16 Stream Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Small, two storey, rubble-fronted terrace house of possible pre 1834 construction, with high level ground floor due to the slope of the street. The building is situated within the terrace on the E side of Stream Street.

The asymmetrical front façade faces W with the ground floor set at a high level because of the slope (to S) of the street. To the left of centre on the ground floor is the timber sheeted entrance door reached via a (relatively long) flight of granite steps with wrought iron railings. The doorway has a plain narrow fanlight. To the right of the doorway is a sash window with horizontal glazing bars (2/2) and brick dressings. To the right of the doorway is a similar window with three much smaller plain sash windows to the first floor, also with brick dressings. The front façade is largely in plain unrendered rubble. The face of the flight of steps is rendered.

To the rear there is a large single storey lean-to with plain double sash window to E face. To the N face is a timber sheeted door. To the first floor rear façade of is a small sash window. To ground floor level a window has been blocked (in rubble). The lean-to is finished in rough cast with raised brick dressings and quoins. The rear façade of the main building is in rubble.

The main gabled roof and the lean-to roof are slated. Two small Velux windows to rear of main roof. The rw goods appear to be mainly PVC.

Historical information

The east side of Stream Street is shown largely developed on a 1729 town plan of Downpatrick. It is difficult, (given the apparent lack of source material), to estimate the age of this house, its looks alone could place it anywhere between the mid 18th century to the mid 19th. It could well be one of the ‘six houses exempt’, recorded on this site in the 1838 valuation, but it is difficult to be in any way certain of this.*

The rear lean-to was added c.1990s.

References- Primary sources
1 Down County Museum ‘A plan of Downpatrick’ by Michael Wills (c.1708)
2 PRONI D.477A ‘A survey of the town of Downpatrick in the county of Down and province of Ulster in Ireland’ by James Maguire (c.1708)
3 British Library, Addit. MS 9750, ff.71b-72 ‘A plan of the town of Downpatrick (c.1720)
4 British Library, Addit. MS 21, 131, f.90 ‘A plan of the town of Downpatrick 1729’
5 Walter Harris, ‘The ancient and present state of the County of Down’ (Dublin 1744)
6 PRONI OS/6/3/37/1 OS map, Down sh 37, 1834
7 Ordnance Survey memoirs of Co Down (IV), ed Angélique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1992), pp.38-61 [Dec. 1836]
8 PRONI VAL/1B/378 First valuation, Down, c.1838 [*Unfortunately this valuation does not supply either dimensions of buildings within Downpatrick or any indication of their age / condition; it merely gives a list of the occupants names and the rateable value of each property.]
9 PRONI VAL/1D/3/7 First valuation town plan of Downpatrick, c.1838
10 PRONI OS/8/9/1/1-24 OS town plans of Downpatrick, 1859
11 PRONI Second valuation, Down, 1863 (in print). [The map to accompany this valuation is missing.]
12 PRONI VAL/12E/120/1 Revaluation manuscript books, Downpatrick, 1864-1901
13 PRONI VAL/12E/120/1/1-24 Revaluation town plans of Downpatrick, 1864-1901 [12 sheets missing]
14 PRONI OS/8/9/2/1-3 OS town plans of Downpatrick, 1901
15 PRONI VAL/12E/120/2/1-3 Revaluation town plans of Downpatrick, 1906-35

Secondary sources
1 Lady Dunleath, P.J. Rankin, A Rowan, ‘Historic buildings…Downpatrick’ (Belfast 1970), p.16
2 Anthony M. Wilson, ‘Saint Patrick’s town’ (Belfast 1995)
3 R.H. Buchanan and Anthony Wilson, ‘Irish historic towns atlas no.8: Downpatrick’ (Royal Irish Academy 1996)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Small, two storey, rubble-fronted terrace house of possible pre 1834 construction, with high level ground floor due to the slope of the street. It has group value with its neighbours