69 MAIN STREET

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey three-bay painted rendered mid-terrace house. Rectangular plan-form with a single storey rendered extension to the SW side; shop front and coach archway on ground floor level; unpainted rendered chimney stacks to the SE and NW side of a fibre cement pitched roof. Set within a terrace row along Main Street Bushmills. Built prior to 1834 to designs by unknown architect. Situated on the West side of the Main Street with views North to 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.

Walling is of painted smooth rendered finish to front elevation; large coach archway to right side leads to a large enclosed rear yard; shop front on ground floor has a single entrance doorway accessed directly from the footpath on Main Street; all windows are timber sliding sashes on painted stone sills; Cast-iron rainwater goods to front elevation; uPVC rainwater goods to rear and single storey rear extension.

Principal elevation faces North-east accessed directly off paved footpath on the Main Street; three bays wide, ground floor bays align with bays on first floor above. Entrance doorway is centred on elevation having a six-panel painted timber door with a plain glazed transom light over; shop front contains a tripartite window having 1/1 timber sliding sashes with horns; coach archway to right side contains a pair of traditional-style large vertically sheeting painted timber gates with metal fittings. Three window openings to first floor level, containing 1/1 timber sliding sash windows.

South-east side is adjoined to neighbouring property No. 71-73 [HB05/08/051A & B].

South-west elevation to the rear is set within a large enclosed yard; main elevation is abutted to the right side on ground floor level by a single storey rendered extension having a mono-pitched fibre cement roof (shared with adjoining property); main elevation walling is of unpainted rendered finish having a single bay on first floor level above the coach archway to the left side and a single bay above rear extension on the right side, both openings having a uPVC casement window. Walling to rear extension is of unpainted render with exposed brick to the West corner.

North west of rear extension has a window opening to either side of a single entrance doorway; windows are timber casements, left side window has a top hung window; doorway contains a painted flush door set within a plain architrave surround.

North-west side is adjoined to neighbouring property [HB05/08/053] No. 67 Main Street.

Setting:
The terrace row is situated on the west side of Main Street with views north to towards Market Square. Located to the south of the village of Bushmills.

Materials:
Roof: Fibre Cement
RWGs: uPVC
Walling: Render
Windows: Timber sliding sash (front), uPVC (rear) timber casements (extension)

Historical information

No. 69 Main Street, a two-storey three-bay building (possessing shopfront and coach arch), located on the west side of Main Street, was constructed prior to 1834 as part of the general rebuilding 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). No. 69 Main Street was first recorded on the Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834) which depicted the building as a terraced structure which possessed a coach arch and a large outbuilding to rear. The contemporary Townland Valuations (1835) described No. 69 Main Street as a 1A- class structure (that is a new or nearly new slated building) that measured 27ft by 28ft and stood 19ft in height. The valuer set the initial value of the building at £9 and 5 shillings and noted that the building was occupied as a dwelling by a Mr. John Moore and possessed a store and stable as its out offices to rear.

There was little alteration made to the layout of No. 69 Main Street by the mid-19th century and the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1855). The contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859) noted that the building had been increased in value to £12 and 10 shillings and was leased by the MacNaghten family to the Rev. William Oliver, minister at the local Presbyterian Meeting House to the south of the village (UTD). The Rev. Oliver continued to reside at the site until c. 1868 when the property was acquired by a Mr. Patrick McKinney. In c. 1883 No. 69 Main Street was occupied by John McIlroy who resided at the address but also established a public reading room in the upper floor of the house. The Bushmills Reading Room continued to operate from the premises until McIlroy’s death in 1888 after which time the house was occupied by a Ms. Anne McMaster (PRONI Wills). At the turn of the 20th century No. 69 Main Street was occupied by Samuel Dean, a local builder. The 1901 Census of Ireland described the house as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of eight rooms. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902) depicted No. 69 Main Street along its current layout (possessing a rear return) and continued to record the large outbuilding to rear (now demolished). In c. 1904 the house was occupied by Samuel Forsythe, a local watchmaker and jeweller who operated a shop from the premises. Forsythe remained at the house until his death in 1927 at which time No. 69 Main Street passed to a Mr. William McMullen (PRONI Wills). The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) records that William McMullen did not reside at the address but leased No. 69 Main Street out to other tenants. The valuer increased the value of the site to £13 and 10 shillings, however this was further raised to £28 in 1956 when the building was purchased outright by Samuel Kennedy, a local merchant who converted the site into use as a shop and stores. Ownership of No. 69 Main Street passed to Charles and Eileen Buckley in 1970 and by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the building stood at £32.

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. 69 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. 69 Main Street underwent an extensive renovation in 1987 which included the addition of cast iron rainwater gods, the installation of new sliding sash window frames and the addition of the current tripartite shopfront to ground floor (Bushmills Conservation Area Guide; NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/3/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/3/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1855)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/3/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904)
4. PRONI VAL/1/D/1/7 – Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834)
5. PRONI VAL/1/B/132 – Townland Valuations (c. 1835)
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/25A – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/8A-D – Annual Revisions (1859-1894)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/6A-C – Annual Revisions (1895-1929)
9. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/13 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
10. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/22 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
12. PRONI Wills Catalogue (17 Jan 1888; 25 Mar 1927)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. First Survey Record – HB05/08/52
15. NIEA HB Records – HB05/08/052

Secondary Sources
1. Girvan, W. D., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings & areas of architectural importance in North Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.
2. ‘Bushmills Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment, 1992 – includes Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902).

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
X. Local Interest
T. Historic Importance
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

Two-storey, three-bay, painted rendered mid-terrace house with shop front and coach arch, 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. Originally constructed as a dwelling with a store and stables to the rear, the building has an interesting social history as it operated as a public reading room during the 1880s. Despite modern alterations such as the large mono-pitched extension to the rear with PVC windows, the building retains historic character and proportions within its terraced, village centre setting.