65 MAIN STREET

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey three-bay rough-cast rendered house. Rectangular plan-form with a two-storey rendered extension to the SW side; shop front on ground floor level; coach archway to right side of main elevation; unpainted rendered chimney stacks to the SE and NW side of a slated pitched roof. Set within a terrace row along Main Street Bushmills. Built between 1834 and 1855 to designs by unknown architect. Situated on the West side of the Main Street on a corner site of the Market Square. Located in the centre of the Village of Bushmills with the Main Street aligned parallel with the Bush River to the West side.

Walling is of pebble dashed finish; ground floor contains a single entrance doorway, a shop front and coach archway to the right side leading to rear yard, all accessed directly from the footpath on the Market Square; first floor is of three bays wide set within plaster band surrounds painted in contrasting colours; cast-iron rainwater goods to front elevation.

Principal elevation faces North-east accessed directly off paved footpath on the Market Square; ground floor contains two entrance doorways, left side contains a timber door with top section having 2 diamond-faced raised-and-fielded panels; right side doorway contains a pair of timber half-doors with each top section having a diamond-faced raised-and-fielded panel; windows on ground and first floors are concealed with vinyl window graphics; (ground floor bays are not aligned with bays on floor above), coach archway contains a pair of large vertically sheeted timber gates. Slate pitched roof has a cast-iron roof light to front slope; half-round cast-iron guttering discharges to a cast-iron circular downpipe via a decorative hooper (lower section of downpipe is uPVC).

South-east gable elevation (where seen) - walling is of unpainted rendered finish topped by a rendered chimney stack; there are two small timber casement windows at attic level; angle of rear roof slope changes, section of wall contains a timber casement window at first floor level. Rear return SE elevation is blank.

South-west elevation to the rear is set within a large enclosed yard surrounded by a high stone and red brick wall; main elevation (where see) is abutted to the right side by a two-storey smooth-rendered extension having a slated pitched roof over; main elevation not visible. Rear return walling has a single window bay at first floor level having a timber sliding sash on a concrete sill (remaining elevation not visible).

North west side is adjoined to neighbouring property No. 63 Main Street.

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

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate
RWGs: Cast-iron
Walling: Rough-cast render (NE)
Windows: Timber sliding sash (SW)

Historical information

No. 65 Main Street, a two-storey three-bay building located on the west side of Main Street, was constructed between 1834 and 1855. 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. 65 Main Street was most likely erected in c. 1840 with the laying out of Market Square and the construction of the second bridge across the River Bush. The building was first recorded with certainty in the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1855) and the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859).

Griffith Valuation (1859) recorded that No. 65 Main Street was initially valued at £9 and was leased to Thomas Saul by Robert Boyd, a local grocer and ironmonger. Thomas Saul continued to reside at the site until c. 1870 when the property passed to other tenants. The occupants of the building changed with frequency over the following three decades and by the turn of the 20th century No. 65 Main Street was inhabited by John Templeton, a local flesher who operated a butcher’s shop from the premises. The 1901 Census described the building as a 2nd class shop and dwelling that consisted of eight rooms. The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902) depicted the building along its current layout and noted that the site possessed a number of small outbuildings to rear (now replaced with modern outbuildings). The Templeton family continued to reside at No. 65 Main Street until c. 1925 when a Ms. Elizabeth McMichael took possession of the site. The value of the building was increased to £21 under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which noted that the McMichael family purchased No. 65 Main Street outright from the MacNaghten family in c. 1954. The building was inhabited by Eleanor and Elizabeth McMichael by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the total rateable value of No. 65 Main Street stood at £25.

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. 65 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 a butcher’s shop continued to operate from the ground floor of No. 65 Main Street until the 1990s when the building fell vacant (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. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
13. First Survey Record – HB05/08/54
14. NIEA HB Records – HB05/08/054

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
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Two-storey three-bay pebble dashed house built between 1834 and 1855. Rectangular plan-form with a two-storey rendered extension to the SW side; shop front on ground floor level; coach archway to right side of main elevation; unpainted rendered chimney stacks to the SE and NW side of a slated pitched roof. Set at the end of a terrace on Main Street, Bushmills on a key corner of the Market Square. The elevational treatment of no. 65 expresses strong unity and rhythm, typical of buildings along Bushmill's Main Street. Sturdy in character, it has a good setting, and strong group value. Front facade is of particular interest, with strong urban vernacular quality displayed in the informal disposition of openings.