32a and 32b Oldtown Street, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, BT80 8EF

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

This is a terraced two-and-a-half-storey house with a single-storey basement, built c. 1870. It is roughly rectangular in plan with a three-storey pitched extension to the rear West. There is a further two-storey extension and an attached two-storey outbuilding to the rear.

External walls are hammer-dressed regular-coursed sandstone with render to the basement. The rear elevation is unpainted dry-dash render. There is artificial slate to roof with cast-iron rainwater goods. There is a brick chimney with profiled stepped capping to the South.

The front East elevation faces onto Oldtown Street. There is a recessed segmental-headed doorway to the right of the ground floor. The door is timber and glazed with an overlight. There is a square-headed window to the left of the ground floor, with 9/9 timber casement frames. The ground level openings have simple rolled mouldings to the heads. The upper levels has 6/9 windows with dressings as previous. All windows have cut-stone sills. There are concrete steps leading to basement level with painted wrought iron railings. The basement has a timber casement window to the left of the ground floor. There is a continuous stone plinth at sill level. There is a square-headed doorway below the main entrance to the right with a glazed and timber door.

The rear elevation has an assortment of timber casement windows and a door visible to the second floor. All other floors are obscured by the returns. There is a metal fire escape staircase connecting the ground and upper floors.

The side elevation, where exposed, is rendered.

Extension:
The three-storey pitched extension has a square-headed timber casement windows to the side South.
The two-storey rendered extension has no openings. There is artificial slate to all roofs.

Outbuilding:
The two-storey stone and rendered outbuilding has two irregularly placed window openings to the South side elevation. Windows contain grills. There is a replacement artificial roof and uPVC rainwater goods.

Setting:
The building is set back from Oldtown Street on a rising slope behind a low rendered wall with cast-iron railings. The street largely comprises a mixture of two-storey and three-storey Victorian buildings.

Historical information

The site of this building and its two neighbours to the north [HB09/12/003B, C] is shown developed on the OS map of 1833-34. In the first valuation of 1835 the plot is recorded as being taken up with three old thatched dwellings of differing sizes, that to the north single-storey, that to the centre of similar footprint but two-storey, and that to the south also two-storey, but considerably larger than its neighbours. The properties are noted as occupied by a Hugh Mullen, Thomas Bell, and Robert Dunseith, respectively, with the northernmost house exempt from valuation on account of its modest proportions. These dwellings were still standing at the time of the 1859 valuation, with Thomas Bell still occupying the middle building, a Mary Ridell living within that to the north and a Joseph Ferguson within that to the south, with a William Paul the immediate lessor of all three.

In 1870 all three houses were demolished by Mr. Paul and replaced with those we see today. This particular dwelling was first occupied by an Andrew Johnston, followed by a Sarah A. Ferlie in 1884. By this stage Thomas Paul (who contemporary directories suggest was a yarn merchant) had become leaseholder, remaining so until 1885 when the lease was taken on by a James Wilson Fleming, a rising local businessman who went on to purchase the Loughry estate. A William Hayes is noted as living in the house in 1889, William Knipe in 1897, Thomas O’Connell in 1898, James Little in 1904 and Leopold Rozenfield in 1906. In 1908, the lease of this property and its two matching neighbours to the north was taken over by a Miss Mary L. Harris, (who later appears to have married, becoming Mary L. Lewis). William McCammond is listed as the tenant in 1910, William J. Anderson in 1911, Samuel Metcalfe in 1913, Robert Greer 1917, William Gough 1921, David Russell 1924, and Hugh Marks in 1928.

By 1936 an Alexander Arnold was occupying the house, with a James Coulter the immediate lessor. Arnold was succeeded by a William Scott in 1938, and a John Coulter in 1955, the lease passing to Daniel Coulter in the same year. A Samuel Jameson is noted as the tenant in c.1962, and a Robert McIlvogue in 1966, remaining there until at least 1972.

References- Primary sources
1 ‘Pigot & Co's Provincial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1824)
2 PRONI OS/9/10/1 OS plan of Cookstown, 1833
3 PRONI VAL/1B/622A First valuation, Derryloran parish, 1834-c.1838
4 PRONI VAL/1D/6/2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, c.1838
5 Lewis, Samuel, ‘A topographical dictionary of Ireland…’ vol.1, (London, 1837)
6 ‘Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1846)
7 PRONI VAL/2C/63 Second valuation, Union of Cookstown (Dublin, 1859) [This is the printed version of the second valuation. The handwritten version (which may have been more detailed and include property dimensions etc.) no longer exists. The printed volume merely provides names of tenants and leaseholders, and rateable values.]
8 PRONI VAL/2D/6/3/1-2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1859-82 [2 sheets]
9 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5A Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1860-63
10 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5B Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1864-68
11 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5C Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1868-81
12 ‘Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1870)
13 ‘Slater's Commercial Directory of Ireland’, (Manchester, 1880)
14 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5D Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1881
15 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5E Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1881
16 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5F Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1882-90
17 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5G Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1882-88
18 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5J Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1889-94 [The reference number for this book is out of sequence in the
PRONI catalogue- the dates it covers are actually earlier than VAL/12B/37/5H.]
19 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5H Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1895-99
20 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5K Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1889-99
20 PRONI VAL/12E/171/1/1-2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1892-97 [2 sheets]
22 PRONI OS/33/1/1-5 OS plan of Cookstown, 1895 [5 sheets]
22 PRONI OS/9/10/2/1-2 OS plan of Cookstown, index map, 1895 [2 sheets]
23 PRONI OS/9/10/3/1-5 OS plan of Cookstown, 1895 [5 sheets]
24 PRONI VAL/12A/6/11 Valuers’ office notebook, Cookstown Union, 1895-1900
25 PRONI VAL/12E/171/2/1-3 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1897-1910 [3 sheets]
26 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7A Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1901-07
27 PRONI VAL/12A/6/16 Valuers’ office notebook, Cookstown UD, 1901-10
28 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster directory’ 1902- (Belfast News-Letter, 1902- )
29 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7B Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1909-15
30 PRONI OS/33/2/1-4 OS plan, 1909 & 1918 [4 sheets]
31 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7C Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1916-29
32 PRONI VAL/3G/142/1 /1-4 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1936-37 [4 sheets]
33 PRONI VAL/3C/7/8 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban, 1936-57
34 PRONI VAL/3G/142/2/1-4 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1937-51
35 PRONI VAL/4B/6/10 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban vol.1, 1956-72
36 PRONI VAL/4B/6/11 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban vol.2E, 1956-72

Secondary sources
1 Oram, R.W. and Rankin, P.J., Historic buildings…Dungannon & Cookstown (Belfast, UAHS, 1971)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This is a terraced two-and-a-half-storey house with a single-storey basement, built c. 1870. This was a well composed example of a modest Victorian town house. Although the terrace adds interest to the streetscape, it survives as a façade only and insufficient historic fabric survives to merit listing.