57-59 Molesworth Street, Cookstown, C9o Tyrone, BT80 8NX

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

This is a three-storey rendered end-of-terrace building, built c. 1880-1881. The property contains a shop to ground floor and apartments to the upper levels. The building forms part of a long row of mixed three-storey buildings, built in stages between 1850 – 80, now largely converted to shops, pubs and offices. It is rectangular in plan with a two-storey pitched roofed return to the right of the rear elevation

The North elevation is street fronted, and has been largely modernized. It has an oversized replacement shopfront to the full width of the ground floor, c. 2007, and render to first floor.

The ground floor shopfront has three parts; a doorway to the right, a glazed shopfront to the centre, and a coach arch to the left. The doorway is square headed with a timber paneled doorway, with a side panel and an overlight. The shopfront has full height modern glazing to each side of a central fully glazed doorway. The integral coach arch is square headed with period style but recent iron gates. The shopfront has stylised painted timber pilasters to each side of the shopfront, and further narrow timber pilasters to each side of the ground floor. The ground floor elevation is surmounted by a projecting timber fascia with a recessed signboard.

The upper levels have paired square headed replacement uPVC windows on a shared concrete sill, with a render band to window head level.

The rendered rear South elevation has an irregular assortment of uPVC windows.

The return has an irregular arrangement of uPVC windows and doors. There is fibre-cement slate to the pitched roof of the main building and the return. There is a polychromatic brick chimney to roof with profiled capping.

Setting:
The building is set in the North East of the town centre as part of a uniform and matching three-storey terrace.

Historical information

Nos.57 and 59 were originally a single property, built in 1880-81 by a Henry Morgan and originally valued at £34-15-0. Morgan appears to have occupied the building himself for a short period, followed by a Joseph Montgomery (1881-87), Isabella Aiken (1887-88), and John Mayne -who also took over the lease- in 1888. In 1912, an Andrew McVeigh became the occupant, acquiring the lease in 1916. David and Mary McVey are recorded as occupants / leaseholders in 1925.

By 1936 the property had been divided with a ground floor shop listed as occupied by a Samuel Munn, and a dwelling over in the hands of a Mary Jane Craig. By 1946 a Sydney Milligan is recorded as both leaseholder and sole occupant, followed by a Cecil Wilson in 1957, who was still in residence in 1972.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/2D/6/3/1-2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1859-82 [2 sheets]
2 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5C Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1868-81
3 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5D Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1881
4 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5E Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1881
5 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5F Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1882-90
6 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5G Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1882-88
7 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.]
8 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5H Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1895-99
9 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5K Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1889-99
10 PRONI VAL/12E/171/1/1-2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1892-97 [2 sheets]
11 PRONI OS/33/1/1-5 OS plan of Cookstown, 1895 [5 sheets]
12 PRONI OS/9/10/2/1-2 OS plan of Cookstown, index map, 1895 [2 sheets]
13 PRONI OS/9/10/3/1-5 OS plan of Cookstown, 1895 [5 sheets]
14 PRONI VAL/12E/171/2/1-3 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1897-1910 [3 sheets]
15 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7A Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1901-07
16 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7B Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1909-15
17 PRONI OS/33/2/1-4 OS plan, 1909 & 1918 [4 sheets]
18 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7C Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1916-29
19 PRONI VAL/3G/142/1 /1-4 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1936-37 [4 sheets]
20 PRONI VAL/3C/7/8 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban, 1936-57
21 PRONI VAL/3G/142/2/1-4 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1937-51
22 PRONI VAL/4B/6/10 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban vol.1, 1956-72
23 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

Originally constructed as a house in the mid Victorian period this buildng has been much altered during the twentieth century and contains little architectural interest either externally or internally.

General comments

This record includes the two buildings formerly recorded as HB09/13/017 T & U