12 The Vennel

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small, plain, two storey dry-dash rendered terrace house which appears to have assumed its present form c.1900. The property is set on the N side of The Vennel.

The front elevation faces roughly S and is symmetrical. To the right hand side of the ground floor is a panelled timber door with plain rectangular fanlight. To the left of the doorway is a flat-arch window with timber sash frame (1/1). There is a smaller window to the first floor, directly in line with that to the ground floor and set close to the eaves. This window has a replacement timber frame with hopper opener. The front façade is finished in dry dash (‘salt & pepper’).

The rear elevation could not be seen in its entirety. To the rear there is a large single-storey flat-roofed extension. This extension appears to have two windows (of varying size) to its W face. To the rear façade of the main building there is a doorway to the right hand side of the ground floor level, with timber and glazed replacement door, whilst to the first floor there is a window with frame as first floor window to front. The whole of the rear elevation appears to be finished in unpainted cement render.

The gabled roof is slated and has a rendered chimneystack to the W side. The rw goods appear to be wholly PVC.

Historical information

VENNEL STREET
Prior to the building of the Coast Road in the 1830s, Vennel Street or ‘The Vennel’ was the main road to Glenarm from Larne and the south. As the name, ‘Vennel’ (archaic Scots- ‘a narrow winding lane’), and its sloping topography suggest, it was the least attractive of the village’s four main streets. This is reflected in the fact that the earliest leases concerning the area (which date from 1743 onwards) refer to it as the ‘Stinking Vennel’ or ‘Stinking Vennel Street’ and repeatedly mention ‘waste tenements’.

John O’Hara’s map of 1779 shows many small densely packed dwellings along both sides of much of its length. During much of the next century and a half, however, most of this housing was replaced- the 1832 OS map showing a very large gap on the south side, the annotations to the second valuation records showing much post 1859 rebuilding on the north side, and the 1900s OS plans and photographic evidence showing that most of the present south side appears to be early 20th century.

No.12
The valuation records suggest that this property (like much of the rest of Vennel Street) was built some time after 1859. Annotations to the map accompanying the second valuation suggest the building dates from c.1900. It is possible, however, that the property incorporates some of the fabric of an earlier, single-storey, building which was simply raised in height. Many buildings within the street appear to have developed in this way, adopting their present form in the very late 1800s or opening years of the 20th century.

Map evidence suggests the flat-roofed extension to the rear was added after c.1973.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.2977/1/5/1A, 1C, D.29773A/4/65/64A-B, 74A, 100, 103 etc. Antrim Papers Leases relating to property in ‘The Stinking Vennel’ / ‘Stinking Vennel Street’, 1743, 1754, 1784, 1788, 1831 etc.
2 PRONI D.2977/36/3/1A Antrim Papers Map, showing the Town of Glenarm, plus Glenarm Castle and demesne, by John O'Hara, 1779. [Includes a list of the tenants in Glenarm town.]
3 Ulster Museum A view of Glenarm Castle (painting dating from some time between 1768 and 1812) [This painting also shows the town itself.]
4 View of Glenarm c.1769-c.1812 (painting in possession of Lord Dunluce)
5 “The town and castle of Glenarm, Co. Antrim” [1830] by T.M. Baynes in ‘Ireland illustrated’ (London 1831)
6 ‘Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland…’ vol.13 [c.1830-35] ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1992), p.127
7 PRONI OS/6/1/29/1 OS map, Co Antrim sh 29, 1832-33
8 PRONI VAL/1B/149 First valuation, Tickmacrevan parish, 1833 [The map to accompany this valuation is now lost making it extremely difficult, (and in most cases impossible), to tell which properties the valuation book is actually referring to. In some cases (most notably the west side of Toberwine Street) the writer has been able to successfully correlate the information contained within the second valuation notebook for 1859 with that of the first valuation, in order to decipher some of the details contained within the latter, but for most properties within Glenarm this has not been possible.]
9 Samuel Lewis, ‘A topographical dictionary of Ireland’ vol.1 (London 1837), p.658
10 William Makepeace Thackery, ‘Irish sketchbook’ (1843), p.238
11 Mrs and Mrs S.C. Hall, ‘Ireland: Its scenery, character etc., vol.III (London 1843), p.130
12 PRONI VAL/2D/1/11 Valuation town plan of Glenarm, 1859 [with later annotations- ?c.1900]
13 PRONI VAL/2B/1/41B Second valuation [notebook], village of Glenarm, 1859 [In the light of the problems concerning the first valuation this notebook and its accompanying map are both invaluable. For many areas the details of the second valuation only survive in the final printed form, with the names of householders and leaseholders and the rateable value for each property supplied only. For some areas, Glenarm among them, the working notebooks compiled by the valuers have survived, providing information such as dimensions of buildings, their use, the number of rooms they contain, notes on age and condition, and, (occasionally), comments regarding the overall appearance of properties. In many respect these notebooks closely resemble those of the first valuation, but frequently contain more detail.]
14 PRONI OS/8/103/1 OS town plan of Glenarm, 1903
15 PRONI VAL/12E/31/1 Valuation town plan of Glenarm, 1907-[1935]
16 PRONI D.2977/37/3/1 Antrim Papers Plans and elevations of three proposed kitchen houses at Vennel Street, ?c.1920s-30s
17 PRONI VAL/3G/20/1 Valuation town plan of Glenarm. 1936-57
18 EHS OS sheet 45-12, 1973

Secondary sources
1 C.E.B. Brett, ‘Historic buildings…Glens of Antrim’ (Belfast 1971), p.16
2 Eileen Black, “A view of Glenarm Castle” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.7 (1979), pp.29-30
3 Jimmie Irvine, “A map of Glenarm- 1779” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.9 (1981), pp.52-61
4 Hon. Hector McDonnell, “The building of the parish church at Glenarm” in ‘The Glynns- Journal of The Glens of Antrim Historical Society’ vol.10 (1982), pp.31-36
5 Felix McKillop, ‘Glenarm- A local history’ (Glenarm 1987)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Small, plain, two storey dry-dash rendered terrace house which appears to have assumed its present form c.1900. An unremarkable building largely typical of Vennel Street, this property has witnessed some unsympathetic alterations in recent years including the addition of a large flat-roofed rear extension and the insertion of some unsuitable window frames. Does not meet criteria for listing and not of special architectural or historic interest.