6 The Diamond

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A 3 bay wide 3 storey end of 3 terrace, gabled, long back 2 storey return. The ground floor has a central 6 panelled door with on each side a 3 light 10 pane window. The top 2 pane in each light are top hung, the remainder fixed. Some of the panes of glass are coloured.
Window frames in uPVC. Above the entrance door a short length framed fascia with Gothic lettering – “The Diamond Bar”. At 1st floor 3 2 light windows not quite centred over the openings below. Each light has 8 panes, the top 2 of which being top hung, frames in uPVC. Each window has a small window box. Between 2 of the windows a circular standard Guinness sign. At the 2nd floor 3 similar windows directly over those below but of slightly less height. There appears to be a shallow corbel course under the eaves. ½ round gutter. Natural slated roof.

The gable to Fairhill Street is smooth, rendered, unpainted, no barges, 2 recently inserted small horizontal 3 pane windows off centre at ground floor. A large chimney stack but only 2 pots.

The rear of the building a long flat roofed back return which occupies about ½ of the façade and between it and Fairhill Street c lean to single storey structure, smooth, rendered and roofed with corrugated iron. There are single windows at 1st and 2nd floors above the lean to structure. The remainder of the walls rendered in a mixture of smooth and roughcast. A yard extends to rear with a high concrete block wall and gateway to the street. All very untidy.

No 6 is the west end building of a terrace of 3 with a constant ridge and eaves lines.

Historical information

Precise date of building not known but it appears for the first time on the OS map of 1857; a much smaller structure appeared on the OS map of 1832. The building had windows of a georgian proportion when recorded in 1972 in the first listing survey. These were replaced and enlarged in 1977. The building was listed in 1981.

References – Primary Sources
1. OS Map 1832, Co Antrim 8.
2. OS Map 1857, Co Antrim 8.
3. EHS files.

Secondary Sources
1. UAHS, Glens of Antrim (Belfast, 1971), pp 46 and 52 (item 4).
2. DOENI, Ballycastle Conservation Area (N.D.), pp 50-51.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A mid 19th century, 3 bay wide, 3 storey,end of terrace public house replacing an earlier 18th cent building, now substantially altered inside and out. It is not of special architectural or historical interest. Additional alterations to neighbours has reduced the group value of the terrace