15 KINGSGATE ST.

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-bay three-storey mid-terrace commercial premises with modern shopfront; built c.1830 and located to the south side of Kingsgate Street in Coleraine town centre. Square on plan with return and two-storey extension to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof with conjoined red-brick and rendered chimneystacks. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods on projecting eaves with cast-iron hopper and downpipes. Walling is painted smooth render with continuous sill course at first floor. Windows are 1/1 timber sash without horns in moulded architraves with keyblock and projecting painted sills; modern plate-glass windows to ground floor shopfront.

The principal elevation faces north and is two windows wide at upper floors; modern shopfront at ground floor has glazed metal double-leaf doors at right and is surmounted by a modern fascia with awning.

The east elevation is abutted by adjoining building.

The south elevation was not viewed (see surveyor’s comments).

The west elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB03/17/002A).

Setting:

Street-fronted, forming a pair with HB03/17/002A which adjoins an earlier terrace to west (HB03/17/001A-F). Enclosed yard to rear.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Painted smooth render
Windows: 1/1 timber sash without horns
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

Number 15 Kingsgate Street is of uncertain date but appears to have been constructed as a single building with number 13 that was later divided into two shops. The building is shown on the first edition OS map of Coleraine dating from 1830 and the distinctive curved shop window to number 13 was installed in 1917 while the shop front of number 15 is a modern replacement.

Kingsgate Street marks the position of a former gateway to the fortified town of Coleraine, earthern ramparts surrounded by a ditch having been constructed at the time of plantation in 1611 (Mullin). By 1622 what was formerly known as the ‘East Gate’ of the town had been fitted with a small gate and drawbridge 12 feet wide ‘having a small timber room over...slated’ (Mullin). By 1710, however the town gates had been dismantled, although the ramparts remained in the Kingsgate area for some years. By the first edition OS map of 1830 no rampart was evident on the south side of Kingsgate Street and the former line of the rampart had been built over by numbers 1, 3, 5 and 7.

The Townland Valuation (1828-40) records numbers 13 and 15 as a single building occupied by Alexander Cuthbert who operated a tannery and leather cutting business on the premises. Alexander Cuthbert was a successful businessman and became a Town Commissioner in the 1840s and 50s. By 1852 he had moved to a house called Northbrook, away from his tannery. In addition to his tanning business, Cuthbert carried out an international trade in iron, boots, linseed oil and paint, with customers in Canada and Melbourne (New Directory 1839; PRONI D3300/118/2). The Townland Valuation values the house and offices at £21 and list a number of thatched and shingled stores and sheds to the rear of the building.

By the time of Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) the building had been divided into two and revalued at £23 and £20. Number fifteen was occupied by William Nevin and valued at £20. A one and a half storey return is listed together with a two-storey detached outbuilding. Subsequent occupiers were John McCormick (1887) who ran a tobacco shop on the premises (1901 census), followed by Hugh McKeag, a mechanic, Matthew Ross (1917) and H E Greaves (1920). In 1920 a new shop floor was added and a scullery extension to the rear. The hall was opened up into the shop and a new shop door and window inserted, making it ‘practically a new store’. The shop had a new tiled floor and a new fireplace and grate were fitted to the drawing room. The valuation of the shop was raised to £33 as a result of these changes. At the rear was a furniture store, egg packing store and flour and potato store, suggesting a grocer’s with a wide range of goods for sale. The accommodation comprised, on the ground floor, a shop, kitchen and scullery, on the first floor a drawing room, bedroom and WC, on the second floor three bedrooms and an attic room. Valuer’s notes of the 1930s suggest that the building was extended again in 1933 and that one of the rear outbuildings (now absorbed into 3 Long Commons) was used for pork curing. Hugh Clarke (nd) and Robert J Carr followed as occupiers in the 1940s and 50s.

The building was listed in 1977 and renovations took place in the 1980s, 90s and 00s which included replacement of the shopfront. The premises is currently in use as a cafe (HB file).

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/7/1 First Edition OS Map 1830
2. PRONI OS/6/5/7/2 Second Edition OS map 1849-50
3. PRONI OS/6/5/7/3 Third Edition OS Map 1904
4. PRONI OS/6/5/7/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1923
5. PRONI OS/6/5/7/5 Fifth Edition OS Map 1949
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/542A-D Townland Valuation (1828-40)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/3/D Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9A-N Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
9. PRONI VAL/3/C/6/4 First General Revaluation 1933-57
10. PRONI VAL/3/D/6/2/A/12 First General Revaluation 1933-57
11. HB file – 03/17/002A
12. New Directory 1839
13. 1901/11 census online
14. PRONI D3300/118/2 – Cuthbert family papers

Secondary Sources

1. Girvan, W D “Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in Coleraine and Portstewart” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1971-2
2. Mullin, Rev T H “Coleraine in by-gone centuries” Belfast: Century Services Ltd, 1976
3. Mullin, Rev T H “Coleraine in Georgian Times” Belfast: Century Services Ltd, 1977

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

R. Age
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A two-bay three-storey mid-terrace commercial premises with modern shopfront; built c.1830 and located to the south side of Kingsgate Street in Coleraine town centre. Forming a group of two with HB03/17/002A, and adjoining an earlier terrace to west (HB03/17/001A-F), as a group the buildings make an important contribution to the historic character of the Coleraine streetscape. Although refurbished, the building retains something of its former character, with some typical early nineteenth-century detailing.