71 Bridge Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-storey four-bay mid-terrace former linen stores built c.1840; rectangular plan form with large rear return. Located at the north end of Bridge Street on the east side forming part of a terrace opposite the junction with Downshire Road.

Pitched natural slate roof with clay ridge tiles; decorative cast-iron ogee moulded rainwater goods on moulded corbels and decorative moulded brackets. Ruled-and-lined painted rendered walling. 1/1 timber sliding sash windows with horns; painted masonry cills. Four raised-and-pointed panelled timber door with bolection mouldings; decorative square-headed leaded overlight.

The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged; slightly splayed at the far left. The ground floor comprises door to the left with modern replacement glazed shop front extending to the far right. Four uniformly arranged first floor windows with slightly diminished in height second floor windows directly over. Individually fixed lettering “ARCADE” between first and second floor.

The left gable is abutted by the adjoining building (HB17/07/016D).

The rear elevation is abutted by an attached hipped three-storey over basement rear return(c.1893). Light well to the right bay. The rear elevation of the extension comprises paired windows of varying sizes to all floor on the right; basement windows blocked up; cantilevered toilet located between second and third floor on the left. The left cheek is partially abutting by the adjoining building three windows over. The right cheek is abutted by a diminished three-storey adjoining return (not part of premises).

The right gable is abutted by the adjoining building (HB17/07/016B).

Setting:

Three storey adjoining terrace to the north and south. The River Bann flows directly adjacent to the rear of the site. The surrounding buildings make up the commercial centre of the town comprising of two and three storey 19th and 20th century buildings.

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

Historical information

Nos. 71-75 Bridge Street were either converted from, or replaced, a building used as a Linen and yarn store which formerly stood on the current site. Griffiths Valuation records that these former Linen and yarn stores were let by local linen manufacturers McConnell, Finlay & Co., and were valued at £65. Finlay also owned the adjoining No. 69 Bridge Street c.1860 (HB17/07/016B; Ulster Street Directories).

Between 1863 and 1870 ownership of this property passed to Samuel Hill of Solitude House (HB17/07/033) who also owned a Flour-mill, kiln and stores a few meters to the south of this building on Bridge Street at that time. From 1864 Samuel Hill let the linen, yarn store and offices (nos 71-75 Bridge Street) to a Mr. William Waugh; Waugh was a linen merchant and a Justice of the Peace for Banbridge who resided in ‘The Fort’ in Ballyvalley and possessed offices on Dromore Street (Ulster Street Directories).

Until 1870 nos 71-75 Bridge Street were valued as a single building, however in 1870 the former linen, yarn store and offices were deleted from the Annual Revisions and individual valuations for No. 71, 73 and 75 were created. It is not known whether this change resulted from a conversion or a rebuild, however field research and the findings of the First Survey suggest that the terrace was constructed c.1840 making it likely that the former stores were simply converted into private dwellings and commercial premises c.1870.

Originally valued at £35 and described as a private dwelling and shop, No. 71 Bridge Street was not occupied until 1871 when a Mr. Robert King came into possession of the site. In the same year the value of the shop and house was increased to £47 as a result of its conversion into commercial premises. Ownership of the site passed from William Waugh to a Mr. James C. Stuart in 1872 (Stuart was a local landowner who owned over 1,200 acres of land around Banbridge – List of Co. Down Deeds, 1876). Over the next decade a number of tenants briefly occupied No. 71 Bridge Street and in 1882 Robert Rea became the new owner of the property when James C. Stuart sold the building; the change in owner coincided with a reduction of the value of the site to £38.

In 1886 the property was occupied by Thomas Young & Co., a drapers company that would continue to operate at the site for approximately 80 years. In 1893 the addition of the large return to the rear of the building and renovations of the shop increased the value of No. 71 Bridge Street to £46. In the same year ownership of the building once again changed hands when a Mr. James Simms (who operated the adjoining shops in no. 73-75 Bridge Street) purchased the building from Robert Rea for £315.

Between the 1870s-1890s James Simms occupied the adjoining nos 73-75 and formed a small commercial arcade at the bottom of Bridge Street incorporating nos 71-75 Bridge Street; photographs from the turn of the 20th century show that a long shop sign ran from between the ground and first floor along nos 71-75 Bridge Street (this has since been replaced with individual signs for each building) whilst the surviving fixed lettering ‘Arcade’ sign situated between the first and second-storey windows also dates from this period (photographs in Quail & Young).

The 1901 Census records that Thomas Young (46, Presbyterian) operated a drapery business from No. 71 Bridge Street. The Building Return describes No. 71 Bridge Street as a 1st class shop which consisted of nine rooms and possessed a number of out offices to its rear including a stable, coach house, piggery, a boiling house and store (these have since been replaced by the large modern rear return which had been constructed by 1969-70). Thomas Young continued to operate this business until his death in 1910 at which time his widow Margaret Jane Young took over sole occupancy of the site. The 1911 Census notes that Margaret’s son Joseph (17) worked as an apprentice draper, however due to the young age of Thomas Young’s children, for a time the business was operated by a Mr. Robert Speer who was the Drapery manager. The Census Building return for 1911 showed no change to the house although the number of outbuildings had been greatly reduced since 1901; in 1911 the site solely possessed a shed and a store amongst its out offices.

There was little change to No. 71 Bridge Street over the next two decades, the value of the shop and dwelling remained at £46 until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930. In 1940 Margaret Jane Young died (aged 85) leaving possession of the house and the family’s enduring Drapery business to her children (PRONI Wills). Quail and Young state that the Young family continued to operate their Drapery business from No. 71 Bridge Street for another twenty years; Joseph Young, a local councillor and Justice of the Peace was the last member of the family to operate at the site which closed in the 1960s (Quail and Young, p. 10).

No. 71 Bridge Street was listed in 1977 and continues to operate as commercial premises, although at the time of the survey the building was vacant.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/27/1 – First edition Ordnance Survey map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/27/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey map 1860
3. PRONI OS/6/3/27/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1903-1918
4. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/64/B – Griffith’s Valuation 1863
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/A – Annual Revisions 1864-1874
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/B – Annual Revisions 1874-1884
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/6/D – Annual Revisions 1885-1894
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7/A – Annual Revisions 1899-1910
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7/B – Annual Revisions 1911-1922
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/16/7/C – Annual Revisions 1921-1930
11. PRONI VAL/12/E/119/4 + 6 – Annual Revisions Banbridge Town Plan c. 1864-c. 1902
12. List of Co. Down Deeds (1876)
13. PRONI Wills Catalogue (26 Feb 1910; 3 Jan 1940)
14. Census of Ireland (1901 / 1911)
15. Ulster Street Directories (1843-1918)
16. Ordnance Survey map 220-8 (1969-70)
17. First Survey Record – HB17/07/016C (1977)

Secondary Sources

1. Quail, D; Young, A. F, ‘Old Banbridge’ Catrine: Stenlake Publishing, 2002.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
H-. Alterations detracting from building
H+. Alterations enhancing the building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A three-storey four-bay mid-terrace former linen stores built c.1840. Much of the style, proportions and detailing survive, although the ground floor has been altered significantly. The rear return added c.1890 represents the growth of business on the site and there has been little alteration. The greater part of the building has remained largely unaltered since becoming a commercial premises in the late 19th century and most historic fabric an detailing survives. This is a good example of the type with a history of changing use, originally relating to a major industry here, and it forms part of a group of buildings (HB17/07/016A-D) representing the ongoing stages of development at this end of the town.