4-6 Lime Market Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A terraced three-bay two-storey rendered building with central carriage-arch entrance, now incorporated into a public house; built c.1850 and located to the west side of Lime Market Street in Coleraine town centre. Rectangular on plan with large two-storey extension to rear (incorporating neighbouring public house).

Pitched natural slate roof with angled ridge tiles and red-brick chimneystack shared with adjoining building. Plastic rainwater goods on a smooth rendered eaves band. Walling is painted smooth render on a contrasting plinth. Windows are replacement 6/6 timber sash with horns in plain reveals with projecting painted sills.

The principal elevation faces southeast and is five windows wide at first floor; ground floor has a window and a modern timber door at left and right. To centre is an elliptical-headed arch entrance containing double-leaf modern timber panelled doors. Entrance is surmounted by a moulded arch on scrolled console brackets, having painted lettering reading “THE FUNCTION SUITE”.

The southwest elevation is abutted by adjoining building.

The northwest (rear) elevation is entirely abutted by the modern extension.

The northeast elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB03/17/019B).

Setting:

Situated to the west side of a narrow street leading to the former entrance to the markets (HB03/17/008). The
setting has been much altered with the refurbishment of the surrounding buildings and the road laid with tarmac.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Painted smooth render
Windows: Replacement 6/6 timber sash with horns
RWG: Plastic

Historical information

Nos 4-6 Lime Market Street, a mid-19th century two-storey five bay building formerly consisting of two individual properties, No. 4 Lime Market Street, the three bay southernmost unit, and No. 6 which comprises the northern two bays. The former houses were constructed in c. 1850 and are divided by a coach arch that led to the rear yard. The adjoining No. 8 Lime Market Street (HB03/17/019B) is contemporary to nos 4-6 but has fallen into an advanced state of disrepair with only the façade remaining. The first edition of the Ordnance Survey maps (1830) did not depict any buildings along the short street to the south of the newly completed markets (HB03/17/008 – completed 1829), however nos 4-6 Lime Market Street, and the adjoining No. 8, had been completed by the second edition of the maps (1849-50) which depicted the row of buildings on the western side of the street.

No. 4 Lime Market Street

Griffith’s Valuation notes that in 1858 No. 4 Lime Market was valued at £4 10s. And was leased to a Mr. Andrew Miskimin by Thomas Boyd, a local landowner. Nothing is known of Mr. Miskimin, however Thomas Boyd was a relative of John Boyd of Dundooan House (HB03/07/017) who was a Member of Parliament and owned a number of properties in Coleraine including the adjoining No. 8. Andrew Miskimin had vacated No. 4 Lime Market Street by 1866 when a Mr. Neal Edgar resided at the house. Edgar remained at the address until 1880 after which point the tenants of the house changed with great frequency; between 1880 and 1899 the house changed hands five times until a Ms. Martha McClelland took possession of the dwelling at the turn of the 20th century (by 1899 the value of the two-storey house had been increased to £6).

Martha McClelland continued to reside at No. 4 Lime Market Street until the 1920s. The 1911 Census records that Martha (Presbyterian, 37) resided at the address with her two sisters, all of whom were employed as dressmakers; the census building return described their property as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of four inhabited rooms and possessed two stable houses to the rear of the property (now demolished). Martha McClelland resided at No. 4 until 1926 when her relative, a Mr. James McClelland took possession of the site; however James vacated the dwelling in 1928. By the end of the Annual Revisions for Coleraine, which were cancelled in 1931, the value of No. 4 Lime Market Street remained at £6 and the house was occupied by a Ms. Mary [Barr / Bass].

Since 1926 ownership of both No. 4 and the adjoining No. 6 Lime Market Street had passed to a Mr. Archibald Roxborough, a local spirit merchant. Under the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland (1935) the value of No. 4 was increased to £10; the former occupant had vacated the site in the intervening years and by 1935 a Mr. Thomas Johnston was recorded as occupant. No. 4 Lime Market Street was last valued in 1972 under the second revaluation (1956-72) at which time Thomas Jackson was still residing at the site; Jackson continued to utilise No. 4 as a private dwelling and by the end of the revaluation the rateable value of the building stood at £12.

