12 Shore Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid-terrace two-storey two-bay late-Georgian style dwelling. Built c.1830's. Rectangular on plan, principal elevation faces South-East, built on the North west side of Shore Street.

Pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles with single smooth rendered chimney stack to right side shared with adjacent property capped with lead; replacement pvc half round guttering fixed to stepped masonry band.

Principal elevation is of smooth render painted finish; all window openings are square-headed on masonry sills; bays on ground floor are not aligned with windows on floor above; ground floor coupled windows to left side are 6/6 exposed box timber sliding sash as are the two single windows above; square headed door opening to right side, slightly recessed with replacement painted timber door with square six-pane glazed vision panel, door opens onto threshold one concrete step up from ground level.

South-West side abuts adjacent property No.10 (HB05/02/048) Shore Street.

North-West elevation to rear not visible at time of survey.

North-East elevation abuts adjacent property No.14 Shore Street (HB05/02/029A).

Roof Natural Slate
RWG PVC
Walling Painted render
Windows Timber sliding sash

Setting:
Mid-terrace Georgian-style townhouse, forming part of a terrace of similar houses lining the North west side of Shore Street fronting directly onto the pavement. Set within the Cushendall Conservation Area.

Historical information

No. 12 Shore Street, a two-storey two-bay building located on the north side of Shore Street, was constructed prior to 1859. The majority of the buildings located along Shore Street were erected in the first half of the 19th 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. 12 Shore Street is likely to date from the early-19th century as a row of buildings were depicted along the northern half of the street on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832). The buildings along this row may have been included in the contemporary Townland Valuations (1834), however it is difficult to identify specific buildings in that source due to the loss of the Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834). No. 12 Shore Street was first recorded with certainty in Griffith’s Valuation (1859) which set the total rateable value of the building at £5 and 10 shillings. The valuer noted that the house was initially leased by the Turnly estate to Charles Douglas whose family remained at the address until c. 1918. Following Charles Douglas’ death in c. 1897, the house passed to his widow Eliza. In 1911 the Census of Ireland described No. 12 Shore Street as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of three inhabited rooms and possessed a piggery, fowl house, a potato house and a store as its rear out offices. The property was acquired by a Mr. Denis McCurdy in c. 1918, however under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) No. 12 Shore Street was occupied by a Mr. Morris Finlay. The rateable value of the building was increased to £7 by the valuer who also recorded that Finlay operated a shop from the address; the shop was removed from the premises in 1951. The occupants of No. 12 Shore Street continued to change with frequency until 1964 when a Mr. Michael Brennan purchased the building outright from the Turnly estate. Brennan continued to reside at the address by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time its value stood at £18.
In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim described the north side of Shore Street as ‘a miscellany of two and three-storey houses, stuccoed, rendered and pebble dashed’ (UAHS Guide, p. 33). The buildings along Shore 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 (Cushendall Conservation Area Guide).

References
Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/20/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/20/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921)
5. PRONI OS/8/84/1 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1903)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/148 – Townland Valuations (1834)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/1/40B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/7A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/12A– Annual Revisions (1923-29)
10. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/14 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
11. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/10 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1918)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)

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
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Mid-terrace two-storey two-bay rendered Georgian-style townhouse, built early 1800's, located on the north west side of Shore Street. The majority of the buildings located along Shore Street were erected in the first half of the 19th century by the Turnly family and a row of buildings was depicted along the northern half of the street on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832). No. 12 is abutted on its north east side by No. 14 Shore Street (HB05/02/029A) and it has group value with its neighbours. It operated as a shop for a few years during the mid 1900s contributing to the social and economic aspects of the village. Despite the modern front door, the front facade retains much historic character and style such as timber sliding sash windows and natural slate roof. Its setting is authentic within the town centre; the building makes a valuable contribution to the Cushendall Conservation area.