115 Main Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey two-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house with single wall head dormer. Rectangular plan-form with a slated pitched roof and an unpainted rendered chimney stack to the SE side. Built between 1834 and 1857 (architect 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, painted timber boxed eaves and painted uPVC guttering that discharges to cast iron downpipe to right of front elevation.

Principal elevation faces north-east; ground floor level has a single entrance doorway to the left side with replacement timber panelled and glazed door and a single window bay on the right side containing a timber sliding sash window with one-over-one lights; same window to wall-head dormer centred at first floor above. Window frames, masonry sills, bargeboards and cast-rainwater goods to front elevation are all painted in contrasting colour.

South-east and North-west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.117 & 109-113 [HB05.08.035/37].

Rear elevation (South-west) where seen, main building is abutted by a two-storey gabled return to right side (split with No.117) 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. Wall to No.115, beyond return, is roughcast render, painted.

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate (NE)
RWGs: uPVC Gutter and cast iron downpipe, painted (NE)
Walling: Ruled and lined smooth render, painted (NE)
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.117 Main St (HB05.08.035) to the left and No.109-113 Main Street (HB05.08.037) to the right.

Historical information

No. 115 Main Street, a two-storey single-bay house with half-dormer 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 specifics of this building were not detailed in the contemporary Townland Valuations (1835) as the structure was not worth the £3 minimum required for inclusion in that source. 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. 115 Main Street was first recorded with certainty in 1857 as it was depicted on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of that year and was also included in the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859).

Griffith’s Valuation set the total rateable value of No. 115 Main Street at £2 and 5 shillings and noted that the building was initially leased by William McNeill (lessor of the adjoining nos 117-119) to a Ms. Catherine Douglas. 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. 115 Main Street changed with frequency over the following decades and by the turn of the 20th century the house was inhabited by John Mulholland, a local labourer. The 1901 Census of Ireland described No. 115 Main Street as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of five rooms. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Bushmills (1902) depicted the property along its current layout and recorded a minor outbuilding to rear. The Annual Revisions record that No. 115 Main Street was combined with the adjoining No. 117 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 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 which 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. 115 Main Street underwent conservation work in 1987 which included the reslating of its roof in salvaged natural slate, the installation of cast iron rainwater goods, the replacement of new timber sliding sash window frames to the front and modern casement windows with top hung opening vents to rear and the replacement of the ground floor with a ground bearing concrete slab. (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 – HB05/08/036
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/08/036

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 house, built between 1834 and 1857 as a dwelling house. 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 SE side. Internally, the staircase remains and provides first floor access to both No.115 & 117 Main Street (HB05.08.035) as well as the later gabled return which they share; there is little evidence of any other historic detailing. Externally, the style of the frontage is largely unaltered except for the front door; however the ground floor tiled shop front to No.117 dominates the principal facade and alters the proportion and group value significantly. Whilst the building contributes some character to the conservation area, the rear return detracts and it does not have sufficient architectural and historic interest to be considered special.