3 Waterside

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-storey-with-basement rendered Georgian-style terraced house, two openings wide with a shop on ground floor and apartments above. Built c.1850 and located on the western side of Coleraine town, the building forms the eastern end of a terrace comprising similar buildings and is abutted to the east by the former Clothworkers’ Arms Hotel (HB03/16/001A). Rectangular on plan with canted corner and multiple abutments to rear.

Partially hipped slate roof with lead covered ridges; chimney removed in recent decades; ogee cast iron rainwater goods, mounted on plain timber fascia, with some half-round uPVC to rear. Walling is ruled-and-lined unpainted render, with smooth render to rear; 20th century shop front comprising modern openings flanked by green mosaic tiled piers. Canted south-east corner. Square-headed uPVC replacement windows throughout having plain reveals and rendered projecting sills.

Principal elevation faces south and comprises two windows to the upper floors; single windows to the canted south-east corner; moulded window architraves have been removed. Deep, painted vertical timber fascia to upper ground floor over tiled mosaic; left side has two-panelled 20th century timber door with glass transom over; right-side has expansive plain glass window with projecting metal roller blind over; similar modern doorway to chamfered corner with semi-circular step.

The west elevation is abutted by adjoining terrace (HB03/16/001C).

Rear (north) elevation has two windows to left-side of upper floors; mono-pitched return abuts to right-side, below eaves, having a timber sheeted access door at basement level; a window to each floor except ground floor which is abutted by a small flat-roofed extension with single window; right cheek abutted by return of neighbouring building (HB03/16/001C). Left cheek abutted by pitched-roof return with a right-of-centre modern timber door at ground floor and metal fire escape extending to basement level (rear ground level); remaining elevation and left-cheek abutted by neighbouring single-storey extension to HB03/16/001A.

East elevation is blank and abutted by adjoining three-storey flat-roofed link block, which connects building to former Clotherworkers’ Arms Hotel (HB03/16/001A).

Setting
Located in an urban/residential
setting, the main elevation directly fronts one of the main thoroughfares into Coleraine town centre via the nearby ‘Old Bridge’. Situated on the western banks of the River Bann to the west of the central Diamond, the building terminates the east end of a terrace of similar buildings (HB03/16/001C-J). The building is also abutted by neighbouring former Clothworkers’ Arms Hotel (HB03/16/001A) and a similar terrace is situated on the opposite side of the street, to the south (HB03/16/001K-T). The rear of the building has a narrow, shared yard, which is bounded by the two-storey extensions of the neighbouring buildings.

Roof Slate
RWG Cast-iron/uPVC
Walling Ruled-and-lined rendered
Windows uPVC

Historical information

Constructed as part of a phased terrace c.1846-54, the design of which was overseen by Samuel Angell, the buildings are first shown on the second edition OS map (1849-50). The terrace replaced a previous street, as shown on the first edition OS map (1830), which comprised buildings laid out to a similar pattern, with extensive outbuildings to the rear.

Under the ownership of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, the building was first valued at £28 in Griffith’s Valuation (1856) although it remained unoccupied until c.1859 when James Shannon took up residence. Ownership transferred to Sir Hervey Bruce in 1867 and by 1875 Bruce was operating a rent office from two rooms on an upper floor, which was valued at £10 (General Revisions 1866-84). At this time the remainder of the building formed part of the neighbouring hotel accommodation, and was valued at £20. Field evidence shows the upper floor corridor contains a blocked door, which previously led to the small link block connecting the two buildings. The value did not change until 1919 when the rent office was replaced by a store, valued at £20 and run by Daniel Todd. With the dissolution of the Hervey estate, ownership transferred to David Todd by the First General Revaluation (1935) in which the accommodation above the shop was occupied by William Turner.

This area of Killowen Parish, now known as Waterside, was originally a suburb of Coleraine town and under the ownership of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, one of the London Merchant Companies charged with developing and ‘planting’ the county of Londonderry during the early 17th century. The Company chose to lease out these lands, often to absentee landlords, which resulted in a general decline of the estate and a lack of house construction due to the uncertainty of tenures. The Company regained direct control of their proportion in 1840 when the lease had expired and a subsequent era of improvement followed which included substantial expenditure on buildings, infrastructure and education (Mullin; Rowan).

A new bridge of increased height was built c.1844, to replace a previous timber construction c.1735 and stabilising works were carried out to the western embankment of the river (OS Memoirs). During this time the street-level on the Killowen side was raised to correspond with that of the new bridge, which impacted upon the existing buildings. Reflecting the spirit of the times, it was deemed more appropriate to demolish and rebuild the entire area of Waterside, in order to create a more dignified entry into the Company’s estate from the main part of Coleraine to the east (Mullin).

