18 Ann Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A 3 bay wide 2½ storey building with shopfront.

The shopfront occupies full width of building with off centre glazed shopdoor with display windows on each side of unequal size, framed in coloured aluminium sections almost to footwalk level, over housing for awning and the whole surrounded by polished red granite facings up to underside of 1st floor cills. The bold lettering is planted on the granite. The shopfront is modern style which does not accord with the traditional shopfront of the conservation area or what is being established as acceptable.

At 1st floor 3 no. 2 pane windows, upper pane top hung, decorative guards on cills for window boxes. Wall smooth rendered and painted above granite. ½ round gutter, shared downpipe, natural slated roof, red ridge tile, 3 no. velux type windows.

Historical information

Probably a mid or earlier 19th cent. building. After the current owner acquired property in 1983, he reslated the roof and turned shop into retail butcher. In the process the historic façade was removed and much of the interior. Work was initially carried out to the building without consent and after consultation with the Department, some detail in a traditional manner was later agreed. This was not fully carried out. Enforcement action was considered but not pursued.

Described in the first survey of 1973 as: 'A two storey, three bay rendered building with shopfront. Pilasters rise to a painted fascia. The shop windows are six pane, the entrance is surmounted by a two pane fanlight. Upper windows are sashed with vertical division. As scrolled and open-ended bracket projects over the pavement' In 1970 it was occupied by ' Irish Home Industries'.

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 property (apart from the shop front) we can assume that the 1834 house remained largely unchanged to the 1980's. The building is (or was) probably one of the 127 two storey houses mentioned in the OS Memoirs of 1835.

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 VAL/1B/135 First valuation, Ramoan parish, 1834
4 Samuel Lewis, ‘Topographical history of Ireland’ (London, 1837)
5 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1846)
6 ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1856)
7 PRONI VAL/2B/1/28c Second valuation, Ramoan parish, 1859
8 PRONI VAL/12B/2/3a-g Annual valuation revision books, Ballycastle ED, 1864-1921
9 ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland (Manchester, 1870)
10 PRONI VAL/12E/8/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1898-c.1935
11 PRONI VAL/12E/8/2/1 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, c.1905
12 PRONI VAL/12B/2/5a-c Annual valuation revision books, Ballycastle UD, 1921-31
13 PRONI VAL/3G/6/1/1-3 Valuation plan of Ballycastle, 1934-50
14 PRONI VAL/3B/1/5 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Ballycastle UD, 1935
15 PRONI VAL/3C/1/6 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, 1936-57
16. EHS 1st Survey dated 5th April 1973

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A modern style shopfront in good materials but out of context in a conservation area.