12 St Peter Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Three-storey/ two bay house with semi-basement, situated on corner of St Peter’s Street and Great George’s Street South. Front elevation faces SE onto Great George’s Street South. Its principal elevation faces (NE) onto St Peter’s Street.

Hipped natural slate roof with roll top blue clay ridge tiles and a rendered concrete coped chimney to centre of ridge. Slightly advanced smooth rendered eaves course supports half-round plastic rainwater goods. Walls are cement wet dashed and unpainted with smooth rendered narrow architraves to the openings.

Front elevation is a single bay wide and has windows to each floor. At basement is a wide window opening containing a large Georgian glazed modern casement window. At ground floor is a tall 3/3 (vertically divided) margin-paned sash window flanked to left and right by a similar but lower and narrower 1/1 margin-paned sashes. At first floor is a pair of 6/6 Gothic headed sliding sashes, the heads of which are Y traceried. At second floor centre, just below eaves level is a small window opening containing a 4/4 sash window. A small paved area to this elevation is enclosed by a painted granite dwarf wall, the right end of which retains its original railings with moulded bars and foliated finials. The Queen post has a moulded base and a large foliated finial.

Principal (right) elevation is symmetrical and to its centre is the front door. It is accessed from a flight of steps which fill the pavement below. Each step is a single dressed granite block, there are eight steps to each side and its front wall is smooth rendered and painted and enclosed by plain (square in section) railings which rise to interlock in Y tracery at the thin metal handrail. A number of them are damaged and a few missing. The front wall of the house, following the line of the steps and railings, is smooth rendered and unpainted. Front door has a Gothic head and is set within a similar slightly splayed opening. Door is six panelled, lower four are raised and fielded. Top panes are glazed with modern obscure glass curving with Gothic head of the door. Brass letter box, knocker and knob.

On wall to left and right of the main entrance are tall 6/6 sliding sash windows (no horns) and painted cills. At first floor there are three similar windows, in line with the ground floor openings. At second floor centre, just below eaves level is a small window opening containing a 4/4 sash window. There are no basement openings on this elevation.

At ground floor right the wall continues, its wall-head being just above cill level of the first floor windows. This is the left cheek of the rear return and is dashed as the main elevation. It has a single 6/6 sash window (as the others) set to left of its centre.

The rear elevation fronts onto a small yard (at true basement level). It is abutted to basement level and ground floor at left by the rear return. The remaining wall is cement dashed with smooth advanced eaves course and smooth architraves to window openings. At basement right, it is smooth rendered and painted with an 8/2 sliding sash window with painted granite cill. At ground right is a similar 8/8 sash window. At first floor right a 6/6 sash window. At first floor left (over return) is a small modern casement window with concrete cill. At second floor centre is a 6/3 sash. Rear is abutted by a large plastic soil pipe with various pipes draining into it.

The left cheek of the return has been described with the principal elevation. It has a mono-pitched natural slate roof (sloping into yard) and its end gable is abutted by a garage. Its right cheek is smooth rendered to basement level with 6/6 sliding sash window to left and a broad t+g sheeted door to right. Its glazed transom light is boarded over. Its ground floor is dashed and blank. Rear garage is of no interest.

Left elevation of house is partially abutted by no.12 Great George’s Street South (HB16/11/034F). The remainder of the elevation is dashed and blank.

Historical information

Not on the 1834 Valuation town map. First appears on 1861 town map and described in 1863 Valuation book as measuring 11yds x 6.75yds x 3 storeys with basement and 5yd x 3yd return. This is almost certainly the house which stands on this site today.

Primary sources.
1. Valuation town map, 1834 (PRONI, VAL/1D/3/2).
2. OS town map, 1861 (VAL/12E/127/1/7).
3. Second Valuation book, 1863 (VAL/2B/3/65B, p.59).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is an imposing house on a prominent corner site and retains much of its architectural detailing. Its unusual plan form accommodates the external symmetry and gives due prominence to the raised ground floor.