23 CRAWFORD SQUARE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Victorian mid-terrace two-bay three-storey over basement with attic level red brick townhouse with stucco dressings and rustication to ground floor. 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 a stone outbuilding. Principal elevation faces South onto Crawford Square, set behind low rendered stone boundary wall with painted cast-iron railings above. Built as a pair with No.22 (HB01.22.004C) and although slightly more ornate, they are both part of a terrace row of four similar houses offset to the northwest of Crawford Square (HB01.22.004A&B).

Pitched natural slate roof with platform ridge continuous with No.22 Crawford Square with a duo-pitched dormer having semicircular fascia board and a large ashlar sandstone two-stage chimney stack, with projecting string course, panelled upper stage and corbelled cap supporting four buff clay pots to front elevation, and five octagonal buff clay pots to rear elevation. Timber fascia and modillion moulding to deep timber soffit boards at eaves; half round cast-iron guttering discharging to circular cast-iron downpipe.

Principal elevation is of red brick laid in Flemish bond on upper floors with stucco dressings, rustication to ground floor level with a dentilled band on moulded sill-course to first floor windows. Advanced right side bay has a pedimented gable with toothed quoins from first floor level and a canted bay window rising through from basement to first floor with a moulded cornice and guilloche ornamental pattern to frieze below. Windows are concealed with plywood sheets; second floor tripartite window partly covered has a 1/1 timber sliding sash margin paned windows, decorative console bracket with leaf detail between each pane, dentilled band above topped by a dentilled segmental arch crown moulding and brick tympanum. Diocletian window within pedimented gable with three unequal lights divided by plain mullions with moulded stucco surround and keystone to attic level; bottom hung casement window to central opening. First floor window above entrance doorway has moulded stucco architrave with decorative console bracket to either side supporting a deep projecting cornice above; second floor window above has lugged architrave surround, semicircular arched dormer to attic level above has a square-headed 2 timber sliding sash window and slated cheeks. Large semicircular arch opening with moulded surround to entrance doorway with entrance steps over basement well, shared with No.22 and leading to a pair of raised-and-fielded timber doors flanked by large fluted columns of Doric order supporting dentilled cornice above.

West side is adjoined to neighbouring properties No. 22 Crawford Square (HB01/22/004C).

North elevation to the rear is of three-storeys over basement with attic level, two-storey rear return (gable shared with No. 22), built at half-landing level; smooth-rendered walling, unpainted, to both rear and return. The fenestration pattern is irregular; plain glazing to circular roundel window on third floor level, to right of a 6/6 timber sliding sash window and a 2/2 timber sliding sash window below on first floor level; two small dormers to slated pitched roof to the rear, each have slated duo-pitched roof and cheeks with a coupled 2/2 timber sliding sash window. Timber casement windows to rear return (where visible). Pitched natural slate roof rear return.

Toothed quoins from south elevation return to east gable end, which is is smooth render, unpainted and topped by a two-stage sandstone chimney stack to both north and south sides of platform ridge. Two small timber sliding windows between chimneys to attic level, single 2/2 timber sliding sash window on first floor level to north side of elevation, two blind square-headed openings to basement level.

Cast-iron rainwater goods to front elevation and uPVC rainwater goods to rear and return.

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

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 on a rectangular mature garden, bound by low walling and enclosed on three sides by three-storey buildings. No.23 is at the end of a terrace of four similar townhouses (HB01.22.004A, B & C) offset to its northeast, set above and back from the pavement behind stone wall with cast-iron railings above (some of which are now replaced), with paired entrances opening on to broad steps over cellar wells. Yard to rear enclosed by rubblestone outbuilding (former stable) and walling that joins a rubble schist stone retaining wall to Northland Crescent. Cast iron beam inserted within this wall to form wide garage door opening, now in-filled with concrete block; the wall returns along the northeast boundary with red brick toothed quoins to the corner.
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. 23 Crawford Square, a three-storey-over-basement Victorian dwelling, was constructed in 1862 along with the adjoining nos 20-22. 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. 23 Crawford Square was set at £55. The valuer noted that the building, along with the adjoining No. 22, was originally leased by Samuel Crawford to John Munn, a local merchant and magistrate who was a member of Londonderry’s Corporation (UTD). 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 the 1880s No. 23 Crawford Square was occupied by James Lyle Bigger, Professor of Oriental Languages and Hermeneutics at Magee College (HB01/22/009). By 1911 the house had passed to Sir. John Barr Johnston (1843-1919), a local seed merchant and agricultural agent (with business premises on the Strand Road) who was also a prominent local magistrate serving as Mayor of Londonderry in 1897-98. Sir. J. B. Johnston continued to reside at No. 23 Crawford Square until his death in 1919.

In 1911 the census described No. 23 Crawford Square as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of 17 rooms and possessed a stable as its sole outbuilding. By the 1930s the house was occupied by Frederick J. Simmons, a local estate agent, and was owned by the McAdoo family (who owned the majority of the square). Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of the building had been slightly increased to £58. Simmons continued to reside at No. 23 Crawford Square until his death in 1955. The property was converted into a number of self-contained apartments in 1962 and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72)had been increased in value to £74.

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. Nos 22 and 23 are finished much more ornately with dentiled string courses and pedimented gables’ (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. The NIEA HB Records note that No. 23 Crawford Square underwent an extensive renovation in 1990 that included the reslating of its roof in natural slate, the replacement of its windows, the installation of cast iron rainwater goods and the construction of a replica entablature to its entrance doorcase. In c. 2003 the building was converted from apartments into office premises (NIEA HB Records).

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 – HB01/22/004D

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: Coleriane 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
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Victorian end-terrace three-bay three-storey over basement red brick and stuccoed house with attic and rear return. Built 1862 as a pair, it shares group value with the adjoining No.22 (HB01.22.004C) and although slightly more ornate, the pair read as a coherent row with No.20 and 21 (HB01.22.004A & B). All four are thought to be by renowned architect, J. G. Ferguson, who designed No 1 & 2, to which No.22 & 23 are strikingly similar. 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 was sub-divided into flats and then converted to offices; nonetheless it remains a very good example of its type with finely detailed stucco dressings, pedimented gable, canted bay and well ordered fenestration. The schist stone walling and outbuilding to the rear add to its character and the decorative cast iron railings on stone walling to the front steps and gate to the basement significantly enhance its setting.