38 Downpatrick Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey/ two-bay building consisting of house and shop set in a terrace on east-side of Downpatrick Street. The left bay is the dwelling and the right is the shop.

Pitched natural slate roof with rendered chimney (with projecting cap bands) to each gable. The left chimney has 3 pots, and the right chimney has one. Rendered brick skews to each gable. Metal half-round gutter running to a downpipe on right gable.

Walls are lined cement render to ground floor and wet dashed to first floor. Advanced base course steps down hill with each bay. Stepped V-channelled quoins are interrupted by a broad rendered fascia which runs between ground and first floors. Windows throughout are 2/2 vertically divided sliding sashes with horns, and rendered cills and granite cills (unless otherwise stated).

Left bay is dwelling. At ground floor it has a window to left and a painted timber door to right with four raised and fielded bolection moulded panels, black iron Victorian door furniture, and a plain glazed transom light. On wall to its left is a small name plaque. Doorway is approached by a granite step, which is shared with the shop entrance.

Ground floor right is the shop. At its left is a pair of painted t + g storm doors sharing a plain glazed transom. To its right is a large fixed rectangular (landscape) window without cill.

Left gable (uphill) is completely abutted by party wall of adjacent property.

Rear elevation left bay is abutted by a two-storey return (with lower roofline). Exposed remaining section of wall is wet cement dashed. Glazed and timber sheeted door to ground floor and 2/2 sash window to first floor left.

Return has pitched natural slate roof, brick chimney on end gable and half rounded metal gutters. Walls of brick.

Left cheek of return is smooth cement rendered. T + g door at left and 2/2 sash window to right on ground floor. Gable is rendered and blank. Abutted to ground floor left by small single-storey mono-pitched annex (corrugated metal roof, partly cement rendered brick walls; 1/1 top hung timber window on right cheek). Right gable is only partly rendered 2/2 sash window to left and painted t + g sheeted door to right an ground floor. Two sash windows to first floor, that to left is 2/2 sash and that to right is margin paned with etched upper pane; no cills to windows on this cheek. Small single-storey cement rendered (toilet) at junction between return and main house.

The right gable of main block is smooth cement rendered.

Historical information

Although buildings are shown here on the 1834 map, the Valuation revision book suggests that the present one was erected sometime in the 1880s. It is cited as “licenced house, spirit grocer” in 1889. It continued as a public house until the 1950’s.

Primary Sources:
1. PRONI 1834 Valuation town map (1:1760), VAL 1D/3/3.
2. PRONI Valuation revision book, VAL 12B/22/20D, p.101.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

This urban vernacular house is a very plain and a little altered representative of a once very common building type. Its relatively late date and lack of special features do not merit listing.