the NW and SE sides; there is a large red-brick chimney rising from the NE gable end to the left side rear return and a rendered chimney stack with two buff clay pots rising form NW elevation of right side rear return. Red brick walling laid in Flemish bond with polychromatic white brick dressings on a brick plinth.

Principal South West elevation is four-bays wide with a total of nine openings, vertically divided by projecting brick pilasters into three, one, three and two openings; ground floor has semicircular arch headed archway openings with indented keystones; upper floor bays are segmental arch headed with red-brick hood mould and stone and brick voussoirs. Upper floor bays have timber casement windows with open-able sections. Ground floor has two archways between window bays; right side archway which formerly gives access to a coach entryway, now has been filled in serving as an entrance lobby to the commercial premises occupying ground floor level; arch head is concealed with large modern signage.

North West side roofline projects above that of adjoining property No. 16 Great James Street (HB01/21/035A), gable-end walling is of red-brick and render finish topped by a squat chimney stack (with no clay pots).

Irregular North West side elevation of rear return has unpainted rendered finish, plainer detailing and comprising a full-height projection centre of elevation, a further single storey projection to the left side of elevation contains a metal external fire-escape staircase rising the gull-height of the building; rendered elevation has a series of square-headed openings concealed with ply-sheeting; unpainted rendered chimney stack rising from elevation, to the right side of flat roof full-height projection, having two buff clay pots; projection is abutted on ground floor level by a high red brick boundary wall to adjoining neighbouring property.

North East double-pile gable-end elevation to the rear (return) is of stone and red-brick, blank with no openings, left side elevation is topped by a squat red brick chimney stack.

South East side elevation is blank, smooth painted rendered finish to walling, spans the full length of the site, gable-end to main factory building is topped by a rendered squat chimney stack.

Roof Natural slate
RWG uPVC/plastic
Walling Red-brick & Polychromatic brick
Windows Replacement hardwood casement

Setting:
Occupying an extensive mid-terrace site on Great James Street, within close proximity to the former Great James Street Presbyterian Church and Manse (HB01/21/009) to the South West side, the former factory dominates the streetscape to the North East side. A less formally designed South East side elevation faces onto a vacant infill site.

Historical information

No. 14 Great James Street, a three-storey red-brick commercial building, was originally constructed in c. 1889 as a shirt and collar factory. In the early decades of the 19th century men’s fashion in Europe underwent change due to the mass production of American cotton. By the 1830s flannel was beginning to be replaced by the imported cotton which was a cleaner, cheaper and softer material. The Shirt Industry in Londonderry was founded in the early-19th century by William Scott, a local weaver who exploited this shift in the clothing market. In 1850 Scott was still the only shirt maker in the city but his success encouraged others such as Tillie, Hogg and Sinclair to establish shirt manufactories in the city. The Northwest Archaeological & Historical Society records that ‘these men saw the possibilities of the sewing machine, which was invented in 1845 by Elias Howe of Massachusetts. They saw that by bringing all the workers together into a factory rather than having them scattered around the countryside, they could make great savings’ (The Shirt Industry of the Northwest of Ireland, p. 8; Hume, p. 111).

The three-storey factory on Great James Street was constructed for Arthur & Co, a Glasgow-based textile manufacturer and wholesaler which was a subsidiary company to House of Fraser, the popular British department store. House of Fraser’s online archives note that the company was originally founded in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser and occupied a small drapery shop in Glasgow. As a result of its swift expansion, Arthur and Fraser established Arthur & Co. in 1855 as a separate company that would handle the wholesale business of firm. In 1865 Arthur & Fraser was dissolved and Arthur & Co. was carried on as a separate concern known as Arthur & Co. Ltd. The company continued to operate until the 1970s and also possessed premises in London, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Canada (House of Fraser archives). The Ulster Town Directories note that Arthur & Co. Ltd. established representation in Londonderry in the 1860s and originally held premises at nos 11-12 Artillery Street before moving to William Street in the 1870s. The Londonderry branch was Arthur & Co. Ltd.’s third outlet in the United Kingdom.

The Annual Revisions suggest that No. 14 Great James Street was constructed in c. 1889 as it was first included in the valuation sources in that year. The architect of the building is not known although the valuer noted that Arthur & Co. Ltd. leased the plot of land from Bartholomew McCorkell, a local magistrate and official at the Savings Bank on Bank Place. The building, which was described as a shirt factory, was initially valued at £130 in 1889. Calley described the factory in the following terms: three-storey, nine-bay red-brick with white brick dressings on a plinth. It is vertically divided by projecting brick pilasters into three-bays, one-bay, three-bays and two-bays. Upper floor bays are segmental-headed and ground floor are round-headed with flying keystones’ (Calley, p. 220). The building was recorded on the Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910) which depicted the factory along its current layout suggesting that few structural changes have been made to the building since the late-19th century. The filling in of the factories original coach arch and entryway (which formerly occupied the right-hand bay) has been the most notable alteration to the building in its history.

Arthur & Co. Ltd. continued to operate in Londonderry in 1910 (UTD) but, possibly as a result of the downturn in the international textile market, the firm pulled out of the city following the First World War. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the building was maintained as a shirt factory by Lloyd, Altree & Smith (a London-based shirt and tie manufacturer which was established in 1857) and had been increased in value to £140. Lloyd, Altree & Smith continued to operate from the factory on Great James Street until at least the 1970 and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the shirt factory stood at £260.

Between 1970 and 1978 over 30 shirt factories closed throughout Northern Ireland due to increasing overseas competition from Developing Countries but the City Factory endured for another two decades (The Shirt Industry of the Northwest of Ireland). The former shirt factory at No. 14 Great James Street was included in the Clarendon Street Conservation Area in 1978. The building has been converted into commercial use and is currently occupied by a retail shop (at ground floor) and by the Post Office Sports & Social Club (which occupied the upper floors until recently).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/7-8 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
2. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11T-ZA – Annual Revisions (1885-1897)
3. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2A-2F – Annual Revisions (1898-1931)
4. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
5. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/13 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
6. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
7. Foyle Civic Trust: Living City Project (Artillery Street)

Secondary Sources
1. ‘The shirt industry of the Northwest of Ireland’ Londonderry: Northwest Archaeological & Historical Society, 1978.
2. Calley, D., ‘City of Derry: An historical gazetteer to the buildings of Londonderry’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2013.
3. Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002.
4. ‘Londonderry Clarendon Street Conservation Area Booklet’ Department of the Environment, 1978.
5. ‘Design Guide for Clarendon Street Conservation Area’ Department of the Environment, 2012.
Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie
2. House of Fraser Archives - http://www.housefraserarchive.ac.uk/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Mid-terrace nine-bay three-storey red-brick former factory with polychromatic brick dressings, built 1889 (architect unknown), extended to the North East side. Rectangular plan form, principal elevation facing South West onto Great James Street with double pile projections to the rear. Occupying an extensive mid-terrace site on Great James Street, within close proximity to the former Great James Street Presbyterian Church and Manse (HB01/21/009) to the South West side. Alterations have led to the loss of much interior fabric and the original plan form. The exterior has retained some of its original features and detailing including the rhythmic fenestration, and the building is of local interest given its former use as a shirt factory, however insufficient original historic fabic remains for the building to be of special interest.