4 CHARLEMONT SQUARE NORTH

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-and-a-half-storey two-bay mid-Victorian terraced house, built c.1862-1866 to designs by an unknown architect. L-plan form facing southeast with a gabled projecting side entry porch to front elevation and a two-storey rear return which is abutted by a later monopitched extension to SW and a similar outbuilding to NW. No. 4 Charlemont Square North is one of eight similar houses, arranged in pairs, which form the northern terrace of Charlemont Square: a formally designed mid-Victorian square consisting of 66 buildings in total, arranged on three sides around a central green, primarily accessed from Fountain Street to the Southeast.

The northern terrace (HB16.22.003A-H), of which this building forms a part, is the shortest in the square being only 8 houses in width; although these buildings are distinctly larger two-and-a-half storey structures which are paired with abutting gabled side entry porches; flanking large rectangular section chimneys and painted stepped red brick quoins to each pair of dwellings.

Generally random-coursed rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite walling with painted red brick dressings and painted stone cills; gauged-brick cambered window opes.

Pitched fibre cement roof with angled black clay ridge tiles and a rectangular-section red brick chimney to SW with terracotta clay pots. Projecting eaves with painted timber soffit; cast iron RWGs with half-round guttering discharging to circular section downpipes at front SE elevation; similar uPVC RWGs to rear NW.

Principal elevation
The front elevation is near symmetrical and faces SE being flush with the main terrace of houses. Good sized front yard is set to lawn being enclosed by red brick dwarf walling topped by plain hooped painted metal railings, with a similar foot gate hung on circular section painted metal posts with cast metal conical caps, to centre SE. A concrete path from the gate leads NW to a panelled polished timber door on the SW side of a single storey gabled projecting side entry porch; door has a single oval shape glazed panel to upper half and two blind rectangular panels to its lower section. Porch is situated to NE end of facade having a painted smooth render finish and abuts a similar structure of No. 3 Charlemont Square North (HB16/22/003C) to the NE. Painted timber wave scroll bargeboard plus finial and a single top opening timber casement window to SE gable of porch.

Facade has a near regular fenestration pattern; two windows to FF level in line with reduced size window to entrance porch and increased width window to LHS of GF level. Generally top opening four pane timber casement windows to front SE and plain top opening timber casements to rear NW.

Southwest elevation
Building is attached on the SW to No. 5 Charlemont Square North (HB16/22/003E).

Northwest elevation
Rear elevation faces NW having single timber top opening casement windows, with painted stone cills, at both FF and GF levels and a two-storey monopitched roof rear return to its north-eastern end. Return projects into rear yard having a narrow single storey monopitched extension to the SW and a similar outshot attached to its NW wall which extends to yard boundary walling. Planked painted timber door within painted smooth cement rendered boundary walling leads from rear access route to concrete yard. Rear return has a single window visible to FF level, facing SW, it has a painted stone cill; single storey extension below having a two part side opening timber casement window, with concrete cill, to LHS of painted panelled timber door with six glazed lights to its upper half. Rear return has flush eaves and brick corbel course.

Generally elevation has painted smooth cement rendered finish and timber casement windows with painted cills. There are also two skylights visible to pitched fibre cement tile roof.

Northeast elevation
To the NE the building is attached to No. 5 Charlemont Square North (HB16/22/003E).

Setting
No. 4 forms part of Charlemont Square North; being part of a planned arrangement of 66 mill workers dwellings and shops comprising a formal square composed of East, North and West terraces arranged around a central green; each house being set back from the perimeter public road and footpath with a modest sized front yard typically enclosed by dwarf walling topped by hooped metal railings. Terraces to the East and West are initially stepped in groups of two dwellings respecting the subtle relief of the site. Generally a larger rear yard to each dwelling is enclosed by random coursed rubble stone walling, having a square-headed door opening onto wide rear access route. Rear facades are much altered with various extensions of different shapes and size.

Front facades are nearly uniform along East and West terraces with five larger buildings to the SE of Charlemont Square East (HB16/22/001A-E) and one to the SE of Charlemont Square West (HB16/22/004A) having traditional shop fronts at GF level and dwellings above. The northern terrace (HB16/22/003A-H) is the shortest being only 8 houses in width; although these buildings are distinctly larger two-and-a-half storey paired buildings.

Central area of square is now laid to lawn and enclosed by hooped galvanized metal railings with some established trees at its boundary. A children's playground is located to the SE and includes a monument to the installation of electric lighting in 1911 (HB16/22/026); Bessbrook's War Memorial (HB16/22/038) is centrally located to the SE of the playground.

Materials:

Roof: Fibre cement
RWGs: Cast iron and uPVC
Walling: Newry Granodiorite
Windows: timber casements

Historical information

Charlemont Square, a mid-Victorian village square comprising 66 dwellings arranged along its north, west and eastern sides, was established between 1862 and 1866. The square was constructed as part of the industrial development of the village of Bessbrook which was undertaken by the Richardson family from the 1840s.

