20 CRAWFORD SQUARE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Victorian end-of-terrace three-bay three-storey over basement with attic level red brick townhouse with stucco dressings, rustication to ground floor and smooth render painted to basement level. Built 1862 and thought to have been designed by J.G. Ferguson. Rectangular on plan with a two-storey rear return built off half-landing level and two-storey stone outbuilding with red brick dressing and slated pitched roof. Principal elevation faces South onto Crawford Square, set behind low stone boundary wall with painted cast-iron railings above. Built as a pair together with No.21 (HB01.22.004B) and part of a terraced row of four similar houses offset to the northwest of Crawford Square (HB01.22.004C&D).

Pitched natural slate roof with platform ridge with two pitched roof dormer windows having semi-circular fascia and 2/2 timber sliding sash under leaded roof and slate cheeks. Two large sandstone two-stage chimney stacks in ashar sandstone, with projecting string course, panelled upper stage and corbelled cap supporting octagonal buff clay pots rising from west elevation. Timber fascia and paired modillion moulding to deep timber soffit board at eaves. Moulded UPVC guttering discharing to a circular cast-iron downpipe via a fluted hopperhead to front elevation and uPVC rainwater goods to rear elevation and rear return.

Principal elevation is of red brick Flemish brick bond on upper floors with stucco dressings, smooth-rendered painted finish to basement level, rustication to ground floor level with a dentilled band on moulded sill-course to first floor windows. All windows are square-headed, with replacement timber casement windows to basement level, windows above on ground floor and upper floors are concealed with plywood sheets, 2/2 timber sliding sash windows to dormers on attic level. Basement accessed via a flight of steps from ground floor level; first floor windows have moulded stucco architrave surround with decorative console bracket to either side supporting a deep projecting cornice above. Second floor windows have lugged architrave surrounds. Large round arched opening with moulded surround to entrance doorway on ground floor level accessed via a flight of broad entrance steps (shared with No.21) over basement well. Entire door case and all detailing has been removed, partially replaced with reconstructed timber dentilled cornice and side panels, semicircular fanlight above has been concealed with plywood sheeting.

East side is adjoined to neighbouring properties No. 21 Crawford Square (HB01/22/004B).

West elevation gable-end is blank, of smooth render, unpainted with two wide chinmey breasts offset to north and south of platform ridge, topped by a large two-stage sandstone chimney stack, described above.

North elevation to the rear is two bays wide and of three-storeys over basement with attic level. Two-and-a-half-storey gabled rear return built off half landing level on left side, split evenly between No.20 & No.22. Smooth-rendered walling, unpainted, to both rear and return. The main building has replacement timber sliding sash on second floor, plain glass roundel above return and boarded up openings to both ground and first floor level. 2/2 timber sliding sash windows to pair of small dormers with slated duo-pitched roof and cheeks. Timber sliding sashed windows to return in more informal fenestration, with one large window within its west face, assumed to be at first floor landing level, having margin panes. Pitched natural slate roof rear return.

Materials:
Roof Natural Slate
RWG Cast-iron (S) uPVC (N, S)
Walling Brick & Stucco
Windows Timber Sliding Sash

Setting:
Located at Crawford Square, which is set at an angle to the Northland Road on an inclined site to the NW of the city within the Clarendon Street Conservation Area. Crawford Square is centred a rectangular mature garden, bound by low walling and enclosed on three sides by three-storey buildings. No.20 forms the end of a terraced row of four similar townhouses (HB01.22.004B, C & D) offset to its northeast, elevated and set back from the pavement behind rubbled stone wall with painted stone copings and cast-iron railings above (some of which are now replaced), with paired entrances opening on to broad steps over cellar wells. Shared yard to rear enclosed by a row of two-storey rubblestone outbuildings (former stable block) with red brick dressings and slated roofs. A further rock-faced uncoursed schist stone retaining wall beyond aligns the boundary with Northland Crescent and returns to the west.
The southeast side of Crawford Square comprises a long terrace of eighteen similar townhouses (HB01.22.003C,D & F-R inclusive and HB01.22.037A&B).

Historical information

Crawford Square, a mid-Victorian square located off the Northland Road on a hill overlooking the River Foyle, was originally laid out in 1861. The Dublin Builder records that the square was named after Samuel Law Crawford, a local solicitor who owned the land. Crawford Square was laid out by Fitzgibbon Louch (1826-1911), a civil engineer and architect, during his early career. Louch established an independent practice in Londonderry in 1859, was active in the city until the late 1860s and was responsible for the entrance to the City Cemetery and the design of the Magazine Gate entrance to the city walls (Dublin Builder, p. 505; DIA). It is important to note, however, that whilst Louch's design for the City Cemetery was selected at competition in 1859, his scheme does not appear to have been realised and the entrance screen, Superintendant's House and Chapel that exist today (HB01.16.001A&B) were designed by Robert Collins and built in 1866.

Following the establishment of the Georgian-style terraces along Great James Street, Queen Street and Clarendon Street in the 1830s-1860s, the city continued its northern expansion with the construction of a number of additional terraces designed for Londonderry’s professional classes. According to Mullin, the Northland Road was still a country road leading from the city to Donegal when the first tenders for the erection of new dwellings on Crawford Square were invited in the 1860s (Mullin, p. 119).

