4 MILL STREET

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Terraced two-bay three-storey rendered building, constructed prior to 1859, possibly c.1830, with traditional shopfront to the ground floor and two-storey rear return. L-shaped on plan facing northwest lining the southeast side of Mill Street with small enclosed rear yard.

Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack with terracotta pots to the northeast. Cast-iron guttering on iron drive-through brackets with cast-iron hopper and cast-iron downpipes. Painted ruled-and-lined rendered walling. Square-headed window openings with painted masonry sills and replacement top-hung timber casement windows.

Two-bay three-storey front elevation with asymmetrical traditional shopfront spanning the ground floor. Shopfront comprises a large fixed-pane display window an off-centre door opening with double-leaf glazed timber door and further display window to the left, all framed by fluted pilasters on plinth blocks and surmounted by painted fascia with raised lettering; 'D.KEARNEY. FLESHER' and dentilated cornice, flanked by scrolled console brackets.

Northeast side abutted by adjoining building No.2 (HB05/02/022).

Rear elevation largely obscured by rear return. Exposed section of rear elevation has rough-cast cement rendered walling and replacement hardwood top-hung windows. Two-storey rear return with timber barge boards and single-storey lean-to beyond with tiled roof, timber barge boards. Both returns have rough-cast cement rendered walling.

Southwest side abutted by adjoining building No.6 (HB05/02/020).

Setting:
Forming part of a continous terrace of street-fronted buildings lining the southeast side of Mill Street.

Materials
Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Painted ruled-and-lined render
Windows Replacement top-hung timber casement

Historical information

No. 4 Mill Street, a three-storey two-bay building possessing a shopfront to its ground floor, constructed prior to 1859, possibly c.1830. The majority of the two and three-storey buildings along the street were erected in the first half of the century by the 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. 4 Mill Street originally formed part of the adjoining No. 2 Mill Street (HB05/02/022) built for John Hamilton, a local farmer. The building may have been included in 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. Nos 2-4 Mill Street was first recorded with certainty on Griffith’s Valuation (1859) which valued the building at £20 and noted that it was owned by the Turnly family. Nos 2-4 Mill Street continued to be recorded as a single structure until 1892 when it was divided into the current two buildings. In that year the Annual Revisions set the total rateable value of No. 4 Mill Street at £8 and noted that the property was leased by Turnly to Dr. John Fogarty, the local dispensary medical doctor (UTD).

Fogarty resided at No. 4 Mill Street until c. 1897 when the building was briefly occupied by James Delargy, who the Ulster Town Directories notes was the proprietor of the Cushendall Hotel. In 1911 nos 2-4 Mill Street continued to be recorded as a single property under the Census of Ireland despite the division of the property. In that year the census recorded Patrick Duffy, a Royal Irish Constabulary pensioner, as occupant and described nos 2-4 Mill Street as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of ten rooms and possessed a piggery, fowl house and potato house amongst its rear outbuildings. No. 4 Mill Street was increased in value to £18 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The valuer noted that the dwelling and ground floor shop were occupied by a Mr. James Mullan until 1953 when Daniel Kearney, a local butcher and flesher, took possession of the site. The Kearney family also occupied the adjoining No. 2 Mill Street and purchased both properties outright from the Turnly estate in 1967. Under the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of No. 4 Mill Street stood at £27.

In 1972 the UAHS publication for the Glens of Antrim described Mill Street in the following 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 p. 34). The buildings along Mill Street were subsequently 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. 4 Mill Street was subsequently listed in 1976.

The NIEA HB Records note that the building underwent extensive renovation c. 1991, including the demolition and reconstruction of its rear return and alteration of its original shopfront; the shopfront was widened by removing an entrance door which originally led to the upper floors of the building. Despite the alteration of the shopfront the Cushendall Conservation Area Guide noted that No. 4 Mill Street possessed one of the finest traditional shopfronts in the village stating that ‘the retention of these fronts, with their raised lettering or hand painted signs, does much to maintain the charm that is characteristic of the Irish town at its best’ (NIEA HB Records; Cushendall Conservation Area Guide). During the Second Survey No. 4 Mill Street continued to be utilised as a family-run butcher’s shop.

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 – HB05/02/021 (1971)
14. NIEA HB Record – HB05/02/021

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Terraced two-bay three-storey rendered building, built c.1830, originally forming part of the adjoining No. 2 Mill Street (HB05/02/022), prominently located close to Cushendall's central crossroads facing Turnly’s Tower (HB05/02/001). Nos 2-4 Mill Street were recorded as a single structure until 1892 when it was divided into the current two buildings. The buildings still retain value as a group due to their shared history. Despite the loss of external historic detailing such as the original timber sliding sash windows, and loss of internal historic detailing, No.4 Mill Street retains a fine traditional shopfront with fluted pilasters and a painted fascia with individual raised lettering beneath a dentilated cornice. The shopfront makes a significant contribution to the historic setting of Mill Street at the centre of Cushendall.