The development of industry in the area dates from 1761 when the first woollen mill and bleach green were opened by a Mr. John Pollock. The site was simply known as ‘The Green’ but was renamed Bessbrook after Pollock’s wife Elizabeth (Bess) and the nearby Camlough River (Brook). The first edition Ordnance Survey map records that few buildings had been erected at Bessbrook by the 1830s. The only significant structures to be depicted upon that map were Mount Caulfield House (the residence of the Nicholson family – see HB16/22/024) and a number of thread manufactories and bleach mills. The village of Bessbrook was effectively founded in 1845 when John Grubb Richardson (1813-1891), a linen merchant from Lambeg, purchased one of the derelict mills at the site and began to build housing for his factory workers in the immediate vicinity. Richardson, in his own words, ‘had a great aversion to be responsible for a factory population in a large town, so on looking around, fixed upon a place near Newry … with water power and a thick population around, and in a country district where flax was cultivated in considerable quantities’ (Harrison, p. 50).

Bessbrook was established as a ‘model village’ in a number of phases beginning with the laying out of Fountain Street in the 1840s. The architect of the majority of the housing in Bessbrook is not known, however Richardson’s layout of the village was influenced by the work of William Penn, an American Quaker who had been responsible for the planning and development of Philadelphia in the late-17th century. Richardson was also a member of the Religious Society of Friends and, according to Harrison, possessed a ‘typical Quaker mix of pragmatic and altruistic expectation to provide jobs and good working conditions for his employees.’ By providing his workers with good standards of living Richardson hoped to ensure good relationships between employers and the employed. He therefore established the village as a social experiment where his workers could both live and work in contentment. Harrison states that Richardson’s philanthropic spirit led him to bring the poor, the unqualified and beggars from the surrounding countryside to work and live at Bessbrook, hoping that he could encourage them to improve themselves and excise old habits. Bessbrook is often referred to as a village without the ‘Three P’s’ due to Richardson’s stipulation that there would be no ‘Public House’ or ‘Pawn Shop’ in the settlement and therefore no need for ‘Police’ to be stationed there. In exchange for keeping the village free of alcohol Richardson provided recreational and educational facilities at the Institute (HB16/22/009), a number of well-stocked shops (located at nos 1-5 Charlemont Square East) and also had milk, tea and cocoa distributed to his mill workers. The strategy was effective as the majority of the population voted to preserve the ordinance in the 1870s and, to this day, there remains no public house at Bessbrook. Police were not stationed at the village until the turn of the 20th century (Harrison; Brett, p. 243).

In 1863 Richardson became the sole owner of the Bessbrook Spinning Company following the purchase of his brother’s shares in the company. The local linen industry experienced a boom during the American Civil War (1861-65) as access to American cotton was cut off. Richardson took advantage of this opportunity by greatly enlarging his factory at Bessbrook whilst also increasing the size of his workforce. Lord Charlemont sold the remainder of the Camlough Estate to Richardson in 1865 and so by the mid-1860s Richardson was the main employer and the principal landowner at Bessbrook. Richardson had Charlemont Square laid out between 1862 and 1866 to accommodate the influx of new workers to the factory; between 1861 and 1871 the population of Bessbrook rose from 637 to 2,215 with the number of houses rising from 73 to 296 (Harrison, pp 100-101).

Brett states that Charlemont Square formed the centrepiece of the new developments at Bessbrook. The two and two-and-a-half-storey houses were constructed along the north, west and eastern sides of an open green which was intended to be used as a recreational space (a tennis ground was depicted within the green on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1906). The architect of the houses is not known with certainty. Brett suggests that John Hardy, a civil engineer who was appointed company architect in 1881, may have carried out some work in Bessbrook in the 1860s, however his role may have been limited to the expansion of the mill buildings. The terraces along Charlemont Square were built by masons and joiners employed by the Bessbrook Spinning Company. The Natural Stone Database records that the houses were built of Newry Granodiorite. This granite was utilised in the masonry of most buildings at Bessbrook and was produced locally at a quarry opened on the former Charlemont Estate (granite from the Bessbrook Quarry is of a high quality and was used to build Manchester Town Hall and the great steps of St. George’s Hall in Liverpool). Charlemont Square was not depicted on the second edition Ordnance Survey map (1861) but construction of the buildings along the square had commenced by 1862. In that year, Griffith’s Valuation noted that Charlemont Square West (captioned ‘new row’) was the only side of the square to have been completed but that each of the 26 buildings along its length remained unoccupied. The remainder of the buildings along the square were completed (and occupied) by at least 1866, according to the Annual Revisions (Brett, p. 243; NSD).

Each house at Bessbrook was owned by the Bessbrook Spinning Company and possessed between three and five rooms. The occupants of the houses were required to adhere to a number of clauses regarding their lease. Bassett states that each house in Bessbrook possessed ‘a garden [or yard] containing an eighth of an acre, and when the tenant enters into possession he is required to sign an agreement which contains certain stipulations in regard to the keeping of fowl and pigs, so that they may not be found in the quarters occupied by the family or in the yard. He can have a pig-stye and fowl-run in the garden if he pleases. Another binding clause places him under obligation to send his children to school until they are old enough for mill work’ (Bassett; Harrison, p. 16).

