26 Great James Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Victorian mid-terraced two-bay three-storey over basement red brick Georgian-style house. Built c.1849. Rectangular on plan with a pitched slate roof, and tall chimney stack rising to west rebuilt in modern red brick . Principal elevation faces south set behind a low rendered plinth wall with painted metal railings above, entrance doorway four steps up from the pavement level, access steps on the left down to basement level.

Principle elevation (south) is of Flemish bond brick; window openings are cut brick flat arches set within painted cement reveals on painted masonry sills, continuous painted sill to first floor level, with 6/6 timber sliding sashes to first floor, 6/6 timber sliding sashes to second floor of dimished scale, and two 6/6 timber sliding sash windows on ground floor level, bays on ground floor are not aligned with window bays on floors above, painted rendered finish to basement level below with single 1/1 timber sliding sash window and modern replacement door. Entrance doorcase with rendered bands on plinth blocks with timber console brackets to either side of a recessed six-panel timber door with moulded timber cornice below rectangular glazed fanlight with central diamond pane and angled timber glazing bars.

North elevation to the rear of smooth unpainted render has large modern extension which appears to connect to rear extension of No. 24 Great James Street, built at the same time with the same materials and finish. Original windows to rear elevation replaced with modern uPVC casement windows.

East and west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.24 and No.28 Great James Street.

Pitched slate roof has black clay ridge tiles with replacement grey uPVC ogee gutter terminating at circular downpipe.

Materials:
Roof Slate
RWG uPVC
Walling Brick/ Render (rear)
Windows Timber Sliding Sash/ uPVC (rear)

Setting: Set within a terrace row of interesting and charming houses of varying types lining the north side of Great James Street.

Historical information

Great James Street was originally laid out in c. 1833, with the first buildings constructed along the street by at least 1835-37 (the earliest building on the street, Londonderry Third Presbyterian Church (HB01/21/009), was erected during those years). The laying out of Great James Street, as well as the adjoining Queen Street and Clarendon Street, was neccesitated by a period of growth in the economy and population of Londonderry that occurred in the mid-nineteenth century. John Hume notes that during the period 1825-1850 ‘reconstruction of the city’s buildings [within the city walls] took place alongside the development for the first time of housing outside the walls at Bogside and Edenballymore’ (Hume, p. 147).

Great James Street was the first major new street in the area (Queen Street was laid out in c. 1847 and Clarendon Street in c. 1853). The first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1830) for the townland of Edenballymore records that the Great James Street area was originally rural hinterland with few significant structures. In 1830 the development of the city’s streets had extended no further than Waterloo Place, Abbey Street and William Street. In the first decades of the 19th century the only major construction north of the walls had been isolated buildings such as the Londonderry Infirmary, the Lunatic Asylum and Foyle College (HB01/22/016) with little or no domestic architecture being erected in the same period. The only building in the Clarendon Street Conservation Area that predates the early-Victorian development is Foyle Cottage (HB01/21/006), a Regency-style house that was constructed c. 1815.

In The Annals of Derry, a survey of the city compiled by Robert Simpson and published in 1847, Simpson recorded that ‘all the district now covered by Great James’s Street, William Street, Little James Street … and the numerous lanes in that vicinity [originally comprised] meadow ground without a house’ (Simpson, p. 213). The initial development of housing in this area began in the late-Georgian period and continued into the Victorian era. With the construction of uniform rows of neat and charming three-storey townhouses, a new affluent area was established that swiftly became the preferred residence of the city’s merchant and professional classes. The laying out of Clarendon Street, Great James Street and Queen Street followed a geometric street pattern which was characteristic of Georgian street development; the development signified the most ambitious project of town planning carried out in Londonderry since the construction of the walled city in 1613-19.

