74 Castle Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A 2½ storey, 3 bay wide corner building used as a fast foot outlet with a long modern shopfront, and back return along Clare Street. Elevational to Castle Street, ground floor, from left: blank wall with wall sign, shopfront with central aluminium framed glazed doors, large single pane display window on each side with framing of panelled pilasters, deep name fascia, framed, cornice, stopped ends. At 1st floor 3 no. horizontal enlarged modern windows, subdivided into 5 panes each. Continuous corbel course with chamfered uPVC gutter. Walls smooth rendered and painted with rusticated quoins. Natural slated roof, steep 45º pitch which is unusual in the street, plaster barges, wide chimney stack on each gable. Metal flue projecting out of upper middle of roof slope with velux type window above it. Projecting flourescent sign.

Gable to Clare Street is of much more historic appearance, ground floor, from right : vertical window, off centre on gable, cill almost at footwalk level. At 1st floor a modern window placed off centre and another lighting attic floor almost directly under chimney stack.

Back return fronting onto Clare Street : 2 doorways, side by side with simple rectangular fanlight, to right 3 windows vertically over each other, ( one over one sash), probably lighting stair landings, to left of doorways 2 vertical windows at 1st floor.Wall rendered and painted as elevation to Castle Street. Roof slated with 2 chimney stacks.

Beyond the back return a single segmented arch gateway without roof over and links to random rubble stone building. The rear of the return is unrendered with blackstone(basalt) construction. Large sandstone quoins. Central modern door with blocked brick window centrally placed. Rest of rear consists of corbel bracket supporting cast iron gutter on unrendered side. Asecond return over chip shop and flat roof between to alley.

Building makes a positive statement at corner of Castle and Clare Streets maintaining the building lines.

Historical information

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The first valuation of December 1834* records a house of similar dimensions to the present on this site . As the later valuations do not record any major changes to the main property we can assume that the 1834 house is that we see today. The building is undoubtedly one of the 127 two storey houses mentioned in the OS Memoirs of 1835, and like many of the properties within Castle Street may date from c.1740-70, when the town assumed much of its present form under improving landlord Hugh Boyd.
It steep pitch is suggestive of a sligtly earlier date than its neighbours however and the unconfirmed note in the UAHS Glens of antrim
“ built by Charles Gray 1740” may be an accurate label.
References

Primary Sources
References- Primary sources
1 ‘Pigot & Co’s City of Dublin and Hibernian Commercial Directory (Manchester 1824)
2 OS Memoirs, Parish of Ramoan, 1831-39, reprinted in ‘Ordnance Survey memoirs of Ireland…’ ed Angelique Day, Patrick McWilliams and Noirin Dobson (Belfast, QUB, 1994), p.92 etc
3 PRONI OS/6/1/8/1 OS map, Co Antrim, sh 8, 1832
4 PRONI VAL/1B/135 First valuation, Ramoan parish, 1834
5 Samuel Lewis, ‘Topographical history of Ireland’ (London, 1837)
6 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1846)
7 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1856)
8 PRONI OS/6/1/8/2 OS map, Co Antrim, sh 8, 1856
9 PRONI VAL/2B/1/28c Second valuation, Ramoan parish, 1859
10 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3a-g Annual valuation revision books, Ballycastle ED, 1864-1921
11 ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1870)
12 PRONI VAL/12E/8/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1898-c.1935
13 PRONI VAL/12E/8/2/1 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, c.1905
14 PRONI VAL/12B/2/5a-c Annual valuation revision books, Ballycastle UD, 1921-31
15 PRONI VAL/3G/6/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1934-50
16 PRONI VAL/3B/1/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Ballycastle UD, 1935
17 PRONI VAL/3C/1/6 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, 1936-57
1. O.S. Map 1832 Antrim sh. 8.
2. O.S. Map 1832 Rev. 1856 Antrim sh. 8.
3. Notes, 1st Survey, E.H.S. Hill Street, Belfast
4. O.S. Memoirs of Ireland, Parishes of Co Antrim IX, 1830-2, 1835, 1838-9
Ed by Angelique Day, Patrick McWilliams and Noirin Dobson p. 94.

Secondary Sources
1. UAHS Glens of Antrim p. 49

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Possibly this house has walls of mid 18th century and the overall form of the building is good, making a positive statement at the corner of Castle and Clare Streets. It has been substantially renovated and has a modern shopfront. It is not of special architectural or historical interest.