91 Main Street, Bushmills, Co Antrim BT57 8QB

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 (front) having a rendered chimney stack to the SE and NW sides; set within a terrace row along Main Street Bushmills. Built prior to 1834 to designs by unknown architect. No. 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 the replacement of 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. 91 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 timber sliding sashes with exposed box frames; slated pitched roof has black clay ridge tiles and a rendered chimney stack to the SE and NW sides; 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 vertically sheeted timber 'stable style' door, to the right 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, left side bay is aligned with bay on ground floor; pitched slate roof has black clay ridge tiles and an unpainted rendered chimney stack to the SE and 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.93 & 89 Main Street [HB05/08/044 & 45A].

South-west elevation to the rear is abutted by a two-storey pebble dashed rendered rear return with a fibre cement pitched roof; walling to main elevation is of rough-cast render. uPVC windows to rear throughout. Limited access to rear.

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 & rear main roof); Fibre cement (single storey extension)
RWGs: Cast-iron (front); uPVC (rear)
Walling: Rendered (front); Pebble dashed (rear)
Windows: Timber sliding sash (front); uPVC casements (rear)

Historical information

No. 91 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 that 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. 91 Main Street was set at £4 and 10 shillings with the Annual Revisions noting that the building was leased by Hugh Lecky to Daniel McMullan, a local carrier. The 1911 Census of Ireland records that McMullan resided at No. 91 Main Street with his wife Mary. The accompanying census building return described No. 91 Main Street as a second class dwelling that consisted of four rooms and possessed two stables, a barn and a shed amongst its out offices. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902) depicted the house as a single terraced structure which possessed a small outbuilding to rear. The value of No. 91 Main Street was increased to £8 and 15 shillings under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that the building was occupied by William Henry McMullan, a local haulage contractor. McMullan continued to reside at the address until his death in 1961 at which time he left his property to Jane Cochrane, occupant of the adjoining No. 89 Main Street (PRONI Wills). The Second General Revaluation (1956-72) noted that the Cochrane family had 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. PRONI Wills Catalogue (7 Jul 1961)
15. First Survey Record – HB05/08/045
16. 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 such as the installation of PVC windows to the rear and the large pebble-dashed extension to the rear, the building retains its original domestic proportions to Main Street with its neighbour No 89 (HB05/08/045A).