The general layout of Waterside had already been established prior to redevelopment and therefore the terrace did not alter much on plan. However, the design, scale and style of the new buildings adhered to a strict architectural rigour, which had been established by the erection of the neighbouring Clothworkers’ Arms Hotel c.1846 (HB03/16/001A). The hotel marked the first stage of the new development and the demolition of the neighbouring houses commenced in 1847. A new suitable terrace was designed by Samuel Angell, the Company’s surveyor in Ulster, to compliment the eminent building and to line the almost processional approach into the Clothworkers’ Estate from Coleraine town, via the new bridge. Although designs for the individual buildings were largely generated by other architects, each was strictly regulated by Angell and surveyor Stewart Gordon, to conform to the overall scheme. Completed c.1854, the Clothworkers’ Company claimed to have spent approximately £4,00 on the erection of houses in the Waterside area during this period (Mullin; Curl).

As Curl (1986) states, the plain, balanced and unembellished style of this terrace represents the conscious decision of the Clothworker’s Company to refrain from the excessive ornamentation, which was embraced by other London Companies during this period of widespread architectural improvement (Curl).

References

1. PRONI OS/6/1/11/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map (1830)
2. PRONI OS/6/5/7/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map (1849-50)
3. PRONI OS/9/24/1/8 – Town Plan map (1882)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/11/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map (1904)
5. PRONI OS/6/1/11/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map (1921)
6. PRONI OS/10/5/7/7/3– Third Edition Ordnance Survey 25-Inch map (1949)
7. PRONI OS/11/13/13/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey 25-Inch Irish Grid map (1967-8)
8. PRONI VAL/1/B/57 – Townland Valuations (1830s)
9. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/3F – Griffith’s Valuation (1856)
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9A- General Revisions (1859-65)
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9B- General Revisions (1866-74)
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9C- General Revisions (1875-84)
13. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9E- General Revisions (1885-92)
14. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9G- General Revisions (1893-99)
15. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9M- General Revisions (1900-12)
16. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9P- General Revisions (1913-31)
17. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/3 – First General Revaluations (1935)
18. Census Records (1901 & 1911)

Secondary Sources

1. Lewis, Samuel ‘A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland’ S. Lewis & Co, London (1837)
2. Day, Angélique and McWilliams, Patrick (eds) ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs; The Parishes of Co. Londonderry (Vol. 33) XII 1829-30, 1832, 1834-6, Coleraine & Mouth of the Bann’ Institute of Irish Studies, Queen’s University, Belfast (1993)
3. Mullin, Rev. T.H. ‘Coleraine in Modern Times’ Century Services Ltd. Belfast (1977)
4. Rowan, Alistair ‘The Buildings of Ireland: North West Ulster’ Yale University Press, London (1979)
5. Curl, James. S. ‘The Londonderry Plantation 1609-1914’ Phillimore & Co, Chichester (1986)
6. Girvan, W.D. ‘List of Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings & Areas of Architectural Importance in Coleraine & Portstewart’ Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, Belfast, (1973)
7. www.dia.ie

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
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
R. Age
U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

A three-storey building constituting part of a largely homogeneous, Georgian-style terrace. Constructed c1847-1854 to designs overseen by Samuel Angell and Stewart Gordon. The building is representative of the typical urban form of living accommodation over a shop, while the terrace is characterised by common design principles such as restrained detailing, rendered walling and tall narrow frontages having large regular fenestration patterns over shop fronts. The integrity of this character has been largely retained across the upper floors but incremental changes to the ground floor shops over the decades has resulted in the erosion of some historic fabric. This northern terrace remains important to the visual balance of Waterside as a whole, helping to define the character of one of the main approaches into Coleraine and presenting one of the only coherent street facades within the town. This area of Killowen Parish, now known as Waterside, was originally a suburb of Coleraine town and under the ownership of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, one of the London Merchant Companies charged with developing and ‘planting’ the county of Londonderry during the early 17th century. Reflecting the spirit of the times, it was deemed more appropriate to demolish and rebuild the entire area of Waterside, in order to create a more dignified entry into the Company’s estate from the main part of Coleraine to the east. No. 3 is an important element within this overall redevelopment of Waterside and has group value with the other listed buildings in this terrace.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age and U - Historic Associations also apply.
Previously recorded as HB03/16/001