13 HIGH ST.,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

End of terrace two-bay three-storey rendered house, built prior to 1857. Rectangular on plan facing southwest and terminating a short terrace of four buildings lining the northeast side of High Street on a steep gradient.

Pitched natural slate roof with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack to southeast gable with terracotta pots. Cast-iron guttering on iron drive through brackets with cast-iron downpipes. Painted ruled-and-lined cement rendered walling. Square-headed window openings with painted concrete sills and replacement single-pane sliding timber sash windows with angled horns and exposed sash boxes.

Two-bay three-storey front elevation with a further window to the left at ground floor level only and central square-headed door opening with replacement hardwood glazed and panelled door. Between the windows at first floor level is an engraved plaque stating; 'TIEVE.NA.CRENA'.

Northwest side abutted by adjoining building No.15 High Street (HB05/02/036B).

Two-bay three-storey rear elevation has rough-cast cement rendered walling with top-hung hardwood casement windows and concrete sills. A single opening to the ground floor incorporates door and window opening with sheeted hardwood glazed door.

Gabled southeast side elevation has a single window opening to the left at first and second floors and two window openings at ground floor. This elevation supports an elliptical-headed voussoired red sandstone carriage arch, also supported by neighbouring house No.11 High Street (HB05/02/035), with the left pier rebuilt in concrete block.

Setting:
Terminating a short terrace of four houses built on a steep gradient on the northeast side of High Street with a small front paved area enclosed by replacement steel railings and set in a low rendered plinth wall with matching steel pedestrian gate. Concrete driveway to the gabled side elevation passes under the carriage arch opening into a concrete paved rear yard.

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

Historical information

No. 13 High Street, a three-storey two-bay mid-Victorian dwelling located on the north east side of High Street, was constructed along with the adjoining No. 15 (HB05/02/036B) prior to 1857. The majority of the buildings located along High 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).

Nos 13-15 High Street were constructed prior to 1857 as they were depicted on the second edition Ordnance Survey map in that year. It is possible that the buildings were erected as early as the 1830s and 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. The buildings were first recorded in Griffith’s Valuation (1859) which noted that nos 13-15 High Street were originally constructed as a single private dwelling. The valuer records that the house was valued at £18 and 10 shillings and was leased by the Turnly family to Daniel Jamison, a local rate collector and farmer. The Annual Revisions note that nos 13-15 High Street were subdivided into two private dwellings in c. 1893 and that the larger No. 13 was revalued at £10. In 1901 the Census of Ireland recorded that Jamison was over eighty and resided at No. 13 High Street with his brother John (employed as an engineer). The accompanying census building return described the house as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of ten rooms and possessed a stable, a cow house, a piggery, a barn and a turf house as its outbuildings. Daniel Jamison continued to reside at No. 13 High Street until his death in c. 1905 at which time the house was acquired by a Mr. Herbert McConnell. The house was occupied by a Ms. Catherine Connolly under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which increased the value of No. 13 High Street to £12. The Connolly family continued to reside at the site until at least the 1970s and purchased the house outright from the Turnly estate in 1967. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the value of No. 13 High Street stood at £20.

In 1972 the UAHS publication for the Glens of Antrim described High Street as ‘an outstandingly attractive street, of quite exceptional merit and character, climbing very steeply indeed from the crossing of the main street to Court McMartin, almost every building in it of individual merit apart from the value of the group as a whole; the roofs, gables, doors and windows rise in an irregular staircase up the hillside.’ In particular the guide described nos 11-19 High Street as ‘a very pleasing group climbing the steepest part of the hill, their storeys accordingly somewhat breathlessly arranged, part Georgian and part Regency glazed’ (UAHS p. 34). The buildings along High 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. 13 High Street was subsequently listed in 1976.

The NIEA HB Records note No. 13 High Street underwent works c. 1984, including replacing windows, installing new entrance doors and reslating using Bangor Blue slates (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 – HB05/02/036 (1971)
14. NIEA HB Record – HB05/02/036A

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

End of terrace two-bay three-storey rendered mid-Victorian dwelling located on the north east side of High Street, close to the village centre of Cushendall. It was constructed along with the adjoining No. 15 (HB05/02/036B) prior to 1857 as a single dwelling, which was then divided into two separate dwellings in 1893. Despite the replacement of the original windows and front door, the historic proportions and style remain intact. It is an integral component of the terrace which steps up the hill of High Street, and No.13 has group value with No.15. The terrace as a whole adds to the historic village centre setting.