20 Waterside

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-storey-with-basement Georgian-style end-terrace house, two openings wide with a modernised retail unit on ground floor and former apartments above. Built c.1850-68 and located on the western side of Coleraine town, the building occupies a corner site, terminating the western end of a terrace comprising similar buildings. Rectangular on plan with canted corner and multiple abutments to rear.

Partially hipped slate roof with blue-grey angled ridge-tiles and lead covered hipped-ridges; brick chimney removed; ogee cast-iron rainwater goods, mounted on in-stepped smooth rendered eaves course (roughly rendered cogged brick to rear). Walling is painted roughcast render, unpainted to rear, with smooth rendered projecting plinth and sill courses. Canted north-west corner containing former main entrance which is blocked up. Square-headed 1/1 timber sash windows throughout, generally having smooth, plain rendered architraves with key-stone motif to upper centre; plain projecting sills.

Principal elevation faces north and comprises two windows to the upper floors; single windows to the canted north-west corner; moulded sill course to first floor windows. 20th century timber shop front having three narrow window openings to centre, fronted by painted cast-iron railings. Replacement multi-panelled timber doors to each side giving access to shop (right) and accommodation above (left); transoms over blocked with plain timber.

East elevation is abutted by adjoining terrace (HB03/16/001S).

The rear (south) is largely obscured by two-storey building to the south. Limited inspection shows main elevation is blank except for metal faced modern timber door to right of ground floor; remainder abutted to by two-storey gabled return; south elevation has blocked opening to first floor right, exposed brick and rubblestone wall on ground floor with vestiges of beam inserts indicating previous roof/floor extended over rear yard to south. Right cheek is blank and abutted by mono-pitched corrugated plastic and timber canopy; left cheek contains two windows on each floor (blocked).

West elevation contains three vertically aligned windows (lower two blocked) to right-side.

Setting
Located in an urban/residential
setting on a prominent corner site, 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 west end of a terrace. A similar terrace is situated on the opposite side of the street, to the south (HB03/16/001A-J) and the Old Courthouse (HB03/16/002) is located a short distance to the west .

Left and right-sides abutted by single storey brick (and partially rendered) walls each pierced by a door opening; timber sheeted door to right side.

Enclosed yard to rear, bounded by two-storey flat-roofed outbuilding to the south; brick and rubblestone construction with partial roughcast rendered. All elevations appear blank except west which contains a 6/6 timber sash window with rendered reveals, over a large opening with a modern metal roller blind. Single-storey walls of similar construction bound yard to east and west; that to west having metal faced replacement timber door and window; reveals are same as west elevation of main building; east yard wall has timber sheeted and braced door to alley.

Roof Slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Roughcast & 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 John Ross, this house and outbuildings were first occupied by Peter Martin in 1869 and valued at £21 in the General Revisions (1866-74). Griffith’s Valuation (1856) shows that prior to this a previous house and outbuildings existed on site, valued at £12 and noted as being ‘very old…’. The current property was added to the records in 1868 (General Revisions 1866-1931). This indicates the building and the adjoining terrace to the east (HB03/16/001S) were constructed c.1866-68, although the other buildings of the terrace (HB03/16/001B-R) were completed more than a decade before (c.1854). A number of different occupants followed during the turn of 19th century with ownership transferring to Daniel Christie c.1893 and in 1898 the value decreased to £18 as a result of some periods of vacancy. The value increased in 1910 after a shop was added to the premises (General Revisions 1866-1931). The building outline has altered little since 1882 (Town Plan map) but field evidence shows that the abutting outbuildings to the rear have been modified and partially removed in recent decades.

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. According to Curl (1986) the houses on the southern terrace were erected first as a means of providing visual balance to the now isolated hotel opposite. A suitable corner terrace was designed by Samuel Angell, the Company’s surveyor in Ulster, to compliment his design of the hotel building and to line the almost processional approach into the Clothworkers’ Estate from Coleraine town, via the new bridge. Although designs for the remaining buildings were largely generated by other architects, each was strictly regulated by Angell and surveyor Stewart Gordon, to conform to the overall scheme. The terrace was completed c.1854, (excluding this building and that to the east c.1868), 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/2/D/5/15 – Griffith’s Valuation Map (1859)
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9A- General Revisions (1859-65)
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9B- General Revisions (1866-74)
13. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9C- General Revisions (1875-84)
14. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9E- General Revisions (1885-92)
15. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9G- General Revisions (1893-99)
16. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9M- General Revisions (1900-12)
17. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9P- General Revisions (1913-31)
18. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/3 – First General Revaluations (1935)
19. HB File (HB03/16/001T)

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 southern 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. 20 is an important element within this overall redevelopment of Waterside and has group value with the other listed buildings in this terrace. The building also terminates the west end of the terrace forming a prominent street corner at Killowen Street.

General comments

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