99 MAIN STREET

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey two-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house with a large modern two-storey extension to the rear. Rectangular plan-form with a replacement slated pitched roof having a shared unpainted rendered chimney stack to the NW side; set within a terrace row along Main Street Bushmills. Built between 1834 and 1857 to designs by unknown architect. The current structure underwent a major refurbishment or possibly a complete reconstruction in c. 1926 which resulted in the appearance of the current building. The refurbishment included the installation of a ground floor shopfront (now removed) c. 1982. The property underwent further renovations at this time which included the restoration of its roof, windows, and extension to the rear. Situated on the west side of Main Street and located on the southern side of the village centre with the Bush River to the west. At the time of the survey the building appeared to be occupied as a single private dwelling.

Walling is of painted rendered finish to front elevation; a single entrance doorway to the left of a coupled window on ground floor level; single window bay on first floor above; all set on a painted rendered plinth; painted corner quoins the right side of front elevation; pitched slate roof has black clay ridge tiles and an unpainted rendered chimney stack to the NW side; half-round uPVC guttering to front elevation discharges to a cast-iron circular downpipe; uPVC rainwater goods to rear elevations.

Principal elevation faces north-east accessed directly off Main Street; two bays wide on ground floor containing a single entrance doorway with a replacement timber and glazed door to the left of a replacement coupled 1/1 timber sliding sash window with double-glazed units; single window bay on first floor above contains a 1/1 timber sliding sash; all set on a painted rendered plinth; painted rendered quoins to right side of front elevation.

South-east and North-west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.97 & 101-103 Main Street [HB05/08/042&40].

South-west elevation to the rear is abutted by a modern rendered two-storey pitched roof extension stepping down to a single storey lean-to extension; walling is of smooth rendered unpainted finish having a two uPVC windows on first floor level to two-storey extension and a pair of uPVC half-doors to single storey extension. uPVC rainwater goods throughout rear elevations.

Setting:
The terrace row is situated on the west side of Main Street in Bushmills and located on the southern side of the village centre with the Bush River to the west.

Materials:
Roof: Replacement natural slate
RWGs: uPVC & cast-iron (front); uPVC (rear)
Walling: Smooth rendered
Windows: Timber sliding sash (front); uPVC (rear).

Historical information

No. 99 Main Street, a two-storey two-bay terraced house located on the west side of Main Street in Bushmills, was originally constructed between 1834 and 1857 but underwent a major refurbishment (or complete reconstruction) in c. 1926 which resulted in the appearance of the current building. The original structure on the site was contemporary with the reconstruction of the village of Bushmills in the early-19th century. 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). The detailed Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834) and Townland Valuations (1835) record that a 1C class structure (that is a slated building that was old and out of repair) stood on the site of nos 97-103 Main Street in the early-19th century, however this building was subsequently demolished and replaced with the current houses, which were first depicted on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857.

The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859) noted that No. 99 Main Street was initially valued at £1 and was leased by Hugh McNaul, a prominent local landowner, to a Ms. Margaret McKee. The occupants of the house changed with frequency over the following four decades and by the turn of the 20th century No. 99 Main Street was leased by a Mr. Samuel Dobbin to Alexander McAlister, a local labourer. The 1901 Census of Ireland described the house as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of five rooms and possessed a shed as its sole outbuilding. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902) continued to depict No. 99 Main Street along its original layout as a simple terraced structure, however the Annual Revisions records that the original building on the site underwent a major refurbishment (or possibly a complete reconstruction) in c. 1926. The refurbishment included the installation of a ground floor shopfront (now removed) and resulted in an increase in the value of No. 99 Main Street to £8. Alexander McAlister had continued to occupy the site until the refurbishment of the building after which point No. 99 Main Street was occupied by a Mr. Joseph McCloskey. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) further raised the value of the house to £13 and 10 shillings and noted that McCloskey purchased the site outright in c. 1952. Joseph McCloskey remained at No. 99 Main Street until at least the 1970s and by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the building stood at £19 and 10 shillings.

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). No. 99 Main Street was listed in 1980 and was subsequently included in the Bushmills Conservation Area. The conservation area was designated in 1992 in order to preserve the built heritage of the village which possesses the highest number of listed buildings in the North East of Northern Ireland. The NIEA HB Records note that No. 99 Main Street underwent an extensive renovation in c. 1982 which included the restoration of its roof, window frames and entrance doors as well as the removal of its shopfront and the construction of the kitchen and bathroom extension to rear (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 – HB05/08/041
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/08/041

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.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
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

Two-storey two-bay mid-terrace house built between 1834–1857 and situated on the west side of Main Street, located on the southern side of the village centre with the Bush River to the west. The current structure underwent a major refurbishment or possibly a complete reconstruction in c.1926 which included the installation of a ground floor shop front (now removed). Despite alterations to the external fabric to the rear in particular, the dwelling retains special architectural and historical interest within a group of similarly proportioned terraced houses, Nos 95, 97 & 101-103 Main Street (HB05/08/043,042 & 040).