18 Church Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey terrace shop (now vacant) possibly originally dating from c.1840. The building is set on the slope of Church Street to the S of Ballynahinch town centre.

The front façade faces W. To the ground floor front are central double doors with vertical timber sheeting and rectangular fanlight, flanked by simple timber pilasters. To the left is a large shop window (now boarded over) which is also framed with timber pilasters. To the right is a narrower window opening which is also now boarded over. To the first floor are two widely spaced windows each with a sash frame without astragals.

A small portion of the N gable is exposed as it rises slightly above the roof line of No.16. The S gable is obscured by the gable of No. 20 which rises above its apex.

To the right of centre to the ground floor of the rear façade is a door opening. To the centre of the first floor is a modern two pane modern top hung window.

The front elevation is finished in lined render. The gabled roof is finished in what appear to be asbestos slates. Two plain rendered chimney stacks. Cast iron rw goods. The rear elevation is finished in rough cast. A two storey pitched roof return was recently demolished along with a single storey lean-to extension.

Historical information

Much of what is now Church Street was undeveloped when the first OS map of this area was drawn up in 1833-34. A house is shown on this site (or part of the site) of this property, which the contemporary valuation records tell us was an old (grade C+), low, two storey dwelling belonging to a Michael Nugent. The stretch of terrace we see today, however, appears to have been constructed around c.1840, with the property in the hands of a James Flinn in 1863 and (possibly) a Margaret Grant in 1899. The property obviously housed a shop at some point (probably the early 1900s), but was a private dwelling when surveyed in 1974. The building was acquired by the present owner in 1977 and is currently vacant.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.1255 Title deeds, legal and testamentary papers, correspondence and Irish Land Commissioners Papers re the Ballynahinch Estate, 1630-1940.
2 PRONI OS/1/3/22 OS map 1st ed., 1834, Co. Down 22.
3 PRONI VAL/1B/388A-B Valuation records, Magherdrool, 1834-1838.
4 PRONI VAL/1D/3/19 Valuation town plan, Ballynahinch, 1838.
5 Title deeds in possession of current owner.
6 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1846), p.442.
7 PRONI and Linen Hall Library ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ Vols.1-21, 1852-1900, (Belfast, Henderson [1852-65], Belfast News-Letter [1865- ]).
8 PRONI OS/9/41/1 OS Town plan of Ballynahinch, 1860
9 PRONI and Linen Hall Library Second (Griffith’s) valuation, Magherdrool, c.1863 [in print].
10 PRONI VAL/12E/83/1 Valuation town plans, Ballynahinch, 1864-1905.
11 PRONI VAL/12E/83/2 Valuation town plans, Ballynahinch, 1905-35.
12 PRONI OS/8/3/2 OS town plan of Ballynahinch, 1920.
13 PRONI VAL/3G/59/1 Valuation town plans, Ballynahinch, 1937-53.

Secondary sources
1 S. McCullough ‘Ballynahinch: centre of Down’ (Ballynahinch Chamber of Commerce 1968).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Two storey terrace shop (now vacant) proabably originally a dwelling house dating from c.1840.