No. 26 Great James Street, a three-storey-over-basement two-bay red brick Georgian dwelling, was constructed between 1847 and 1849 along with the adjoining No. 28. O’Hagan’s map of Londonderry records that Great James Street had been partially developed by 1847, but the map shows that no buildings had been erected on the north side of the street, between Queen Street and Prince’s Street, at that time. Nos 26-28 Great James Street were first depicted on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1848-49 as a pair of square-shaped buildings originally possessed a small return and an outbuilding to their rear (both outbuildings have been demolished whilst No. 26 Great James Street’s return has been replaced with a modern extension). The map records that the pair were known as ‘Stanley’s Buildings.’

Griffith’s Valuation (1856) noted that nos 26-28 Great James Street were owned by the Trustees of Stanley’s Charity. In 1751 Alderman Peter Stanley bequeathed all his estate and wealth to the Dean and curates of Londonderry to be used for charitable purposes. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs (1837) states that the money was used to establish a local charity that distributed alms to 30 poor inhabitants of the city. Stanley’s Charity was founded on 1st November 1755, was administered by the Dean and curates of St. Columb’s Cathedral and provided £60 per annum (OSM, pp 169-176). In 1856 Griffith’s Valuation noted that No. 26 Great James Street was valued at £25 and was leased by the trustees of Stanley’s Charity to a Mr. David Haslett, a local gentleman, who used it as his provate dwelling. Haslett continued to reside at Great James Street until his death in 1880 (PRONI Wills). In 1888 the house passed to Charles O’Neill, a local grocer and publican who operated a porter and ale-bottling store at nos 4-6 Custom House Street (HB01/19/040A).

The c. 1873-1910 Annual Revisions Town Plan of Londonderry depicted No. 26 Great James Street along its previous layout, possessing a small return and outbuilding to its rear. The 1901 census building return described the building as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of 15 rooms and possessed a stable, a coach house and a store amongst its out offices. By 1911 John Doherty, a local cattle dealer, occupied the house. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of No. 26 Great James Street had been increased to £27. In the 1930s nos 26-28 continued to be known as ‘Stanley’s Buildings’ and No. 26 was occupied by a Ms. Jane Gillespie. In 1960 a Mr. Thomas Boyle purchased the house outright and occupied the building as his private dwelling until at least the 1970s. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total value of the house stood at £28.

In 1978 the Department of the Environment designated the mid-nineteenth century streets and terraces as a Conservation Area ‘being an area of special architectural or historic interest, the character of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance’ (Londonderry Clarendon Street Conservation Area Booklet).

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/12/E/157/1/7 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1873-1910)
4. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/16G – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11B-ZA – Annual Revisions (1862-1897)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2C-2F – Annual Revisions (1898-1931)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57))
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/13 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Co. Londonderry (1837)
10. Robert Simpson’s ‘Annals of Derry’ (1847)
11. O’Hagan’s plan of Londonderry (1847)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1918)
13. PRONI Wills Catalogue (25 Sept 1880)
14. 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.
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. Hume, J., ‘Derry beyond the walls: Social and economic aspects of the growth of Derry 1825-1850’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002.
4. Mullin, T. H., Ulster’s Historic City: Derry – Londonderry’ Coleraine: Coleriane Bookshop, 1986.
5. Rowan, A. J., ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ London: Yale University Press, 2003.
6. ‘Londonderry Clarendon Street Conservation Area Booklet’ Department of the Environment, 1978.
7. ‘Design Guide for Clarendon Street Conservation Area’ Department of the Environment, 2012.

Online Resources
1. Digital Atlas of Derry - http://www.ria.ie/digitalatlasderry - includes Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1848 49)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Victorian mid-terrace three-storey three-bay red brick former house, built c.1849 with large three-storey rear return. Built as one of a terrace row of similar type houses lining the north side of Great James Street, principal elevation faces south onto Great James Street. Although the large extension to the rear detracts from the overall scale of the building, sufficient detailing to the exterior remains to regard this building as special, together with its neighbours it makes a positive contribution to the overall character of the area and has group value within the Clarendon Street Conservation Area.