The Curatage

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid-terrace two-bay two-storey rendered house, built c.1780 and remodelled c.1930. Rectangular on plan facing west, with twin-gabled returns, extended and refurbished c.1980.

Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and pair of rendered profiled chimneystacks with octagonal clay pots. Cast-iron guttering to plain rendered eaves course and cast-iron downpipe. Painted rendered walling with slightly projecting plinth course and rusticated quoins. Square-headed window openings with painted masonry sills and replacement bipartite timber sash windows.

Two-bay two-storey front elevation with central door opening and hood mouldings to all ground floor openings. Replacement 4/1 timber sash windows with central mullions. Vertically-sheeted timber door with brass furniture and rectangular overlight having leaded coloured glazing, opening onto concrete step to the street.

North side elevation abutted by adjoining house No.5 (HB19/05/035).

East rear elevation abutted by twin-gabled projection obscured by two-storey gabled extension to the north half and glazed conservatory to the south half. Largely roughcast cement rendered walling with replacement multi-pane timber casement windows.

South side elevation abutted by adjoining house No.7 (HB19/05/037).

Carriage arch to No.7 with rubble and redbrick wall gives access via large timber gate to the rear garden. Garden hard landscaped with original rubblestone carriage house to rear, now extensively refurbished and converted into double garage with pitched natural slate roof. Passageway between garage doors opens onto a further large garden with mature trees with Hillsborough Fort beyond.

Setting:
One of a terrace of three similarly scaled houses on the east side of The Square overlooking the former Market House and Hillsborough Castle.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walls Painted render
Windows Replacement timber sash

Historical information

The current building appears, on field inspection, to date from the late eighteenth century and this is supported by the primary evidence. There are no houses shown on this side of the Square on an estate map of 1777 but by 1788 a schematic representation is made of a row of houses on this site. An estate map of c.1800 shows these buildings in more detail. The current building is said to be the residence of ‘Carlisle’ and is shown as rectangular on plan with a return that has been added to during the lifetime of the map.

The dwelling is listed in the Townland Valuation (1828-40) as the residence of James Bradshaw, a house, offices and yard valued at £9.16s. Dimensions are given. The Bradshaw family ran a brewery elsewhere in the town.

The house is listed in Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) as a public house called ‘The Swan Inn’. It is occupied by Isabella Megahey and leased from the Marquis of Downshire. The valuation is £18 and the rent is said to be £20. An 1866 street directory lists Isabella Megahey as a grocer and spirit dealer. David Crothers takes over at an unspecified date in the early 1860’s, apparently as the husband of Isabella, and by 1878, following Isabella’s death, the house is occupied by James McLughan. The Canadian, Marshall McLuhan (1911-80), influential media theorist and English professor who coined the phrases, ‘the medium is the message’ and ‘global village’ was descended from the McLughans of Hillsborough, his grandfather William McClughan emigrating in 1846. (Marchand, p.7)

In 1886 the house began to be let in two separate parts. Rooms on the upper floor were let to the Trustees of the Masonic Body, presumably as a lodge, and were valued at £4. The masons occupied these rooms until 1900. The rest of the house, outbuildings, yard and small garden continued to be occupied by James McClughan until 1888 and was valued at £8.

By 1890 the house had become the property of the Boyd family, Mrs Boyd in 1890, Elbary Boyd in 1900 and Maria Boyd in 1902.

By 1914 the house was being used as the residence of curates of the parish church and has subsequently been known as ‘The Curatage’. The curates were Rev. WR Creighton (curate from 1911 to 1914), Rev. Robert N Morrison (1914-21) and Rev. FG Magill (1922-4). However, this usage of the house was shortlived and by 1926 the house was vacant. Shortly afterwards it was taken over by Samuel R Stewart.

In 1985 the house was extended to the rear and in 1994 a glazed roof was added to the yard. It remains in use as a dwelling house.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/3/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1833
2. PRONI OS/6/3/14/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/3/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-3
4. PRONI OS/6/3/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-20
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/3/14 – Townland Valuation Field Map (c.1830)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/344A-B – Townland Valuation (1828-40)
7. PRONI VAL/1/D/3/5 – Townland Valuation Town Plan (c.1834)
8. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/45A-C – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14/A-E – Annual Revisions (1864-1930)
10. PRONI VAL/12/E/102/1/1-6 – Annual Revisions Town Plan ([c.1864]-1909)
11. D671/M/8/2 – Map of Hillsborough, 1771
12. T3153/1 – Map of Hillsborough, 1788
13. D671/M/8/25 – Map of Hillsborough c.1800
14. D671/M/8/57 – Map of Hillsborough 1803
15. PRONI Will of Isabella Crothers, died 30th June 1877
16. Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory, 1866

Secondary Sources

1. Marchand, Philip “Marshall McLuhan: the medium and the messenger: a biography”, 1989

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A terraced three-bay two-storey rendered house standing on the east side of The Square, with its original rear plot. Despite the age of this house being disguised by its early twentieth-century remodelling, the layout and some interior features indicate the 18th century origins of the structure. While the refurbishment works of the 1980s have resulted in much replacement fabric, the various changes represent a house evolving over the lifetime of its existence and the overall composition remains relatively intact. Located within a historic terrace the house forms a fitting setting for both the former Market House and Hillsborough Castle (HB19/05/076), to the west, and makes a contribution to the heritage of the area.