No. 6 Lime Market Street

Griffith’s Valuation notes that the adjoining No. 6 Lime Market Street was valued at £5 in 1858 and (as with No. 4) was owned by Thomas Boyd. Boyd leased the two-bay dwelling to a Ms. Mary Hyland in that year, however Hyland vacated the property between 1859 and 1865 when a Mr. James King took possession of the site. Over the following three decades No. 6 Lime Market Street, like its neighbour, was occupied by a number of tenants; the lease changed hands eight times during this period whilst the rateable value of the site was subsequently reduced to £4 10s. As a result.

The Census of Ireland notes that a Mr. James McCauley, a general labourer, occupied No. 6 Lime Market Street in 1901; McCauley (26) resided at the small property with his large family which consisted of his mother, his wife and their five infant children. Despite its size, the census building return described No. 6 as a 1st class dwelling which consisted of eight rooms and possessed a turf house, shed and a store as its sole out offices. McCauley continued to reside at No. 6 Lime Market Street until 1909 when the site once more changed hands; over the following three decades the property was sporadically and briefly occupied by a number of tenants and often lay vacant. In 1926 Archibald Roxborough took over ownership of nos 4-6 Lime Market Street and by the end of the Annual Revisions the value of No. 6 remained at £4 10s.

Under the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland (1935) the rateable value of No. 6 was increased to £7 at which time a Mr. John Kennedy was recorded as occupant. There was no further valuation of the site for over two decades due to the disruption caused by the Second World War, however the building was included in the second revaluation which commenced in 1956. John Kennedy continued to reside at the property by the end of the second revaluation in 1972 when the value of the two-bay house stood at £9 10s.

Nos 4-6 Lime Market Street were constructed in c. 1850 as part of the southern expansion of Coleraine in the early-Victorian period. The properties were originally constructed as two private dwelling divided by a coach arch and throughout their history both properties have been sporadically occupied by a large number of short-term tenants. Girvan writing in 1972, described nos 4-6 Lime Market Street as ‘a pair of low two-storey houses of an early date, rendered with a central coach arch. The windows have thick glazing bars.’ The First Survey image (not dated but likely taken around the time of the First Survey description in 1973) depicted nos 4-6 Lime Market Street in an advanced state of disrepair with many of the ground floor windows broken and the entrance to No. 4 boarded up; the pair appear to have lain vacant at that time (Girvan, p. 19).

Nos 4-8 Lime Market Street were listed in 1977, however in the late 20th-century nos 4-6 were converted into licenced premises and were added as an extension to the adjoining Bull’s Eye Bar (No. 2). The Bull’s Eye Bar was established in 1871 and had acquired the lease for nos 4-6 Lime Market Street in 1969, however no work was undertaken to the earlier houses until after 1977. The formerly individual dwellings have been combined into a single licenced property which continues to be divided by the central coach arch; now known as ‘The Function Suite’ the bar extension is utilised by the Bull’s Eye Bar as a pool hall and function rooms, whilst the adjoining No. 8 Lime Market Street continues to lie derelict.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/5/7/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey map 1830
2. PRONI OS/6/5/7/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1849-50
3. PRONI OS/6/5/7/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1904
4. PRONI OS/6/5/7/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1923
5. PRONI OS/6/5/7/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1949
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/5/3D – Griffith’s Valuation 1858
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9A-P – Annual Revisions 1859-1931
8. PRONI VAL/3/B/6/3 – First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland 1935
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/5/2 – Second General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland 1956-1972
10. Ulster Street Directories (1861-1918)
11. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
12. First Survey Record – HB03/17/009 (1973)
13. First Survey Image – HB03/17/009 (No Date)
14. Ordnance Survey map – 13-13NW3 (1967)

Secondary Sources

1. Girvan, W. D., ‘Historic Buildings in Coleraine and Portstewart’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Nos 4-6 Lime Market Street, a mid-19th century two-storey five bay building formerly consisting of two individual properties, No. 4 Lime Market Street, the three bay southernmost unit, and No. 6 which comprises the northern two bays. They were converted in 1995 into a function suite for the adjacent public house. These works resulted in the retention of the front façade but the loss of much of the historic fabric and detailing to the interior and rear of the former dwellings. They are not of sufficient interest to warrant listing.

General comments

This record was formerly known as HB03/17/009.