2 MILL STREET

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Corner-sited two-storey with attic stucco-fronted commercial building, built c.1832. Rectangular on plan with two-bay elevation facing northeast onto Bridge Street, three-bay elevation facing northwest onto Mill Street and bowed corner entrance bay.

Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles, steel skylights to front pitches and rendered profiled chimneystacks. Cast-iron guttering on iron drive through brackets to rendered eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. Painted ruled-and-lined rendered walling with rusticated quoins and projecting render plinth course. Square-headed window openings with painted masonry sills and original 6/6 sliding timber sash windows without horns, partially exposed sash boxes and some historic glass (unless otherwise stated).

Northwest three-bay two-storey elevation with central square-headed door opening providing access to the residence to the upper floors. Door opening has rusticated quoined surround and recessed tripartite doorcase. Doorcase comprises original four-panelled timber door with bolection mouldings flanked by full-height five-pane sidelights and surmounted by spoked fanlight. Door opens onto two concrete steps to the street. To the left of the doorcase is a display window with replacement fixed-pane timber window.

Single-bay bowed entrance bay corner with slightly recessed smooth rendered walling set below oversized stop-chamfer below eaves. Square-headed door opening with original timber frame, flat-panelled timber door and plain overlight. Door opens onto curved concrete step to the street.

Two-bay two-storey northeast elevation with a further display window with fixed-pane timber window.

Southeast side is abutted by adjoining building No.2 Bridge Street (HB05/02/023F).

Southwest side is abutted by adjoining building No.4 Mill Street (HB05/02/021).

Roof Natural Slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Ruled-and-lined render
Windows Original 6/6 timber sliding sash

Setting:
Located on the crossroads at the centre of Cushendall at the junction of Mill Street and Bridge Street opposite Turnly's Tower (HB05/02/001).

Historical information

No. 2 Mill Street, a two-storey corner-site building possessing three-bays on Mill Street and two-bays on Bridge Street with a corner entrance, was constructed in c. 1832. 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).

The Cushendall Conservation Area Guide records that No. 2 Mill Street, which initially included the adjoining No. 4 (HB05/02/021), was constructed in c. 1830. The building was depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832) and was likely 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 leased by the Turnly family to a Mr. John Hamilton, a local farmer. 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 revalued No. 2 Mill Street at £12. John Hamilton continued to reside at the site until his death in 1899 at which time the property passed to his widow, Jane Hamilton. Jane Hamilton operated a drapery shop from the site and remained at the address until her own death in 1903 (PRONI Wills). Nos 2-4 Mill Street continued to be recorded as a single property under the 1911 Census despite the division of the property in the 1890s. 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 2 Mill Street was increased in value to £21 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that the building was occupied by a Ms. Josephine Esther Anderson. In 1950 the building was acquired by William Kearney who converted it into a café. Kearney’s bother Daniel, a local butcher, occupied the adjoining No. 4 Mill Street in 1953. The Kearney family purchased nos 2-4 Mill Street outright in 1967 and by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of No. 2 Mill Street stood at £38.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide 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.’ The guide specifically described nos 2-4 Mill Street as ‘good three-storey houses, part Georgian, part Regency glazed’ (UAHS Guide, 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. 2 Mill Street was subsequently listed in 1976. The NIEA HB Records note that the building underwent an extensive renovation in c. 1986 which included the reslating of its roof and the restoration of its chimneys and window frames. In c. 2001 the former retail shop at the site was converted into a fast food restaurant (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. PRONI Wills Catalogue (16 Dec 1899; 18 Sept 1903)
14. First Survey Record – HB05/02/022 (1971)
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/02/022

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
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Corner-sited two-storey with attic stucco-fronted building built c.1832 along with the adjoining No. 4 Mill Street (HB05/02/021), prominently located at the central crossroads of Cushendall, 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. No.2 retains its historic character and proportions, turning the corner from Mill Street to Bridge Street with a distinctive bowed entrance bay below an oversized stop-chamfer below eaves. The largely intact historic fabric of No.2 contributes greatly to the historic setting at the centre of Cushendall.