97 Lurgan Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-bay two-storey-with-attic rendered mid-terrace house, built c.1865 and located to the east side of Lurgan Road in Seapatrick. Square on plan.

Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and rendered chimneystack with moulded caps and terracotta pots. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on cavetto moulded eaves. Walling is painted smooth render on a narrow plinth. Windows are segmental-arched 2/2 timber sash in moulded architraves with projecting sills; replacement uPVC windows to rear.

The principal elevation faces west and is two openings wide to each floor. To left at ground floor is a four-panelled timber door with square-headed overlight, flanked by panelled pilasters and surmounted by corniced pediment with console brackets.

The north elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB17/04/020E).

The rear elevation has a replacement window to first floor left and a round-arched replacement stairwell window at right; ground floor concealed.

The south elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB17/04/020C).

Setting

Street-fronting with paved yard to rear enclosed by a high rendered wall having timber-sheeted entrance gate.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Render
Windows: Timber / uPVC
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

The row of buildings were constructed as houses for supervisory staff and a shop by the local spinning firm of Hayes & Co Ltd.

The buildings are first shown on the third edition OS map of c.1900 as a terraced row situated opposite the Hayes mill complex which is captioned ‘Seapatrick Mills’. They are not listed in Griffith’s Valuation and first appear in the valuation fieldbook dating from 1864 to 1874. No date is given in the fieldbook but a tentative date of c.1865 can be proposed based on the primary records and the appearance of the buildings. Numbers 91 to 95 Lurgan Road are the first to be listed in the fieldbook, 97 and 99 being added at a slightly later date.

The invention of power-loom spinning and weaving in the early nineteenth century led to the establishment of great spinning mills such as Hayes at Seapatrick and Dunbar McMaster at Gilford. Added to the numerous weaving and bleaching concerns in the area that were already making use of the Bann’s water power, these firms put Banbridge at the centre of world linen production for many years. (Dillon)

A photograph of part of the terrace dating from c.1900 appears in Young and Quail’s collection ‘Old Banbridge’. The terrace remains essentially unchanged from this time, except for alterations to the rear and, in some cases, the removal/alteration of the ornamental pediment above the front door.

The house and yard are initially valued at £8.10s, being slightly larger than other houses in the terrace and is leased from Frederick William Hayes. The house is added into the fieldbook for 1864-74 after the other houses in the row together with the neighbouring shop and would therefore appear to be of a slightly later date. The first occupant to be listed is Alexander Montgomery, followed by Thomas C Thompson (1887) John Smith (1902) and James McClure (1913). In 1901 the tenant was John Smith, 52, a foreman and flax buyer from Belfast, who lived with his wife and three young daughters and a 19-year-old domestic servant. By 1911 the occupier was James McClure, a flax manager at the spinning mill, who lived with his wife and 4-year-old son. McClure was followed by Henry Chaney (1917) and John Smith, who returned in 1920.

At the time of the First General Revaluation (1933/4) the occupier is listed as Joseph McAnuff and the house is leased from T & A Wallace, owners of the neighbouring shop. The house and yard are revalued at £7.10s. The accommodation includes a lobby, reception, two bedrooms, a kitchen, scullery and a WC in the yard. The occupier is the manager of the shop next door and the house was let to him rent free. Dimensions are given for the house, annexe and a shed and lavatory in the yard.

The house continues in use as a dwelling.

References:
Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 Second Edition OS map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 Third Edition OS Map (c1900)
4. PRONI OS/6/3/27/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1903-18
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6A-H Annual Revisions (1864-1929)
6. PRONI VAL/3/C/4/2 – First General Revaluation (1936-57)
7. PRONI VAL/3/D/4/3/L/4 – First General Revaluation (1933-57)

Secondary Sources
1. Dillon, A “Images of Ireland, Banbridge”Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1997
2. Young, A F and Quail, D “Old Banbridge” Stenlake Publishing, 2002

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A two-bay two-storey-with-attic rendered mid-terrace house; built c.1865. The interior appears to have been refurbished with some loss of historic detail. This mid-Victorian terrace (HB17/04/020A-E) is of a common type and not among the best examples. It has been compromised by cumulative changes and is not of special interest.