Calley states that Crawford Square, ‘along with Templemore and Victoria Parks, can be seen as the city’s delayed response to Dublin’s garden squares [which] created, near to the city centre, a green oasis for its wealthy residents. It has an enclosed central garden bounded on three sides by the square.’ Nos 1-2 Crawford Square were the first houses to be constructed along the east side of the square in 1865 whilst the majority of the adjoining terrace were built in the 1870s (see HB01/22/003A-S). Nos 20-23 Crawford Square were constructed in 1862 and are grander, in both scale and style, than the later terrace (UTD; Calley, p. 128; 420).

The Annual Revisions record that No. 20 Crawford Square, a three-storey-over-basement Victorian dwelling, was constructed in 1862 along with the adjoining nos 21-23. The valuer noted that the construction of the houses cost over £5,000. The architect of the terrace is unknown although it is possible that the four buildings were designed by John Guy Ferguson (c. 1830-1901), one of Londonderry’s most prominent architects, who had also designed nos 1-2 Crawford Square in 1865. The Dictionary of Irish Architects records that nos 1-2 Crawford Square are the earliest known houses to be designed by Ferguson, who went on the design the Apprentice Boy’s Hall and the Guildhall (1887). The pair of semi-detached dwellings bear some similarity to nos 22-23 Crawford Square and are remarkably alike in composition. Both sets of buildings possess pedimented gables, canted bay windows that rise from the ground to first floors, a rusticated ground floor and quoins rising from their first floors. In designing nos 1-2 Crawford Square, Ferguson may have been emulating the style of a different architect but if 20-23 Crawford Square were in fact designed by Ferguson, the terrace would be the earliest known domestic contract undertaken by Londonderry’s most prolific architect (DIA; Dublin Builder, p. 249).

In 1862 the total rateable value of No. 20 Crawford Square was set at £55. The valuer noted that the building was originally leased by Samuel Crawford to Stewart Christie, a local merchant, in the 1860s. The terrace appears on the c. 1873-1910 Annual Revisions Town Plan which depicted the buildings along their current layouts (the building’s current rear returns and outbuildings were also depicted). The majority of the occupants of the square were of the city’s professional and merchant classes. In 1870 the house was occupied by the Rev. A. C. Murphy of First Londonderry Presbyterian Church (HB01/19/015) and for almost a century the building was utilised as a dwelling by both Presbyterian and Church of Ireland ministers. By 1880 the house had passed to the Rev. Joseph Potter of Christ Church (HB01/22/022 who continued to reside at Crawford Square until at least 1901. The 1911 Census of Ireland described No. 20 Crawford Square as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of 17 rooms and possessed a stable as its sole outbuilding. In that year the house was occupied by the Rev. John F. M. Cox of Christ Church. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) records that No. 20 Crawford Square, which had been slightly decreased in value to £54, was owned by Christ Church who continued to utilise it as a rectory until the 1960s. J. Ballantine Ltd. purchased the property in 1962 and converted it into a number of self-contained apartments. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of No. 20 Crawford Square had been increased to £61.

In 1970 the UAHS guide for Londonderry described nos 20-23 Crawford Square as ‘a very imposing terrace of four houses of lofty appearance with tall windows on each floor. The houses are grouped in pairs with shared entrance steps’ (UAHS guide, p. 50). In 1978 Crawford Square was included in the Clarendon Street 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). Nos 1 23 Crawford Square were subsequently listed in 1979.

HBU records note that the building suffered extensive fire damage in 2008.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/5/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1853)
2. PRONI VAL/12/E/157/1/7 – Annual Revisions Town Plan c. 1873-1910
3. PRONI VAL/12/B/32/11A-ZD – Annual Revisions (1860-1897)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/33/2A-2F – Annual Revisions (1898-1931)
5. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/10 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1926-57)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/13 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. Dublin Builder (1 May 1861; 15 Oct 1865)
8. Irish Builder (1 Apr; 15 Sept 1871)
9. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
10. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1918)
11. First Survey Record – HB01/22/004 (1970)
12. First Survey Image – HB01/22/004 (No Date)
13. NIEA HB Records – HB01/22/004A
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. Mullin, T. H., Ulster’s Historic City: Derry – Londonderry’ Coleraine: Coleraine Bookshop, 1986.
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/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Victorian end-of-terrace three-bay three-storey over basement red brick and stuccoed house with attic and rear return. Built c.1862 as a pair, it shares group value with the adjoining No.21 (HB01.22.004B) and although slightly less ornate, the pair rear as a terrace with No.22 and 23 (HB01.22.004C & D). All four are thought to be by renowned architect, J. G. Ferguson, who designed No 1 & 2 Crawford Square. Located to the northwest of the city within a formal garden square set out by civil engineer and architect, Fitzgibbon Louch, surrounded by three-storey buildings to its north, east and west sides, many of which survive to form a distinctive setting within the Clarendon Street Conservation Area (HB01.22.003C,D & F-R inclusive and HB01.22.037A&B).
A generously scaled and well proportioned townhouse, this building is of social importance to the local community as a former rectory. Although it has suffered some loss of original fabric due to fire damage, including some historic detailing inside, it remains a very good example of its type with finely detailed stucco dressings, heavy eaves and well ordered fenestration. The schist stone walling and two storey rubblestone mews buildings that align the shared yard to the rear add to its character and the decorative cast iron railings on stone walling to the front steps and basement well significantly enhance its setting.