89 MAIN STREET

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey two-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house with a large two-storey pebble dashed rendered extension to the rear. Rectangular plan-form with a pitched natural slate roof having a rendered chimney stack to the NW side; set within a terrace row along Main Street Bushmills. Built prior to 1834 to designs by unknown architect. No's 89-91 Main Street was originally constructed as a single two-storey four-bay dwelling, however this structure was subdivided into its current layout in c. 1890. Both properties underwent an extensive renovation in c. 1987 which included the installation of cast-iron rainwater goods and replacement sliding sash windows. Situated on the West side of the Main Street with views North to the Market Square. Located to the South of the Village of Bushmills with the Main Street aligned parallel with the Bush River to the West side. At the time of the survey No. 89 Main Street continues to be subdivided from adjacent property, occupied as two separate dwellings.

Walling is of painted rendered finish to front elevation; two bays wide on ground and first floor levels. All windows have 6/6 replacment timber sliding sashes with exposed box frames; slated pitched roof has black clay ridge tiles and a rendered chimney stack NW side; cast-iron rainwater goods to front elevation; uPVC rainwater goods to rear elevation.

Principal elevation faces North-east accessed via paved footpath directly off the Main Street; ground floor level consists of a single entrance doorway having a coloured uPVC panelled set within a uPVC frame with a plain glazed transom light above, to the left of a single window bay having a 6/6 timber sliding sash window; two window bays on first floor level have 6/6 timber sliding sashes, right side bay is aligned with bay on ground floor level; pitched slate roof has black clay ridge tiles and an unpainted rendered chimney stack to the NW side; half-round painted cast-iron guttering to front elevation discharges to a cast-iron circular downpipe.

South-east and North-west sides are adjoined to neighbouring properties No. 91 & 87 Main Street [HB05/08/045B & 046].

South-west elevation to the rear is abutted by a two-storey pebble dashed rear return with a fibre cement pitched roof; access to rear was limited - where seen rear return consisted of a set of uPVC sliding doors at first floor level accessed via an external timber staircase; uPVC rainwater goods.

Setting:
The terrace row is situated on the West side of the Main Street with views North towards the Market Square. Located to the South of the Village of Bushmills.

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate (front); Fibre Cement (rear)
RWGs: Cast-iron (front); uPVC (rear)
Walling: Rendered (front); Pebble dashed (rear)
Windows: Timber sliding sash (front); uPVC (rear)

Historical information

No. 89 Main Street, a two-storey two-bay terraced house located on the west side of Main Street in Bushmills, was constructed prior to 1834 as part of 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). Nos 89-91 Main Street were originally constructed as a single two-storey four-bay dwelling, however this structure was subdivided into its current layout in c. 1890. Nos 89-91 Main Street were first depicted on the Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834) as a single rectangular-shaped building which possessed a large outbuilding to rear. The contemporary Townland Valuations (1835) noted that the house was initially valued at £7 and 6 shillings and was occupied by a Mr. Robert Taylor who utilised the building as his private dwelling and as a shop. The valuer described nos 89-91 Main Street as a 1A class building (that is a new or nearly new building) which measured 31.6ft by 23ft and stood 16ft in height and possessed a store and stable to rear.

Little change had been made to the layout of nos 89-91 Main Street by the mid-19th century and the second edition Ordnance Survey (1857). The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859) records that the building was slightly increased in value to £8 and was leased by Hugh Lecky to a Mr. Alexander Kane. The occupants of the house changed with frequency over the following four decades. Nos 89-91 Main Street was subdivided into its current layout as a pair of two-bay dwellings in c. 1890. The rateable value of No. 89 Main Street was set at £4 and 10 shillings with the Annual Revisions noting that the building was leased by Hugh Lecky to a Mr. James Hargreaves. Under the 1911 Census of Ireland No. 89 Main Street was occupied by Samuel Speers, a general labourer who resided at the address with his wife Ellen. The accompanying census building return described No. 89 Main Street as a second class dwelling that consisted of four rooms and possessed a turf house as its sole out office to rear. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902) depicted the house as a single terraced structure which possessed a small outbuilding. No. 89 Main Street was occupied by James Cochrane, a local motor mechanic, during the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which revalued the house at £6 and 10 shillings. According to the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the Cochrane family purchased nos 89-91 Main Street outright in c. 1963 and continued to reside at the site, where they operated a garage, until at least the 1970s.

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). Nos 89-91 Main Street was listed as a single property 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 nos 89-91 Main Street underwent an extensive renovation in c. 1987 which included the installation of cast iron rainwater good and the replacement of sliding sash window frames to both dwellings. Field inspection of the site, carried out as part of the Second Survey, has found that nos 89-91 Main Street continue to be subdivided and occupied as two separate dwellings (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 – HB05/08/045
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/08/045

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
C. Ornamentation
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 prior to 1834 as part of the reconstruction of the village of Bushmills in the early-19th century. Located on the south side of Bushmills village centre, situated on the west side of Main Street with the Bush River located to the west. Nos 89-91 Main Street were originally constructed as a single two-storey four-bay dwelling, however this structure was subdivided into its current layout in c. 1890. Despite alterations to the front facade such as the replacement plastic front door and the large pebble-dashed extension to the rear, the building retains its original domestic proportions to Main Street with its neighbour No 91 (HB05/08/045B).