47-49 Lower Main Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey three-bay smooth-rendered former house, built in c. 1834. Rectangular plan-form with a shop front and archway on ground floor level; chimney stacks to the SE and NW side of a re-slated pitched roof. Set within a terrace row along Main Street Bushmills. Situated on the West side of Main Street. Located to the north of the village with views south towards the Market Square; the Main Street is aligned parallel with the Bush River on the West side.

Walling is of smooth-rendered painted finish; ground floor contains a shop front to the right side and an archway to the left side leading to a modern youth hostel within an enclosed court yard; main front elevation is accessed directly from the footpath on Main Street; first floor is three bays wide with two flat-roofed dormers to the front slope of slated pitched roof; all windows are set within plaster band surrounds painted in contrasting colour, all on painted sills; upper floor windows are 1/1 timber sliding sash; cast-iron rainwater goods to front elevation, uPVC rainwater goods to rear elevation.

Principal elevation faces North-east; ground floor contains a replacement timber shop front to the right side having a single entrance doorway and a large display window divided vertically into three single panes; large archway with band surround and keystone is located to the left side containing a pair of vertically sheeted timber gates closing the rear yard access off from the street frontage; timber shop front has a single entrance doorway containing a modern timber panelled door with glazed top panels; modern signage to frieze above; three square headed window bays on first floor are equally spaced; two dormers to slate roof have lead roof covering; slate pitched roof has a shared unpainted rendered chimney stacks to the SE side and a shared rough-cast rendered chimney stack to NW side, centred on ridge; all set on a painted rendered plinth; half-round cast-iron guttering discharges to a cast-iron circular downpipes.

South-east and North west sides to neighbouring properties No. 51 (HB05/08/059) & 45 Main Street.

South-west elevation overlooks a shared rear court yard, accessed via archway from the NE side; walling is of painted rough-cast render having three timber casement windows on first floor level. South-east wall of archway contains a series of vertically sheeted timber doors.

New outbuilding is two-storeys high; walling is of painted rough-cast render with timber sheeting to a central circulation and foyer area; the fenestration pattern is irregular consisting of window of various sizes and styles, all timber casements.

Setting:
The terrace row is situated on the West side of Main Street with views south towards Market Square. Located in the north section of the village in Bushmills Conservation Area.

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate to front (re-slated)
RWGs: Cast-iron (NE) uPVC (SW)
Walling: Render
Windows: Timber sliding sash (NE) timber casements (SW)

Historical information

Nos 47-49 Main Street, a two-storey three-bay late-Georgian dwelling (with coach arch) located on the west side of Main Street in Bushmills, was constructed in c. 1834 as part of the reconstruction of the village 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 in the 1820s the village was extensively rebuilt by the MacNaghten family of Bushmills House (who had acquired the estate in 1787). Nos 47-49 Main Street was depicted on the Townland Valuation Town Plan (c. 1834). The contemporary Townland Valuation (1835) described the structure as a 1A class dwelling and shop (that is a new or nearly new slated building) that measured 35ft by 27.6ft and stood 20ft in height. The house was initially occupied by a Mr. William McMullen and was valued at £10.
There was little change to the layout of nos 47-49 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 was increased in value to £16 and was leased by the MacNaghten estate to Robert Hopkins, a local spirit dealer who established a public house at the site (UTD). Hopkins remained at nos 47-49 Main Street until c. 1869 when the site was briefly occupied by Charles McNeill. In c. 1879 the public house passed to Alexander Halliday whose family resided at the address until the 1930s. The Census of Ireland noted that Annie Halliday occupied the building in 1901 and in that year the census building return described nos 47-49 Main Street as a 1st class public house that consisted of 11 rooms and possessed a stable, a coach house and a store amongst its rear outbuildings (accessed by the building’s coach arch). The contemporary Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902) depicted the house along its current layout and recorded a rectangular-shaped outbuilding to rear (now demolished). The Halliday family had purchased nos 47-49 Main Street outright from the MacNaghten estate by the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland which increased the value of the public house to £25 and noted that the property was known as ‘The White Horse Hotel.’ A Ms. Annie Dobbins was recorded as occupant of the site from c. 1942 and remained at the address until c. 1964 when a Mr. John Cochrane became the new proprietor of the public house. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of nos 47-49 Main Street had been greatly raised to £84 and 10 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). Nos 47-49 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 nos 47-49 Main Street underwent a renovation in 1995 which included the reslating of its roof in natural slate. Planning permission in 2000 was granted for the 'demolition and rebuilding of the derelict shop and domestic premises' and also for construction of a new youth hostel (consisting of 19 bedrooms) to the rear. The interior of the listed building was also refurbished at that time. (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 OS/6/1/3/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921)
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 – HB05/08/060
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/08/060

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.

Evaluation

Two-storey, three-bay smooth-rendered former dwelling and shop, built in c. 1834 and located in the northern section of Bushmills village on the west side of Lower Main Street, in the Bushmills Conservation Area. The front facade has had much alteration with a replacement shop-front and a modern archway now cuts through the building, giving access to the rear courtyard where a large modern youth hostel has been constructed. As a result of the modern renovations, the original floor plan and internal historic fabric and detailing no longer exist. The overall scale and massing of the rear youth hostel detracts from the historic character. As such, the building is not of sufficient architectural and historic interest to be considered special.