2 MAYTOWN TERRACE

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two-storey two-bay late-Victorian mill workers terraced dwelling, built of local stone in c.1896 to designs by an unknown architect. Rectangular plan form facing northwest with a two storey rear return, added c.2004. No. 2 Maytown Terrace forms part of a terrace comprising seven similar houses (HB16/22/018A-G) which front onto Main Street, Bessbrook, and are set back from the road by a wide tarmac public footpath.

Generally random-coursed rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite walling with stepped red brick dressings to jambs, stone cills and square-headed gauged-brick door and window opes.

Pitched natural slate roof with angled black clay ridge tiles. Rectangular-section red brick chimney to NE has a two terracotta clay pots; similar chimney to SW. Flush eaves with separate red and buff brick eaves courses and an alternating red and buff brick corbel course above. Generally cast iron RWGs to front and uPVC to rear; half-round guttering discharging to circular section downpipes.

Principal elevation
The front elevation faces NW and is flush with the rest of the terrace. It is near symmetrical having a regular fenestration pattern; two windows to FF level in line with GF openings, all windows having double hung sliding timber sash windows with horns. Panelled painted timber door, with two glazed panels to its upper half and a square-headed fanlight above, opens onto the public footpath. Modern decorative coloured glass to door and fanlight. Window to NE side of door.

Northeast elevation
To the NE the building is attached to No. 1 Maytown Terrace (HB16/22/018A).

Southeast elevation
Rear elevation faces SE into an enclosed concrete yard and consists of a two storey rear return which extends SE the full width of the yard which is now much reduced in size. Replacement yard boundary walling has a smooth cement render finish and high two-part modern galvanized metal gates leading from rear access route.

Rear return has a pitched fibre cement slate roof, uPVC facia, sheeted uPVC soffit and smooth cement render finish. There is a uPVC casement window to centre at FF level and a two part sliding patio door at GF opening into rear yard. No other openings visible.

Southwest
To the SW the building is attached to No. 3 Maytown Terrace (HB16/22/018C).

Setting
Maytown Terrace is a row of seven similar mill workers dwellings (HB16/22/018A-G) situated along Main Street, Bessbrook. Rear facades are generally much altered with most of the dwellings along the terrace having lost their original stone rear yard boundary walls. Rear boundaries are defined by a local access route and an area of rough grazing to the SE.

Materials:

Roof: Natural slate and fibre cement
RWGs: Cast iron and uPVC
Walling: Newry Granodiorite
Windows: Timber sash and uPVC casements

Historical information

Maytown Terrace, a row of seven two-storey two-bay granite houses located on Main Street at the eastern end of Bessbrook, was originally laid out in c. 1896 when nos 1-6 were constructed (the adjoining No. 7 Maytown Terrace was added in the early-20th century). The terrace was constructed as part of the continuous industrial development of the village of Bessbrook which had been undertaken by the Richardson family from as early as 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. Workers continued to flock to the village and by the turn of the 20th century the population of Bessbrook stood at approximately 4,000 (Harrison, pp 100-101; UTD).

The Annual Revisions record that nos 1-6 Maytown Terrace were constructed by the Bessbrook Spinning Co. in c. 1896. In that year the valuer set the total rateable value of No. 2 Maytown Terrace at £3 and noted that the Bessbrook Spinning Co. initially leased the building to a Mr. William Linton. Under the 1911 Census of Ireland No. 2 Maytown Terrace had passed to John McLoughlin, who was employed at Richardson’s mill along with a number of his family. The accompanying census building return described the house as a second class dwelling that consisted of five rooms. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) No. 2 Maytown Terrace was occupied by a Mr. Martha Chambers and had been raised in value to £5 and 10 shillings. 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 most housing in Bessbrook until the 1960s when the dwellings in the village began to be sold to private individuals and firms. 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). The Chambers family purchased No. 2 Maytown Terrace outright in c. 1959 and continued to reside at the address until the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the value of the house stood at £8 and 5 shillings.

No. 2 Maytown Terrace was listed in 1982 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. 2 Maytown Terrace underwent an extensive renovation in c. 2004 which included the construction of its two-storey rear return (NIEA HB Records).

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/12/B/15/22A-F – Annual Revisions (1866-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/2/15 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
7. PRONI VAL/4/B/2/24 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
8. George Bassett: The Book of County Armagh (1888)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1880-1918)
10. Census of Ireland (1901: 1911)
11. First Survey Record – HB16/22/018
12. NIEA HB Record – HB16/22/018B

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
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest
R. Age

Evaluation

A modest stone-built two-storey two-bay late-Victorian mill workers terrace dwelling, built c. 1896 to designs by an unknown architect. Rectangular plan form facing northwest with a two storey rear return, added in c. 2004.
The building has good proportions and is constructed in locally quarried granite stone with good quality external brick detailing. It retains it's character externally, despite the addition of a large two-storey extension to the rear.
No. 2 Maytown Terrace has group value with the other six similar historic buildings along the terrace (HB16/22/018A-G), situated in a prominent position along Main Street, Bessbrook. The building is of significant local historical and social importance as a product of the continuous industrial development of Bessbrook, an early model village begun in the 1840s, based on Quaker ideological beliefs and connected with general industry and trade surrounding Bessbrook Mill (HB16/22/39).