No 5, 7 & 9 Main Street,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Terrace of three two-bay two-storey stone house, built c.1850, located to south side of Main Street, Gortin. Rectangular-on-plan aligned east-west.

Roof is pitched artificial slate; black clay ridge tiles; rebuilt brick chimneystacks with cement parged verge. Timber box fascia to eaves supporting cast-iron guttering with cast-iron downpipes. Walling is squared-and-snecked coursed stone with tooled stone quoins and red brick dressings to all openings; rear elevation and gables are smooth rendered. Windows are camber-headed with stone sills, red brick surrounds and single-pane timber sash windows. Doors are replacement timber panelled with incorporated fanlight; each opening onto concrete step to the footpath.

Principal elevation faces north and contains access to three separate dwellings; dwelling at right (No.5) is three-bay with central square-headed door opening formed in red brick with a further flat brick arch to the left; single window at each side; two windows at first floor. Dwellings at left are subdivided; door at right of central bay accesses the remainder of the first floor (No.7) which is three windows wide. At ground floor No.9 is accessed by door flanked by single window at right and two windows at left.

East gable is abutted by neighbouring terrace.

Rear south elevation has three bays with cement rendered walls and plastic rainwater goods. Dwelling at left (No.5), has original timber sash windows remaining to the centre and right openings while those to the left have been replaced with landscape openings and timber casement windows. A square-headed door opening with a glazed timber door opening onto rear concrete paved area. Remainder has original window openings replaced by smaller openings having concrete sills and replacement timber casement windows; of no interest.

West gable is blank with adjoined gravel access route to the rear.

Setting:-
Situated on Main Street of Gortin village.

Roof: Artificial slate
Walling: Squared stone / Red brick / render
Windows: Timber
RWG: Cast-iron / uPVC

Historical information

Buildings are shown on the first edition OS map of 1833 but are unidentifiable as the current buildings which are mid-nineteenth-century in appearance. The 1905-6 map shows the buildings extended to the rear and captioned ‘Court House’.

No.5 is recorded in Griffith’s Valuation as a ‘house, offices yard and land’, which is occupied by Margaret Mac Farland and valued at £9.10s. The property is leased from Arthur W. C. Hamilton, as is the rest of the terrace. William Kyle is the occupier as listed in Valuation Revisions. In 1890 the valuation increases to £10.10 as it houses a ‘photo gallery’. The occupier is revised to Valentine Kyle in 1905, with the valuation decreasing to £7.10s in 1907.

Griffith’s Valuation of 1858 records No 7 as a ‘Police Barracks, office and yard, which is valued under exemptions at £7.10s, contains a ‘Petty Sessions room, valued at £3.10s and a ‘rent office’ valued at £2, probably on the first floor which extended over the adjoining property, No 9. The property is listed as occupied and leased by Arthur W.C Hamilton. No reference is made to the ‘Police Barracks’ in Valuation Revisions (which date from 1867 approximately). The building does not appear to have changed but is instead listed as a ‘house, office and yard’ occupied by John Barrett (same valuation of £7.10s). The first floor is still being used as the ‘petty sessions room’ and rent room.

The ground floor is occupied by John Barrett and has a marginal note reading ‘post office’, but this is seen in only one of the valuation books. The rent office undergoes a change of occupancy to Francis Ellis in 1881, and back to A. Hamilton in 1882. Mary Mc Kinnon is the new occupier of the ground floor in 1898.

No.9 is recorded in Griffith’s Valuation of 1858 as a ‘house and garden’, occupied by Anne Scott and valued at £1.10s. Valuation Revisions record John Scott Carpenter as the occupier, until Alex Campbell in 1903.

Numbers 7 and 9 have since been divided into separate ground floor and first floor dwellings

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/6/18/1 -First Edition OS Map (1833)
2. PRONI OS/6/6/18/2 -Second Edition OS Map (1854)
3. PRONI OS/6/6/18/3 -Third Edition OS Map (1905-6)
4. PRONI VAL/2/B/6/45A -Griffith’s Valuation (1858)
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/39/6A-E -Valuation Revisions (1867-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/12/E/178/1 -Town Plan of Gortin (1904-1908)
7. PRONI VAL/12/E/178/2 -Town Plan of Gortin (1908-1945)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Terrace of three two-bay two-storey stone houses, built c.1850. Originally rendered, this terrace has its stone facades exposed displaying the stone and brick construction materials. It has been compromised by extensive alterations and does not meet the statutory and policy tests as a building of special architectural or historic interest.