20 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 (HB09/13/034A). The house is roughly square in plan with a two-storey return to the rear. 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 left and a squared bay window to the right.

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 each opening. Windows are set on cut-stone sills. Both the doorway and projecting bay window are covered with a slate roof at ground floor level with a carved stone cornice to the eaves.

The upper level has a canted bay to the right supported by the projecting 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 left. 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 East elevation has a replacement uPVC double door to the ground floor. There are no window openings to the upper levels.

The rear North elevation has an assortment of uPVC 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 replacement aluminium. The roof has a brick chimney to the right (East). 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 rendered.

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

There is a yard to the rear accessed via a gated entrance with pillars and pyramidal stone caps. The rear yard is bound by a dry dash rendered wall.

Setting:
The house is set back from the main Molesworth Road behind a decorative 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 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.20 occupied by Isabella J. Chambers in 1936, and an Eleanor Charles the immediate lessor. E. Malachy Doris became tenant in 1938, Miss N.P. Harris (later Mrs. N.P. Rodgers) in 1940, Ian [?Jan] Wheeler in 1949, and a John Gonigle in 1956.

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]
12 PRONI VAL/12B/37/7C Annual valuation revision book, Cookstown ED, 1916-29
13 PRONI VAL/3G/142/1 /1-4 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1936-37 [4 sheets]
14 PRONI VAL/3C/7/8 First general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban, 1936-57
15 PRONI VAL/3G/142/2/1-4 Valuation plan of Cookstown, 1937-51
16 PRONI VAL/4B/6/10 Second general revaluation of Northern Ireland, Cookstown Urban vol.1, 1956-72
17 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 well proportioned and detailed semi-detached house, designed in a picturesque late-Victorian style with the adjacent house HB09/13/034A
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.