11 MAIN ST.

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Single-storey three-bay pebble dashed mid-terraced house with a small single storey flat roof extension to the rear; rectangular plan-form with a pitched roof; set within a terrace formerly known as 'Metal Row'; built at the same time prior to 1832. Located on the west side of Lower Main Street with views south to Market Square, at the northern end of Bushmills village centre with the Bush River to the west. The terraced row is situated to the immediate south of Woodville House Mill [HB05/08/071].

Pebble dashed walling; small replacement painted timber 1/1 sliding sash windows with exposed boxes over painted stone sloping sills and unpainted rendered / plain concrete band surrounds to windows of front elevation; all set on a painted rendered plinth; natural slate front roof pitch and replacement fibre cement rear roof pitch with black clay ridge tiles and a single unpainted re-rendered chimney-stack at SW end, no pots visible; uPVC rainwater goods throughout.

Principal elevation faces South-east accessed directly via pavement from Main Street; three bays wide all set on an unpainted rendered plinth; elevation of each property along the terrace row is divided by unpainted rendered quoins; slightly recessed doorway, centred on elevation, contains painted panelled timber door with a small semicircular vision panel, divided into four segments, with textured glazing and metal door furniture, within a plain concrete architrave surround. Front door is flanked by basalt blocks, roughly hexagonal in shape and similar to stones found at Giant’s Causeway.

South-west and North-east sides are abutted by neighbouring properties No. 13 & 9 Lower Main Street [HB05/08/070 D&F].

North-west elevation overlooks a small rear yard; rear elevation is abutted to right side by a single storey flat roof extension; there is a single square headed uPVC window to the left side of main rear elevation; extension walling is pebble dash finish, there is a timber panelled door to left side and window opening to right with a uPVC window to NW elevation overlooking the rear yard; uPVC rainwater goods to rear elevation and extension.

Setting:
Located on the west side of Lower Main Street with views south to Market Square, at the northern end of Bushmills village centre with the Bush River to the west.

Materials:
Roof: Natural slate
RWGs: uPVC
Walling: Pebble dashed
Windows: 1/1 Timber sliding sash (front) / uPVC (rear).

Historical information

No. 11 Lower Main Street, a single-storey three-bay dwelling which forms part of a terrace formerly known as ‘Metal Row,’ was constructed prior to 1832. The Bushmills Conservation Guide (1992) records that the village was already a significant settlement by the end of the 18th century but, from the 1820s, Bushmills was largely rebuilt and expanded by the Macnaghten family who had acquired the estate in 1787. The early-19th century terrace at nos 5-19 Lower Main Street was first depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832) along its current layout at the northern end of Bushmills. The terrace is located to the immediate south of Woodville House Mill (HB05/08/071), a two-storey dwelling and former iron foundry which gave nos 5-19 Lower Main Street its former name of Metal Row. The contemporary Townland Valuations (c. 1834) records that No. 11 Lower Main Street was initially occupied by a Mr. John Cooke and was valued at £2 and 17 shillings. The valuer described the house as a 2B+ building (that is a thatched building of medium age, but still in sound order and good repair) that measured 29.6ft by 19.6ft and stood 7.3ft in height.

There was little alteration to the site by the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1855) but the contemporary Griffith’s Valuation (1859) notes that No. 11 Lower Main Street had been slightly decreased in value to £2 and 10 shillings since the 1830s. The valuer recorded that the thatched house continued to be leased by Sir Edmund Macnaghten of Dundarave House (HB05/08/005) to John Cooke whose family remained at the site until the 1920s. Under the 1901 Census of Ireland No. 11 Lower Main Street was occupied by Archibald Cooke, a local nail maker who resided at the site with his wife and three children. The accompanying census building return records that the thatched roofs of nos 5-19 Lower Main Street had been slated by at least the turn of the 20th century. The return specifically described No. 11 Lower Main Street as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of three inhabited rooms and was partially utilised as a shop for Cooke’s business. Cooke continued to reside at the site until c. 1921 when the site passed to the Joab family who occupied the dwelling until the 1960s. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the value of No. 11 Lower Main Street was increased to £3 and 10 shillings. The site was purchased outright by the Joab family in the 1950s and continued to be occupied by Thomas Joab, a local tailor, until his death in 1964 (PRONI Wills). By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) No. 11 Lower Main Street was occupied by a Mr. Harry McNeill and had been further raised in value to £5 and 5 shillings.

The UAHS Guide for North Antrim (1972) described Bushmill’s Main Street as ‘a well scaled street, for the most part excellently painted and maintained. Many good doorways and shopfronts remain. While no building apart from the former Court House is worthy of individual mention, the unity of the street frontages much be maintained.’ The guide specifically described Lower Main Street as ‘a pleasant curving street facing the grounds of Dundarave’ (UAHS guide, p. 16). No. 11 Lower Main Street was listed in 1980 and underwent an extensive renovation in 1981 which included the installation of a new kitchen extension to rear. The building was included in the Bushmills Conservation Area which was designated in 1992 to protect the village which possesses the highest number of Listed Buildings for any town or village in the North East of Northern Ireland (NIEA HB Records; Bushmills Conservation Area guide).

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. 1843)
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. PRONI Wills Catalogue (28 Mar 1964)
14. First Survey Record – HB05/08/070
15. NIEA HB Records – HB05/08/070E

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.

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

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

Evaluation

Single-storey, three-bay, pebble dashed mid-terraced house, built prior to 1832. Located on the west side of Lower Main Street with views south to Market Square, at the northern end of Bushmills village centre with the Bush River to the west. The terrace is located to the immediate south of Woodville House Mill (HB05/08/071), a two-storey dwelling and former iron foundry which gave Nos 5-19 Lower Main Street its former name of ‘Metal Row’, as it later housed nail makers, foundry and mill workers. Thatched until the turn of the twentieth century, No 11 was initially leased by Sir Edmund Macnaghten of Dundarave House (HB05/08/005), who was responsible for the redevelopment and expansion of Bushmills from the 1820s. While No 11 has been altered, it retains its external historic character with its simple proportions. It has group value with the rest of the terrace, Nos 19-13 & 9-5 (HB05/08/070 A-D & F-G).