11 MILL ST.

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Terraced single-bay three-storey rendered house, built c.1834. Rectangular on plan facing southeast as part of a continuous terrace lining the north west side of Mill Street.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles, rendered chimneystack to the south west party wall and cast-iron rainwater goods. Ruled-and-lined cement rendered walling (unpainted). Square-headed window openings with concrete sills and replacement single-pane timber sliding sash windows with angled horns and exposed sash boxes.

Single-bay three-storey front elevation with a single square-headed door opening to the left having replacement flush timber door opening directly onto the pavement.

Southwest side abutted by adjoining building No.15 (HB05/02/005B).

Rear elevation not accessed as no internal access was possible.

Northeast side elevation abutted by adjoining bulding No.9 (HB05/02/004).

Setting:
Part of a continuous terrace of similarly scaled buildings lining the north west side of Mill Street, within Cushendall Conservation Area. The rear yard is enclosed by stone walling.

Materials
Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Ruled-and-lined cement render
Windows Replacement timber sliding sash

Historical information

No. 11 Mill Street, an early-Victorian three-storey single-bay building located on the north side of Mill Street, was constructed prior to 1857. The majority of the two and three-storey buildings located along the north side of Mill Street were erected in the first half of the 19th century by the landowning Turnly family. Cushendall’s proprietor Francis Turnly had travelled to China in 1796 where he raised a fortune of around £75,000. In 1801 Turnly used this money to purchase the estate of Newtownglens from the Richardson family at a cost of £24,000; Turnly subsequently renamed the settlement Cushendall. Brett states that Turnly was an eccentric character who ‘effected extraordinary improvements in buildings and roads on his property.’ Cushendall consisted of little more than a number of insignificant cabins, a mill and a bridge at the time of the purchase however, due to an increase in the number of tourists travelling through the area (on the way to the Giant’s Causeway) the village was developed into a coastal resort with the erection of hotels (such as the Glens of Antrim on Shore Street) and numerous commercial properties (Dallat, p. 45; Brett, Buildings of Co. Antrim, p. 288; Cushendall Conservation Area Guide).

No. 11 Mill Street may date from as early as the Townland Valuations (1834), however it is difficult to identify specific structures in that source due to the loss of the accompanying Townland Valuation Town Plan for Cushendall. The building was first recorded with certainty on the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1857) and Griffith’s Valuation (1859) which noted that No. 11 Mill Street was valued at £4 and 15 shillings and was initially leased by John McKillop to a Mr. Patrick McCollum. In 1865 ownership of the building passed to the McDonnell family of Kilmore House (HB05/01/012) who held the property until 1898 when No. 11 Mill Street was purchased by Joseph McCollum, a local publican who resided at No. 23 Mill Street (the McCollum family continued to own No. 11 Mill Street until at least the 1970s. Between 1870 and 1898 the house was occupied by Henry McAuley, however the Census of Ireland notes that Henry Scullion, a local tailor, resided at the site in 1911. In that year the census building return described No. 11 Mill Street as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of only two inhabited rooms and possessed a shed as its sole outbuilding to its rear yard. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) increased the value of No. 11 Mill Street to £6 and 10 shillings and noted that a Mr. John McKillop resided at the address. McKillop continued to occupy the site until his death in c. 1964 when the house passed to a Ms. Elizabeth McKillop; by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the value of No. 11 Mill Street stood at £7 and 15 shillings.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim described nos 9-23 Mill Street as ‘a long terrace of three-storey rendered houses with quoins, all with similar proportions and detailing, but most rather dreary … the shops in the terrace have simple fascias.’ In addition the guide described Mill Street in the following general terms: ‘An outstandingly good street by Ulster standards; there is almost nothing to jar the eye … this street demands, and deserves, the most careful and sensitive consideration of any change of any kind’ (UAHS Guide, p. 34). The buildings along Mill Street were included in the Cushendall Conservation area in 1975, only the second conservation area in the province to have been designated at that time, ‘testimony itself to the special qualities of the village.’ In that year the village was also chosen as one of Northern Ireland’s four pilot schemes for conservation during the European Architectural Heritage Year. No. 11 Mill Street was subsequently listed in 1976. The NIEA HB Records note that the building underwent an extensive renovation in 1985 which included the reslating of its roof, the installation of new rainwater goods and the replacement of its front windows (NIEA HB Records; Cushendall Conservation Area Guide).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/20/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/20/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921)
4. PRONI OS/8/84/1 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1903)
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/148 – Townland Valuations (1834)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/1/40B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/7A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/12A– Annual Revisions (1923-29)
9. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/14 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
10. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/10 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1918)
12. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
13. First Survey Record – HB05/02/005 (1971)
14. NIEA HB Record – HB05/02/005A

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.
2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Co. Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1996.
3. Dallat, C., ‘The road to the Glens’ Belfast: The Friar’s Bush Press, 1989.
4. ‘Cushendall Village Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1975.
5. ‘Cushendall Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1993.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

Terraced single-bay three-storey rendered house, built c.1834. Rectangular on plan facing southeast as part of a continuous terrace lining the north west side of Mill Street. Possibly an infill building, this house retains much of its original character with its diminutive proportions and timber sliding sash windows, despite the replacement front door which is out of keeping with its architectural style. No.11 forms an important part of a coherent row of houses on Mill Street; as a whole, the brightly painted terrace of domestic scaled buildings adds significant character to the Cushendall Conservation Area and gives the centre of the village its intact and distinctive appearance.