4 MAIN STREET

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey four-bay white painted rendered house; rectangular plan-form with a pitched slate roof, built c. 1832. Adjoined to neighbouring properties No.2 Main Street [HB05.03.010] and No.1 The Square [HB05.03.014A]. No. 4 is situated to the back of the pavement facing the Main Street and consists of a large two-storey rear return, centred on rear elevation. The building underwent extensive renovations in c. 1988 (no details of these renovations were recorded at the time). Further renovations carried out in 2011 included roof repairs and replacement windows. Situated to the north of the River Dun within the heart of the Village of Cushendun. At the time of the survey the building was solely occupied as a private dwelling.

White painted rendered walling, set on a plinth painted in contrasting colour; replacement small-pane Georgian timber casement windows painted in contrasting colour incorporating a 'cottage' style expressed within the design of the facade; pitched natural slate roof has a concrete ridge, concrete coping to left side gable skew and two tall white painted rendered chimney-stacks at mid-ridge having black clay pots; slate roof extends and merges with roof of neighbouring property No. 1 The Square; stepped eaves with out-and-up iron brackets supporting a half round cast-iron guttering discharging to a circular section downpipes.

Principal elevation faces North-east onto the Main Street, accessed via a tarmac footpath leading to an open entrance porch; ground floor is of four bays wide, two to the left of entrance porch (off-centre on elevation) and one to the right side; entrance porch has a low rendered white painted wall to either side of a vertically sheeted painted timber door with metal door furniture, slated hipped roof over supported by two white painted rendered cylindrical columns, one to either side; two window bays on first floor are not aligned with ground floor bays; all windows are replacement timber casements.

South-east and North-west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No. 2 Main Street [HB05.03.010] and No. 1 The Square [HB05.03.014A].

South-west elevation to the rear is abutted by a two-storey projecting rear return centred on elevation, there is a two-storey white painted rendered outbuilding having a mix of timber sliding sash and casement windows and two vertically sheeted painted timber doors, outbuilding has a set of concrete steps leading to first floor access and a slated pitched roof over. Main elevation has a double casement window on ground floor and a single casement window on first floor to either side of projecting rear return with tall proportion window to gable; rear yard is accessed via a vertically sheeted painted timber door from the NW side of the rear return.

Setting:
Situated immediately adjacent to the North of the River Dun within the heart of the Village of Cushendun. No. 4 is adjoined to neighbouring properties No. 2 Main Street and No. 1 The Square; both properties immediately face out onto the Main Street and within close proximity to 'The Square' directly overlooking the North Sea to the NE side with panoramic views of the coastline. Located within a Conservation Area and a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate
RWGs: Cast-iron painted
Walling: White rendered
Windows: Timber casements.

Historical information

No. 4 Main Street, a two-storey four-bay early-19th century building located in the village of Cushendun, was constructed prior to 1832. The village of Cushendun, located along the River Dun, was developed from the early-19th century when travel across mainland Europe was cut off by the Napoleonic wars. Ireland became a popular destination for British tourists during this period, necessitating the development of new routes and hotels between Belfast and the picturesque sites along the Antrim Coast such as Dunluce Castle and the Giants Causeway. The previously isolated Glens of Antrim at once became accessible with the development of the Coastal Road between 1832 and 1842. Villages along the coast such as Cushendall and Cushendun were transformed from minor settlements into popular seaside resorts that soon became thronged with seasonal visitors. A number of summer houses (or ‘Bathing Lodges’) were constructed along the coast by city-based professionals and merchants, including the impressive residences of Glenmona Lodge and Glendun Lodge at Cushendun. No. 4 Main Street was constructed pre-1832 and is contemporary with the laying out of the coastal road and the initial development of Cushendun (Lewis; Bassett, p. 137; Cushendun Conservation Area Guides).

No. 4 Main Street was first depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832) as a rectangular-shaped building. The valuation sources note that the building was owned by Edmund McNeill, a local landlord who resided at Cushendun House (now demolished), and was initially leased to a Mr. Neil McCaughan in the 1830s. The contemporary Townland Valuations (1834) set the total rateable value of the house at £4 and 12 shillings and described No. 4 Main Street as a 1B+ class building (that is slated building of medium age, but still in sound order and good repair) that measured 31ft in width by 14.6ft in depth and stood 14.6ft in height. The McCaughan family continued to reside at No. 4 Main Street under Griffith’s Valuation, which increased the value of the building to £5 and 10 shillings, but by c. 1864 the property had passed to Daniel McVeigh, a local famer, whose family remained at the site until the 1920s. The Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Cushendun (1904) suggests that the current porch and rear outbuilding of No. 4 Main Street are original features.

In 1901 the Census of Ireland noted that No. 4 Main Street was occupied by Harriett McVeigh, a local laundress, who resided at the address with her sisters. The census building return described the house as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of eight rooms. The McVeigh family had vacated the site by the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland (1936-57) which recorded a Ms. Ellen McKendry as occupant of the site and increased the value of the building to £10. Ownership of No. 4 Main Street passed from the McNeill family to the National Trust in 1954. The McKendry family continued to reside at the house until at least the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the total rateable value of the building stood at £20.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim described No. 4 Main Street as ‘an older four-bay two-storey house with Georgian glazing and a curious porch carried on very solid cylindrical columns’ (UAHS Guide, p. 42). No. 4 Main Street was listed in 1980. In that year the building was included in the Cushendun Conservation Area which was designated as a means of ‘protecting and enhancing the special qualities of the village.’ The NIEA HB Records note that No. 4 Main Street underwent an extensive renovation in c. 1988. In c. 2011 the building underwent a further renovation when restoration work was carried out to its roof and window frames (NIEA HB Records; Cushendall Conservation Area Guide).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/15/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/15/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/15/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903-04)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/15/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922)
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/15 – Townland Valuations Map (c. 1830)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/133 – Townland Valuations (1834)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/27B – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/8A-D – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/15D – Annual Revisions (1909-30)
10. PRONI VAL/12/E/25/1 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c. 1909-c. 1935)
11. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/5 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
12. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/11 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
13. Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837)
14. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
15. Bassett’s County Antrim: A guide and directory (1888)
16. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
17. First Survey Record – HB05/03/011 (1971)
18. NIEA HB Record – HB05/03/011

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. ‘Cushendun Village Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1980.
3. ‘Cushendun Conservation Area’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1996 – includes Ordnance Survey Town Plans of 1904 and 1922.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

A modest two-storey four-bay white painted rendered house; built c. 1832 (Architect unknown), adjoining neighbouring properties No. 2 Main Street [HB05.03.010] and No. 1 The Square [HB05.03.014A]. Rectangular plan-form with a pitched slate roof, the building has retained its character externally despite the loss of original windows and some interior historic fabric during renovations in 1998 and 2011. Retaining its rear yard and original 2-storey outbuilding, No. 4 has substantial group value with its neighbouring properties and many other buildings of similar style within and the village of Cushendun. Prominently situated within close proximity to both 'The Square' to the North and the River Dun to the South within the heart of the village, the building is of special interest.