117 Main Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey single-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house with wall head dormer and tiled ground floor shop front. Rectangular plan-form with a slated pitched roof and an unpainted rendered chimney stack with two circular red clay pots to the NW side. Built between 1834 and 1857; the name of the architect is unknown. Located within the village of Bushmills, on Main Street, which is aligned parallel to the Bush River. Set within a terrace row on the West side of the street, due South of Market Square.

Natural slate to front (NE) slope of roof, with black clay ridge tile bedded in mortar. Walling is of ruled and lined rendered finish (painted) to front elevation; decorative pierced bargeboards and painted uPVC rainwater goods to front elevation.

Principal elevation faces North-east; shop front on ground floor has tiled surround to a large timber framed single-pane window and a timber door with top and bottom glazed panes. Painted timber cornice moulding retained above signage board. Timber sliding sash window and masonry cill within wall dormer above, painted in contrasting colour; painted uPVC rainwater goods to front elevation.

South-east and North-west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.115 & 119 [HB05.08.034/035].

Rear elevation (South-west) where seen, main building is abutted by a two-storey gabled return to left side (split with No.115) having a slated duo-pitched roof with clipped eaves, cast iron downpipe, rough-dashed rendered walls and a single window opening on first floor level. Lower flat-roofed abutment to right side (No.115) and detached flat roofed outbuilding with painted roughdash rendered walls, within rear garden.

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate
RWGs: uPVC, painted (NE) cast iron, painted (SW return)
Walling: Ruled and lined render, painted with tiled shop front (NE), roughcast rendered return (SW)
Windows: Timber sliding sash (NE)

Setting:
Set in a terraced row of similar scaled buildings on the West side of Main Street within the Bushmills Conservation Area, between No.119 Main Street (HB05.08.034) to the left and No.115 Main St (HB05.08.036) to the right.

Historical information

No. 117 Main Street, a two-storey building with half-dormer and ground floor shopfront located on the west side of Main Street in Bushmills, was originally constructed between c. 1834 and 1857. The Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834) depicted a building on the current site in the early-19th century, however the contemporary Townland Valuations (1835) noted that this structure was already in an old and dilapidated condition in the 1830s. The Bushmills Conservation Area Guide records that Bushmills was a significant settlement before the end of the 18th century but from the 1820s the village was extensively rebuilt by the MacNaghten family of Bushmills House (who had acquired the estate in 1787). No. 117 Main Street was constructed by at least 1857 as it was depicted on the second edition Ordnance Survey map in that year and was also included in the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859).

Griffith’s Valuation set the total rateable value of No. 117 Main Street at £2 and 5 shillings and noted that the building was initially leased by William McNeill (lessor of the adjoining nos 115 and 119) to a Mr. Daniel Campbell. Ownership of the house passed to James McCallum, a local shopkeeper who resided at nos 109-113 Main Street, in c. 1874. The occupants of No. 117 Main Street changed with frequency over the following decades and by the turn of the 20th century the house was inhabited by James McCaughan, a local carpenter. The 1901 Census of Ireland described No. 117 Main Street as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of four rooms. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Bushmills (1902) depicted the property along its current layout and noted that the building possessed no outbuildings or rear extensions at that time. The Annual Revisions record that No. 117 Main Street was combined with the adjoining No. 115 to form a larger single property in c. 1914. The building’s dormer windows were likely installed at this time and the valuer noted that the rateable value of the two-storey two-bay building was raised to £9 and 10 shillings. The site was occupied by a Mr. William McCurdy who operated a shop from the premises (located at the ground floor of No. 117 Main Street). The value of nos 115-117 Main Street was further raised to £13 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which recorded that the building was leased by Hugh Lecky, a prominent local landowner, to a Ms. Mary Simpson. In c. 1951 nos 115-117 Main Street was occupied by Robert Horsburgh, a newsagent, who remained at the address until at least the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time its total value stood at £27.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide for North Antrim described the buildings along Main Street in Bushmills in the following general terms: ‘A well-scaled street. Many good doorways and shopfronts remain, although there is the usual profusion of signs. While no building apart from the former Courthouse is worthy of individual mention, the unity of the street frontages must be maintained’ (UAHS Guide, p. 16). In 1980 nos 115-117 Main Street were listed individually, however the NIEA HB Records note that the buildings continued to share the internal space. The two-storey dwelling at No. 115 Main Street extended at first floor over the adjoining building; No. 117 Main Street solely consisted of the ground floor retail unit and was utilised as a butchers shop in the 1980s. Nos 115-117 Main Street were subsequently included in the Bushmills Conservation Area, which was designated in 1992 in order to preserve the built heritage of the village (that possesses the highest number of listed buildings in the North East of Northern Ireland). The NIEA HB Records note that No. 117 Main Street underwent conservation work in 1987 which included the reslating of its roof in natural slate, the addition of cast iron rainwater goods and the installation of new timber sliding sash window frames (Bushmills Conservation Area Guide; NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/7/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/7/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/7/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/7/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922)
5. PRONI VAL/1D/1/7 – Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/132 – Townland Valuations (1835)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/25A – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/8A-D – Annual Revisions (1859-94)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/6A-C – Annual Revisions (1895-1929)
10. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/13 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
11. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/22 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. First Survey Record – HB05/08/035
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/08/035

Secondary Sources
1. ‘Bushmills Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment (N. I.), 1983 – including the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1902.
2. Girvan, W. D., ‘Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in North Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.

Evaluation

Two-storey single-bay rendered and painted mid-terrace building, built between 1834 and 1857 as a dwelling house; now used as shop on the ground floor. Located within a terrace row along Main Street in the Bushmills Conservation Area; the name of the architect is unknown. Rectangular plan-form with slated pitched roof, wall head dormer (added c.1914) and unpainted rendered chimney stack to the NW side. Internally, there is very little evidence of historic detailing; the staircase is removed and first floor is accessed via the adjoining No.115 (HB05.08.036). Externally, the ground floor tiled shop front dominates the principal facade and alters the proportion and style significantly. The rear elevation is obscured by later extensions and the cumulative effect of all these changes means that the building is not of sufficient architectural or historic interest to be considered special.