56-58 Main Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey three-bay smooth-rendered painted end-of-terrace former house. L-shaped plan-form with shop front on ground floor level. Natural slated pitched roof has an unpainted rendered chimney stacks to the NW side and a stone (squared basalt with strap pointing) chimney stack to the SE side, both centred on ridge. Built between 1834 and 1855. Situated within a terrace row on the east side of Main Street and located on the corner of Main Street and Woodvale on the north east side of Market Square. Main Street is aligned parallel with the Bush River to the West side.

Walling is of line-marked rendered painted finish to front, gable and rear elevations; shop floor on ground floor accessed directly from the footpath. Windows on first floor level are multi-paned timber sliding sashes with moulded architrave surrounds on sills, all painted in contrasting colour; painted rendered toothed quoins to either side of front elevation; uPVC rainwater goods throughout.

Principal elevation faces South-west; three bays wide on first floor; ground floor has timber shop front divided by replacement timber pilasters with signage above spanning almost the full width of the elevation; there is a single entrance doorway, centred on elevation having a pair of panelled timber doors with transom light over. First floor level has three bays, equally divided with moulded plaster architrave surrounds having 6/6 timber sliding sash windows.

South-east side elevation gable-end faces onto Woodvale with painted quoins all set on a painted rendered plinth. Right side of elevation to rear extension has two window bays on ground and first floor with moulded rendered architrave surrounds painted in contrasting colour, ground floor windows are 8/8 and first floor windows are 6/6 timber sliding sash windows; there is a small window on attic level having a semi-circular arched head and a 1/1 timber sliding sash window (with horns). The SE side elevation extends to the NE side towards a large car parking area; elevation has a series of shop front style windows on ground floor and timber casements on first floor level, end bay has a wall dormer to attic level having a timber casement window with a moulded rendered architrave surround.

North-east elevation to the rear faces onto supermarket car park; walling is of smooth render without lines; the fenestration pattern is irregular with three doorways on ground floor level, four window bays at first floor level, not equally spaced; there is a single window bay at half-landing height to the right side and a single large window on attic level; gable-end is topped by a small painted rendered chimney stack with a single circular buff coloured clay pot.

North-west side elevation faces onto an amenity area within the car park; walling is of smooth rendered painted finish; elevation is blank. There is a three storey gable end to the NE which steps down to a flat roofed two storey section with a tubular steel balustrade to the parapet.

Setting:
Located in the centre of Bushmills village, No's 56-58 Main Street is situated within a terrace row on the east side of Main Street and located on the corner of Main Street and Woodvale on the north east side of Market Square. It is within Bushmills Conservation Area.

Materials:
Roof: Natural Slate
RWGs: uPVC
Walling: Render painted
Windows: Timber sliding sash / Timber casements

Historical information

Nos 56-58 Main Street, a two-storey three-bay corner-site building possessing a double shopfront to ground floor, 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). Nos 56-58 was not depicted on the Townland Valuations Town Plan (c. 1834) or in the contemporary Townland Valuations (c. 1835) but 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.

Griffith's Valuation (1859) recorded that nos 56-58 Main Street was initially valued at £17 and was leased by the MacNaghten family to William McMullan, a local shopkeeper. McMullan continued to reside at the address until his death in 1860 at which time nos 56-58 Main Street passed to a Mr. Robert Anderson. In the 1870s the property was occupied by Lyle Taggart, a local grocer who operated a shop from the premises. The Taggart family continued to occupy the site until the 1920s. The building was depicted along an L-shaped layout on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1902) whist the contemporary 1901 Census of Ireland described nos 56-58 Main Street as a 1st class shop and dwelling that consisted of 14 rooms and possessed extensive outbuildings to rear which included a stable, coach house, two cow houses, a piggery, barn and a store. The Taggart family vacated the site in c. 1921 when Robert King, a local merchant and auctioneer, took possession of nos 56-58 Main Street. King had purchased the site outright from the MacNaghten estate by the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) which increased the value of nos 56-58 Main Street to £50 and also noted that the building was utilised as a shop and petrol refilling station. Following King’s death in 1958 nos 56-58 Main Street was occupied by a Mr. James Ramage who maintained the shop and petrol filling station at the site (PRONI Wills). By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the building stood at £72.

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 56-58 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 56-58 Main Street underwent an extensive renovation in 1988 which included the replacement of its windows with new sliding sash frames, the addition of a new entrance door and the construction of a new shopfront. The mid-19th century building was almost completely demolished in 2004 in order to modernise and extend the interior floor space of Ramage’s grocery store. The original front and side elevation of nos 56-58 Main Street was retained and incorporated into the new supermarket store as part of a façade retention scheme. Aside from this façade, all of the original fabric and outbuildings have been lost as part of this reconstruction. In June 2005, Listed Building Consent and planning permission was granted for refurbishment of the existing listed building, removal of outbuildings and extension of retail premises. (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 (19 Jun 1860; 24 Mar 1958)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. First Survey Record – HB05/08/77
15. NIEA HB Records – HB05/08/077

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).

Evaluation

Two-storey three-bay end-of-terrace former dwelling, built between 1834 and 1855 and located on the north east side of Market Square on the east side of Main Street in the centre of Bushmills village within the Bushmills Conservation Area. Operating as a shop from c.1859 and in the same use until present day, this building has undergone extensive renovations which included the demolition of most of the historic fabric, retaining only the original front and gable façades as a façade retention scheme. As a result, the original floor plan and all internal historic fabric and detailing has been lost. A large extension was added to the rear with a large flat-roofed section. As such, the building does not have sufficient architectural and historic interest to be considered special.