18 Molesworth Road, Cookstown, Co Tyrone, BT80 8NR

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

This is a brick semi-detached two-and-a-half storey house, built c.1897. The house was built along with the adjacent semi-detached house (HB09/13/034B). The house is roughly square in plan with a two-storey return to the rear. There is an L-shaped single-storey lean-to outbuilding to rear yard. The house is set back from Molesworth Road within the North-eastern suburbs of Cookstown.

The front South elevation faces onto the road. It has a doorway to the right and a squared bay window to the left.

The doorway has a square-headed timber panelled door with an overlight. It is surmounted by a cut-stone lintel with a carved central keystone. There is a brass knocker, doorknob and letterbox to the door.
The bay window has square-headed windows with replacement uPVC windows. There are cut-stone lintels to windows with carved stone central keystones over. Windows are set on cut-stone sills. Both the doorway and projecting bay window are surmounted by a slate roof at ground floor level with a carved stone cornice to the eaves.

The upper level has a canted bay to the left supported by the squared bay at ground floor. The canted bay is surmounted by a flat roof with a carved timber cornice. There is a square-headed window to the right. Windows are replacement uPVC with dressings as previous.

There is a half-dormer to the roof with a square-headed replacement uPVC window. The dormer has decorative timber bargeboards to the gable. A central carved stone finial surmounts the apex of the dormer.

The side West elevation has a projecting bay window to the ground floor with a hipped slate roof. There are no window openings to the upper levels.

The rear North elevation has an assortment of uPVC and timber sash windows. There is a half-dormer to the upper level.

The main roof is hipped and slated with pierced clay ridge tiles. There are decorative carved stone finials to the top of each hip. There are carved stone eaves with a dentilled course to the front and side elevation. Rainwater goods are cast-iron. The roof has a brick chimney to the left (West). The chimney has a dentilled course and profiled stepped capping.

External walls to the front elevation are straw coloured brick with decorative stone quoins. There is a string course below window lintel level in red and engineering brick. There is an additional projecting carved stone string course below the half-dormer. There is a carved stone plinth to the base of the front elevation. The side and rear elevation are ruled-and-lined render.

Return:
The two-storey return has an assortment of timber casement and timber sash windows set on painted cut-stone sills. There is a square headed door to the West elevation. The return forms a shared hipped and pitched roof with the symmetrical return of the adjacent building (HB09/13/034B). There is a shared brick chimney to the apex of the North gable end. External walls are ruled-and-lined render.

The rear lean-to outbuildings are painted render with metal roofs. The rear yard is bound by a high rendered wall.

Setting:
The house is set back from the main Molesworth Road behind a low balustraded stone wall. There is a small garden to the front with a gated path leading to the entrance door. The wall has simple square pillars with vermiculated quoins and pyramidal stone caps. The house is set to the North-eastern side of the town centre at the beginning of the mainly Victorian suburban Molesworth Road.

Historical information

This pair of semi-detached houses to which this property belongs was built in 1897, probably by a John McNally, who held this lease of their plot at that time. Each dwelling is recorded in the valuers’ office notebook, (which supplies details of newly-built or newly-extended structures liable for valuation), as built of ‘rubble masonry and brick, with a tile roof, and dimensions of 21ft x 28 x 31, a return of 13½ x 24 x 17, and a bay of 10½ x 3 x 24. The estimated cost of construction for each house is given as £459, and the rateable value, £18. In 1899 the properties are noted as occupied by a James Cotton and a William Porter respectively, although it is difficult to tell who occupied which house. A William Gardner succeeded Porter in 1901, followed by a William Browne in 1903, a Thomas J. Ekins following James Cotton in 1908.

It is difficult to trace the history of the houses between 1909 and 1936. After 1909 this stretch of Molesworth Road became part of Cookstown Urban Electoral District, and the details of the buildings transferred to the valuation books dealing with that area; however the road is not listed in any of the books for this district. The properties only re-emerge in the General Revaluation book of c.1935-36, with no.18 occupied by a James S. Longstaff in 1936, and an Eleanor Charles the immediate lessor 1936. Thomas Charles Huey became tenant in 1941, Otto Handl following him later the same year, John C. Blakley in 1942, Thomas C. O’Gorman in 1955, [?S. G.] Corrigan in 1962, and a D.E. [?Dr.] Owen 1963- the last also becoming freeholder.
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References- Primary sources
1 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5H Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1895-99
2 PRONI VAL/12B/37/5K Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1889-99
3 PRONI VAL/12E/171/1/1-2 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1892-97 [2 sheets]
4 PRONI OS/33/1/1-5 OS plan of Cookstown, 1895 [5 sheets]
5 PRONI OS/9/10/2/1-2 OS plan of Cookstown, index map, 1895 [2 sheets]
6 PRONI OS/9/10/3/1-5 OS plan of Cookstown, 1895 [5 sheets]
7 PRONI VAL/12A/6/11 Valuers’ office notebook, Cookstown Union, 1895-1900, p.59
8 PRONI VAL/12E/171/2/1-3 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1897-1910 [3 sheets]
9 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7A Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1901-07
10 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7B Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1909-15
11 PRONI OS/33/2/1-4 OS plan, 1909 & 1918 [4 sheets]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This is a well proportioned and detailed semi-detached house, designed in a picturesque late-Victorian style with the adjacent house HB09/13/034B.
Combined with the nearby railway related structures of Molesworth Street, and the various houses in the area, this building adds much to the overall Victorian character and appearance of the area.
The strong architectural character combined with the good quality decorative detailing adds variety and interest to the suburban streetscape.