3 Windsor Hill

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Centre one in a terrace of five three-storey/ two bay houses stepping up Windsor Hill.

Pitched artificial slate roof with cement rendered chimney to left gable. Modern skylight to front pitch and two to rear. Semicircular metal rainwater goods with downpipe to right of façade.

Wall to façade is painted lined render with painted base course. Single granite step rises to main entrance at right. Door is four (bolection moulded and fielded) panelled painted timber with margin paned transom over. To left is a single 6/6 exposed-box sliding sash with horns and painted granite cill. There are two similar windows to each upper floor, in line with ground floor openings. All these windows are modern replacements on spring balances, double glazed with ‘stick on’ glazing bars.

Left gable forms party wall with adjacent property. Right gable is abutted by a lower gable and exposed area is unpainted render.

Rear elevation has smooth render walls. A single storey return abuts right half: this is a modern rebuild of original larger return with plastic window to centre of yard face. Abutting left half is a two-storey return with monopitch roof sloping to rear. At right on first and second floors of main block right is a 6/6 window as facade. At left, on half landing is a similar window, with cill at ridge level of return.

The two-storey return has an artificial slate roof, cement rendered walls and is blank save for a ground floor door.

Rear yard is enclosed by a random rubble wall to sides. Outhouse in yard is two storey with a pitched natural slate roof and random rubble walls rendered to yard side. To alley, outhouse has two t+g sheeted painted timber doors - one to ground floor left and one to first floor centre. To yard, it has two modern sheeted and glazed doors and central window. First floor has single central opening with vertical bars.

Historical information

The present house first appears on the 1858 OS map, along with the other four in this terrace (it is not on the 1834 map). It is described in its present form in the 1863 Valuation, and its owner is Thomas King, who was probably responsible for construction of the entire terrace.

Primary Sources:

1. PRONI OS 6/3/46/1 OS 6" map, 1st edition (1834) Co Down sheet 46
2. PRONI OS 6/3/46/2 OS 6" map, 2nd edition (1858) Co Down sheet 46
3. Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, PRONI VAL 1B. 389, p.54;
4. Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, PRONI VAL 1D/3/8A;
5. Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, PRONI VAL 2B/3/69G, p.75;
6. Valuation revision books, 1866-1930, PRONI VAL 12E/125/1/8.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Centre dwelling in a terrace of five three-storey/ two bay houses. Simple but attractive mid nineteenth century house retaining most original features. Part of an important and largely unaltered group at a major entry route to the town.