97 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 pitched slate roof having an unpainted rendered chimney stack to the NW side; located to the south side of the village, set within a terrace row on the west side of Main Street with the Bush River located to the west and parallel to Main Street. Built between 1834 - 1857 to designs by unknown architect. 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 (not aligned with ground floor bays); all set on a painted rendered plinth; 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; painted uPVC rainwater goods to rear elevations.

Principal elevation faces north-east accessed directly via paved footpath of the 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 coupled 1/1 timber sliding sash window (with horns); single window bay on first floor above contains a 1/1 timber sliding sash; all set on a painted rendered plinth.

South-east and north-west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No.99 & 95 Main Street [HB05.08.041/43].

South-west elevation to the rear is abutted by a modern painted rendered two-storey pitched roof extension; walling is of smooth rendered painted finish having a single large uPVC casement window on first floor level and an uPVC glazed door and uPVC window on ground floor level; rear yard is enclosed by a low timber fence. Painted uPVC rainwater good throughout rear elevations.

Setting:
Located to the south side of the village, set within a terrace row on the west side of Main Street with the Bush River located to the west and parallel to Main Street.

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

Historical information

No. 97 Main Street, a two-storey two-bay terraced house located on the west side of Main Street in Bushmills, was constructed between 1834 and 1857 as a late addition in 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 can first be seen on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857.

The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859) noted that No. 97 Main Street was initially valued at £2 and 10 shillings and was leased by Hugh McNaul, a prominent local landowner, to a Ms. Elizabeth Blair. The occupants of the house changed with frequency over the following four decades and by the turn of the 20th century No. 97 Main Street was leased by a Mr. John Sinclair to Samuel Patton, a local labourer. The 1901 Census of Ireland described the house as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of four rooms and possessed a store as its sole outbuilding to rear (now demolished). The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902) continued to depict No. 97 Main Street along its original layout as a simple terraced structure. Samuel Patton continued to reside at the address until c. 1910 when Charles Sinclair, a local tailor, occupied the site. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) increased the value of No. 97 Main Street to £5 and 5 shillings and noted that the Sinclair family purchased the house outright in c. 1954. A Ms. Sarah Sinclair was recorded as both occupant and owner of the building by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time its total value stood at £7 and 15 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. 97 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. 97 Main Street was extended in c. 1981 when the current two-storey painted rendered kitchen and bathroom extension was constructed 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 – HB05/08/042
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/08/042

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 painted rendered mid-terrace house built between 1834–1857 and located to the south side of Bushmills village centre, situated on the west side of Main Street with the Bush River located to the west. The front facade has been altered with the installation of an inappropriate replacement front door and a large modern two-storey extension is located to the rear. Despite these alterations, the dwelling retains special architectural and historical interest within a group of similarly proportioned terraced houses, Nos 95, 99 & 101-103 Main Street (HB05/08/043,041 & 040).