34 Great James Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid-Victorian mid-terraced three-bay three-storey over-basement with attic red brick and render former dwelling. Built c.1874. 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 one step up from the pavement level, access steps on the right of doorway down to basement level.

Principal elevation (south) is of smooth painted render to basement and ground floor levels, red brick Flemish bond brick with cement pointing to upper levels; window openings are cut brick flat arches set within painted cement reveals on painted masonry sills, continuous painted sill to first floor level, with 2/2 timber sliding sashes to ground first and second floors, bays on ground floor are aligned with window bays on floors above, replacement 1/2 timber casement window and modern replacement door to basement level. Entrance doorcase with rendered bands on plinth blocks with plaster console brackets to either side of recessed three-panel double timber doors with moulded timber cornice below elliptical glazed fanlight with timber glazing bars. Timber carved coupled corbel brackets to eaves level on continuous string course with three corbel brackets to both ends. Cast iron half round gutter terminating at swan neck circular downpipe to right, with small red brick chimney to west side with three clay pots and larger chimney stack to east side with 7 clay pots.

North elevation to the rear of three storeys is of smooth unpainted render overlooking large yard area. Fenestration pattern is irregular with windows to the west side at half landing height. Small replacement timber casement to ground floor level with original 2/2 timber sliding sash at all levels, with two replacement velux rooflights to roof. Replacement flush timber door. Artifical slate roof covering to rear roof slope.

East and west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.32 Great James Street and No.36 Great James Street (HB01.21.035F). East elevation rises above adjoining property and has replacement timber casement window to either side of gable at attic level.

Pitched slate roof has black clay ridge tiles with cast iron half round gutter terminating at swan neck circular downpipe with two replacement velux rooflights to front and rear.

Materials:
Roof Natural Slate (S - front) / Artificial slate (N - rear)
RWG Cast Iron
Walling Brick / Render
Windows Timber Sliding Sash / Timber Casement

Setting:
Set within a terraced row of houses lining the north side of Great James Street, a steep hill which runs between St. Eugene’s Cathedral (HB01/21/001) at the west side and Strand Road on the east. Large rear yard enclosed by red brick and schist wall with timber gates to north boundary. Building is located within the Clarendon Street Conservation Area.

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 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. 34 Great James Street, a three-storey-over-basement with attic three-bay red brick building, was constructed in c.1874. No. 34 was built following the construction of the adjoining nos 36-40 Great James Street in 1871-72. The building, which was originally utilised as a private dwelling, was first recorded in the Annual Revisions in 1874. The valuer noted that the house, which was valued at £29, was leased by a Mr. George Skipton (a local landowner who owned many of the plots on the north side of Great James Street) to Samuel Boarland, a local coachmaker. Boarland continued to reside at No. 34 Great James Street until his death in 1885 when the building passed to Hugh Price, a local hardware merchant (UTD).

The c.1873-1910 Annual Revisions Town Plan of Londonderry depicted No. 34 Great James Street as a rectangular-shaped terraced building that possessed neither a return nor any outbuildings. By 1911 the house was occupied by John Howatt, a Veterinary Surgeon. In that year the census building return described No. 34 Great James Street as a 1st class building that consisted of ten rooms that possessed a stable as its sole out office. It is possible that John Howatt was responsible for replacing the timber inner porch door and sidescreens as they are more Edwardian in style than Victorian. John Howatt continued to reside at Great James Street until his death in 1929 (PRONI Wills). His widow remained at the house by the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that the value of the house had been increased to £37 and that a Mr. James Hamilton had taken over ownership of the building. In 1947 a Ms. Matilda Porter occupied the house and continued to live there until at least the 1970s. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the value of No. 34 Great James Street had been further increased to £41.

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). During the Second Survey No. 34 Great James Street was utilised as office premises by An Gaelaras in c. 2000 but following the construction of the Culturlann Irish Culture Centre at No. 37 Great James Street, the building was occupied by the North West Baptist Church by 2010.

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. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1918)
10. PRONI Wills Catalogue (13 Nov 1885; 30 Dec 1929)
11. 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: Coleraine 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.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
R. Age
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Mid-Victorian three-storey with basement and attic mid-terraced brick and rendered former dwelling set behind a low plinth wall with metal railings, built c.1874, situated on the north side of Great James Street, a steep hill which runs between St. Eugene’s Cathedral (HB01/21/001) at the west side and Strand Road on the east. Internally much of the original plan form remains and despite the loss of some internal historic detailing on the upper levels, externally No.34 retains much historic fabric and detailing such as the fine entrance doorcase with its plaster console brackets to either side of three-panel double timber doors below an elliptical glazed fanlight. This former house has a good setting, seen in context with its neighbours and the rest of the dwellings built in this era along Great James Street