18-20 Church Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey/ shop premises on S-side of Church Street.

Pitched natural slate roof with rendered and coped chimney to each end. Advanced eaves course supports half-round metal rainwater goods with plastic down pipe to left end of front elevation.

Front elevation is four windows wide. Its walls are lined rendered and painted with stepped stucco quoins. To extreme right at ground floor is a modern t+g door with plain transom. Remainder of ground floor is filled by modern shop front, with broad tiled pilasters and stall riser, aluminium doors and window frames and a large modern fascia (all of no interest). First floor has four equally spaced 1/1 sliding sash windows with horns and painted cills.

Right and left gables are abutted by adjacent buildings.

Rear elevation has been extended at ground floor. There is no rear yard.

Historical information

Malt stores occupied this site in the 1830s. Prior to the Mace Supermarket, this property was two houses which first appear in the Valuation Revision book entry of 1877.

The HMBB first survey card states: “Late 19thC. A double building, two storeys high, shopped on ground floor and with rendered finish to first floor. There are raised quoins at the extremities and the roof is slated. Plain pilasters with moulded caps rise to consoles supporting a cornice over the name board fascia. A modern shop front has been inserted in one of the buildings; the other including the street door is original. Square fanlights over doors. Four windows wide.”

The HMBB first survey slide shows the left shop front (late 19thC) to have a fixed windows with moulded cill to left and two doors filling the remainder of the front. Pilasters frame all. The window has a fretted ventilator and the door to the shop has two panels (both raised and fielded bottom and bolection moulded) and a glazed top panel. The right door is similar with two top panels. The right shop front (early 20thC) has a recessed central doorway and a low chamfered, polished granite stall riser. Door is not visible. The windows are large fixed lights, each with narrow twin transoms. The window frames resemble slender colonettes with moulded heads and bases. Fascias to both shops state “COFFEYS LTD”. To first floor is a hanging sign, blue glass in a brass box, emblazoned “K/ SHOES”. Shop front was replaced with a corporate MACE frontage c1997.

Primary Sources:
1. Valuation town map, 1834 (PRONI, VAL/1D/3/2).
2. First Valuation book, 1835 (PRONI, VAL/1B/367).
3. Valuation Revision book (PRONI, VAL/12B/22/23B).
4. Information from manager in 1999.

Secondary sources:
1. HMBB first survey card dated 28/11/1969.
2. HMBB first survey slide (1969).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Formerly two houses with shops, these have now been combined with a large modern shop front and are of little interest.