22-24 Main Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey/ two bay (to first floor) 19thC shop set in a terrace on N side of Main Street.

Pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge and two cast-iron skylights on rear pitch. Two cement rendered corbelled chimneys - one to E gable and one between the left two bays. Half round plastic rainwater goods on plain timber eaves.

Front elevation is line rendered and painted. Ground floor left bay is filled by an early 20thC shop front. Its timber and margin-paned glazed door, with overlight, is recessed and set to right of centre. Its reveal cheeks are glazed. The timber frame forming this shop front is roll moulded with turned bases and caps resting on a rendered stall riser. Over is plain canted fascia with rendered coping and plainly decorated consoles to either end.

Ground floor right bay has two openings. Left one is a doorway with segmental headed transom over with tiled threshold. The four-panelled timber door has a beaded muntin and its panels are raised and fielded with decorative stop-end chamfering. Openings have stop end moulded arrises and a pointed and labelled stucco hood mould over. Below this hood mould and over door soffit the render has been decoratively incised.

Right opening is shallow segmental headed coachway containing a pair of t+g sheeted doors with decorative chamfering as previous door. Over is a modern internally lit fascia box (now broken).

Each bay to first floor has two sliding sash windows (with decorative horns) and painted granite cills with concave ends. Moulded arrises with stop-end chamfering. Over all first floor windows is continuous moulded hood mould.

Left gable is abutted by taller building. Right gable is abutted by lower building, and exposed section is rendered and blank.

Wall to rear elevation is rendered and unpainted. To ground floor left is the coachway and at right is a single-storey return (see later). To centre is a modern timber sheeted door (into entrance hall), and to its right is a 8/8 sash window with granite cill. To first floor there are two 6/6 sliding sash windows - one above coachway and one over single-storey return. To centre between ground and first floor is a round-headed 1/1 margin paned sliding sash window with blue and red etched glass margins (lighting stairwell).

The single-storey return is long and narrow. It has a mono pitched roof (sloping from left to right) and walls are as main block. At left end of its left (yard facing) cheek is a four-panelled timber door, and to right are two 6/6 sliding sash windows with granite cills. Gable is abutted by single storey brick outhouse with fixed 2 x 3 window (of no interest). Its right cheek is the yard boundary wall.

To rear is a linear yard enclosed by a rubble stone wall to N and E and by return to W.

Historical information

Valuation revision book suggests that present building replaced an earlier one in 1884.

Primary sources:
1. PRONI, Valuation revision book, VAL 12B/22/20E, p.16.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

These 19thC commercial premises retain many original features but later alterations have compromised its character. It is of a relatively late date and not of special architectural or historic interest.