No. 4 Charlemont Square North, a two-and-a-half-storey two-bay terraced house possessing an entrance porch, was constructed between 1862 and 1866. The Annual Revisions record that the house was initially let by the Bessbrook Spinning Co. to a Mr. Thomas Saunders and was valued at £8. The occupants of the house changed with frequency over the following decades, however its value remained unaltered until the 1930s. The building was depicted on the Ordnance Survey Town Plan of Bessbrook (1906) along its current layout (including its entrance porch and rear return). The Census of Ireland records that, in 1911, No. 4 Charlemont Square North was occupied by James Andrew Downey was employed by the Bessbrook Spinning Co. as a commercial clerk. The census building return described the house as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of eight rooms. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) the Black family resided at No. 4 Charlemont Square North, which had been increased in value to £9 and 10 shillings; the Black family continued to reside at the address until at least the 1970s.

During the 20th century the mill at Bessbrook continued to expand gaining the Bessbrook Spinning Co. international fame. During the Second World War the mill workers were tasked with supplying cloth for uniforms. The Bessbrook Spinning Co. continued to retain ownership of housing in Bessbrook until the 1960s when the dwellings along Charlemont Square began to be sold to private individuals and firms (the majority of the houses along the square were purchased by C. R. Morrow, a local car and farm machinery dealer, in c. 1970). The sale of property at Bessbrook was necessitated by the post-war downturn in the local textile market which foreshadowed the closure of the mill in 1972 (the building was subsequently occupied by the British Army – see HB16/22/039). No. 4 Charlemont Square North was purchased outright by the Black family in 1968 and was increased in value to £15 and 10 shillings under the Second General Revaluation (1956-72).

No. 4 Charlemont Square North was listed in 1981 and was included in the Bessbrook Conservation Area which was designated in 1983 in recognition of Bessbrook’s ‘historical significance as a planned mill village and its distinct form and character.’ The Conservation Area Guide notes that the carefully planned development of Bessbrook, including the uniform terraces at Charlemont Square and College Square, influenced the design of the famous English model villages at Saltaire (1852), Port Sunlight (1888) and Bourneville (developed by the Cadbury family in 1895) ‘which have directly influenced town and country planning all over the world’ (Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide). The NIEA HB Records note that No. 4 Charlemont Square North underwent general improvements in c. 1983. During the Second Survey the building continued to be utilised as a private dwelling and retained its original Victorian character.

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/2/26/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1834-35)
2. PRONI OS/6/2/26/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1861)
3. PRONI OS/6/2/26/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1906)
4. PRONI OS/8/31/3 – Ordnance Survey Town Plan (1906)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/2/37D – Griffith’s Valuation (1862)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/6A-6J – Annual Revisions (1866-1929)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/15/4A – Annual Revisions (1924-29)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/12 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/2/20 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. George Bassett: The Book of County Armagh (1888)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
12. Census of Ireland (1901: 1911)
13. First Survey Record – HB16/22/003 (1969)
14. NIEA HB Record – HB16/22/003D

Secondary Sources
1. ‘Bessbrook: A record of industry in a Northern Ireland village community and of a social experiment, 1845-1945’ Belfast: Nicholson & Bass Ltd., 1945.
2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of County Armagh’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1999.
3. Harrison, R., ‘The Richardson’s of Bessbrook: Ulster Quakers in the linen industry (1845-1921)’ Dublin: Original Writing Ltd., 2008.
4. ‘Bessbrook Conservation Area Guide’ Belfast: Department of the Environment (N. I.), 1983.

Online Resources
1. Natural Stone Database - http://www. stonedatabase.com/
2. Dictionary of Ulster Biography - http://www. ulsterbiography.co.uk/

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
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
Z. Rarity
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance

Evaluation

4 Charlemont Square North - A two-and-a-half-storey two-bay mid-Victorian terraced house, built c.1862-1866, located on Charlemont Square North, Bessbrook. Well proportioned mid-terrace house in Newry granite with brick surrounds; L-plan form facing southeast with a gabled projecting side entry porch to front elevation and a two-storey rear return with later single storey extension. The building retains its external character and some internal fittings, despite replacement of original windows, door and roof slates.

One of eight similar houses (HB16/22/003A-H), arranged in pairs, which form the northern terrace of Charlemont Square; a formally designed and planned mid-Victorian square consisting of 66 buildings in total (also HB16/22/004A-Z, HB16/22/002A-ZZ & HB16/22/001A-E), arranged on three sides around a central green. The building and its neighbouring terrace houses form an important group in the village.

The local historical and social importance of the Bessbrook squares is well recognised; both as a model village based on Quaker ideological beliefs and also with their connection to general industry and trade surrounding Bessbrook Mill (HB16/22/39). Internationally significant as part of an early planned mill village begun in the 1840s by the prominent linen merchant John Grubb Richardson (1813-1891) from Lambeg and contemporary to the other English model villages of Port Sunlight (1888) and Bourneville (1895), which latterly went on to contribute to 'town and country planning all over the world'.