9 THE SQUARE

The Department's description

Historical information

Buildings are shown in this general vicinity (although possibly not on this exact site), on an estate map of 1767 and all maps thereafter. In the first valuation book of 1835 indicates that the present building was in place by that date with elements of its detailing (the doorway to the left and the tripartite window) suggesting it may have been built c.1800-10. In 1835, however, it was in single occupation with what is now the shop window to the right (west) an open carriage access. It is recorded by the valuers as a relatively new house in the possession of Matthew Wright, ‘agent to Mr. Ross’ and measuring 27 x 28 x 19½, with the ‘front room over gate’ 10 x 14 x 9½, offices of 24 x 7½ x 10½ and 31 x 17½ x 12, and a ‘writing office to be taken as a dwelling’ of 21 x 13 x 16. In the second valuation of c.1861 it is noted as a vacant private dwelling with the dimensions listed much as before (albeit in yards) and the ‘writing office’ referred to as a ‘back house’.

In 1867 the lease was acquired by Robert A. Jones. He was succeeded by Sarah Jane Jones in 1891, who in turn was succeeded by Sarah J. Gilcriest. In the 1901 census, the 60yr-old, widowed Mrs. Gilcriest (whose late husband was probably the Rev. John Gilcriest, to whom Rostrevor Methodist church was dedicated – see HB16/06/034), was living here with four unmarried ladies who all worked with her in a local shop - the ‘Fancy Bizarre’. Whether this shop was run from the premises is uncertain, but the fact that the workers all lived here suggests it was. That said, it is only in 1906 (when the lease passed to Jane Armstrong) that building is recorded as containing a ‘shop’ for the first time, with the rateable value rising from £22 to £30 presumably as a result of this. Whatever the case, conversion to a shop probably meant that the carriage access was filled in around this time, providing additional retail space.

In the 1911 census, Miss Armstrong, a 40yr-old unmarried ‘merchant’, is recorded as residing here with a shop assistant and ‘apprentice’ as well as a domestic servant, with the building itself noted as a ‘2nd class’ shop and private dwelling with seven rooms in use.

At some point between 1929 and 1936 the shop was split into two units with Edith Flanagan and Ellen Funston, (the shop assistant in 1911), in one of these, James F. Sherwood in the other, and Sarah Logan living in the upper floor quarters. In 1952 Mr. Sherwood took over both retail areas and was still there up until at least 1975, with Sarah Logan in the living quarters until 1967, after which they are listed in the valuations as vacant. At some point after this, but before 2008, the shop was subdivided into two separate units once again, with the former living quarters becoming an office.

The Square / Church Street

The north-east to south-west line of what is now Church Street and The Square is not depicted on Sloane’s or Kennedy’s maps of 1739 and 1755, appearing for the first time on an estate map of 1767. It is probable that the thoroughfare was established as part of the laying out - or upgrading - of the road (present B25 Kilbroney Road) linking Rostrevor to the new village of Hilltown, which began to be developed by Wills Hill (later 1st Marquis of Downshire) in the 1760s. As its generous breadth - and name - suggests it is likely that it was also intended to act as a marketplace, and it is perhaps no coincidence that in April 1769 Rostrevor’s then landlord, Robert Ross, obtained a patent allowing him to hold a weekly market and quarterly fairs within the settlement.

The 1767 map shows the eastern and western sides seemingly developed as far as the present extent to the south-west and to the site of the current parish church in the north-east. The church itself was completed in 1821, forming a ‘closing of the vista’ of the broader portion of the street. By the time of the the 1834 OS map the extent of development we see today was in place, with buildings shown opposite the church and further along the narrower part of the carriageway to the north-east. The OS Memoirs of October 1836 provide what is perhaps the earliest description of this particular part of the town, telling us that ‘“Main Street” runs northeast and southwest, 620 yards in length, the breadth of that part contained between the new and old church (a distance of 180 yards) being 120 feet broad, the remainder averaging 30 feet in breadth. The houses in this street are nearly all 2-storey high and the greater part of them in good order, a number of them having furnished lodgings for the accommodation of strangers in summer. On coming into the town at its lower or southwestern extremity, this street presents a grateful “coup d’oeil”, the most pleasing and remarkable object of which is the new church, situated at the extremity of the broadest part of the Street and standing in line with its direction, its body and square tower appearing in good relief against the thick and luxuriant foliage of the trees to the north of the building.’

References - Primary sources
1 PRONI T1763/2 Map of County Down by Oliver Sloane, 1739
2 HERoNI Map of County Down by James Kennedy, 1755
3 PRONI D671/M7/2 Map of Rostrevor and surrounding lands, 1767
4 ‘A Map of the County of Down…by James Williamson, (1810)
5 OS map County series, Co Down sheet 54 – 1834, 1859, 1901-02, 1919, 1950
6 PRONI VAL1B/361 (1835-36)
7 PRONI VAL2B/3/61C (1861)
8 PRONI VAL12B/19/21A-F (1865-1929)
9 ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’, (Belfast, various dates, 1877-1975)
10 Census of Ireland, 1901, 1911 [http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie, accessed 2020.06.30]
11 OS map, Co. Down sheet 54, 1919
12 PRONI VAL3C/4/23, 1936-57
13 PRONI VAL4B/3/81, 1956-72
14 OS map, sheet 277, 1979