15 Waterside

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-storey-with-basement rendered Georgian-style terraced house, two openings wide with a modern shop front to ground floor and accommodation above. Built c.1850 and located on the western side of Coleraine town, the building forms part of a terrace comprising similar buildings.

Pitched slate roof with blue/grey angled ridge-tiles; rendered brick chimney without pots; ogee cast iron rainwater goods, mounted on plain timber fascia to boxed eaves, some uPVC. Walling is ruled-and-lined rendered and painted, smooth unpainted render to rear. Square-headed 2/2 timber sash windows (unless otherwise stated).

Principal elevation faces south and comprises two windows to the upper floors; each having contrasting and stop-end chamfered reveals; painted projecting sills which are continuous to first floor windows. Left-side of upper floors have raised panel-strip with circular insert separating façade from adjoining terrace to east. Modern timber shop-front (of no interest) to ground floor has deep timber fascia and modern openings.

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

View of north (rear) elevation is largely obstructed by neighbouring three-storey building. Limited inspection shows two 1/1 sashes to second floor and one below to left; gabled single-storey return to below with timber casement window; gabled return to right extends to first floor having a bricked up window to ground floor. Flat-roof corrugated structure abuts to north (of no interest).

The east elevation is abutted by adjoining terrace (HB03/16/001G).

Setting
Located in an urban/residential
setting, the principal 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 forms part of a terrace comprising similar buildings. A related terrace is situated on the opposite side of the street, to the south (HB03/16/001K-T).

Roof Slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Ruled-and-lined rendered/painted
Windows Timber sash

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 £23 in Griffith’s Valuation (1856) although it remained unoccupied until c.1859 when Andrew Stedman took up residence. Ownership transferred to Sir Hervey Bruce c.1868, followed by Andrew Stedman c1885 who remained the owner until c.1930 (General Revisions 1866-1931). During the late 19th century the premises was split and the value increased by £2 c.1879. There were no further significant changes in value. By 1897, the upper part of the house and outbuildings were occupied by James Watton, the shop below by Andrew Starvett(?) and the stable and loft by the neighbouring proprietor (HB03/16/001G) Andrew Reid. John Clements took over occupation of the house and shop in 1924, which had a combined value of £20, while George Stedman occupied the stable and loft, valued at £5. The outline of the building as not altered since the Town Plan map (1882) however, field evidence shows a small flat-roofed extension to the rear in recent years.
During the mid 20th century, the outbuildings were removed and replaced by a large modern factory.

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).

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
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
V. Authorship
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.15 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