22 Lisburn Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An asymmetrical two-storey two-bay terraced former house, built c.1800 and located west of Lisburn Street in Hillsborough town centre. Square on plan with two-storey modern return to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles and brick chimneystack. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods. Walling is painted smooth render with plinth. Windows are replacement 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash with horns.

The principal elevation faces east and is asymmetrically arranged with two windows to first floor (widely spaced); to ground floor are two windows and a door to right; door is panelled with margin-paned transom light and modern brass door furniture.

The south elevation is abutted by adjoining building; HB19/05/049A.

The rear elevation is completely abutted by a large two-storey modern return.

The north elevation is abutted by adjoining building; HB19/05/049C.

Setting:

Gravelled car-park to rear. Street- fronted, forming part of an eighteenth-century /early nineteenth-century terrace-lined street on the approach to Hillsborough town centre.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Smooth render
Windows: Replacement timber-framed sash
RWG: Cast-iron

Historical information

No. 22 Lisburn Street first appears on a c. 1800 map of the Town of Hillsborough where it is depicted, incorporating nos 20 and 24, as a single oblong building on the west side of Lisburn Street; the map shows that the building possessed a large outbuilding which extended from the rear of the current No. 24. Lisburn Street is the oldest part of Hillsborough and witnessed a period of development between c. 1800 and c. 1830 when the majority of buildings on the northern half of the street were constructed; at this time Lisburn Street was known as ‘Great Newport Street in reference to the construction of the Lagan Canal in the late eighteenth century (Barry, p. 39). Nos 20 to 24 Lisburn Street are amongst the earlier houses which date from the mid to late 18th century before the later development of the street. The first edition Ordnance Survey map (1834) and the Townland Valuation map of c. 1830 continued to depict nos 20 to 24 as a single property; the Townland Valuations recorded that a Mr. Allan Weir occupied the site, which at that time was valued at £6.

Between 1834 and 1858 the large outbuilding at the rear of the building had been taken down. The second edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1858) shows that two returns had been constructed to the rear of nos 20 and 24 Lisburn Street (although No. 22 appears unaltered). The single building depicted on earlier sources is now recorded as three dwellings in Griffith’s Valuation; the valuer tells us that a Mr. John Mulligan was the owner of all three houses and that No. 22 Lisburn Street was valued at £8 and occupied by a Ms. Hannah Hollings. Hannah Hollings was the widow of Thomas Hollings, a ‘most faithful servant of the Most Noble Marquis of Downshire,’ who likely worked in the Downshire estate office (Graveyard Inscriptions, p. 68). Griffith’s Valuation further described the house as a two-storey 1a- class dwelling which measured 5 by 6yds and which, contrary to the map of 1858, possessed a rear return measuring 4 by 4yds.

Hannah Hollings died in 1869; however, a Mr. James Hollings was recorded as occupant of No. 22 Lisburn Street from as early as 1864 (PRONI Wills Catalogue – 18 January 1869). Over the next forty years a large number of at least 12 occupants briefly lived at this address until a Ms. Margaret Gardner came into possession in 1913, residing there until the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930. The 1911 Census described the property as a 2nd class dwelling which consisted of at least three inhabited rooms and possessed a coal house as its sole out office; the fourth edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1919 20) showed little change to the site from the 1858 map, although the rear return can be seen from this time. In recent years a large two-storey modern return has been constructed at the rear of the building, built sometime after 1966 (Ordnance Survey map 184-5).

No. 22 Lisburn Street is no longer used as a private residence and is now occupied by a private dentist’s clinic.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI D671/M/8/25 – Hillsborough Map c.1800
2. PRONI D671/M/8/57/1 – Hillsborough Illustrated Map 1803
3. PRONI VAL/1/B/344 A-B – Townland Valuations 1834
4. PRONI VAL/1/D/3/5 – Town Plan 1834
5. PRONI OS/6/3/14/1 – First Edition OS Map 1834
6. PRONI OS/6/3/14/2 – Second Edition OS Map 1858
7. PRONI OS/6/3/14/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1902-1903
8. PRONI OS/6/3/14/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-1920
9. PRONI VAL/2/B/3/45A-C – Griffith’s Valuation 1861
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14A – Annual Revisions 1864-1879
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14B – Annual Revisions 1880-1889
12. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14C – Annual Revisions 1890-1908
13. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14D – Annual Revisions 1909-1928
14. PRONI VAL/12/B/20/14E – Annual Revisions 1928-1930
15. PRONI Wills Catalogue (1869)
16. Census of Ireland 1901 / 1911
17. Ordnance Survey Map 184-5 (1966)

Secondary Sources
1. Barry, J., ‘Hillsborough: A parish in the Ulster plantation’ (3rd ed.), Belfast, Universities Press., 1982.
2. ‘Gravestone Inscriptions: Vol. 18 Co. Down’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1979.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

An asymmetrical two-storey two-bay terraced former house, built c.1800 and located west of Lisburn Street in Hillsborough town centre. Restored in recent years, the principal elevation retains an early appearance and some of its original character. The interior has been fully refurbished to accommodate a dental practice and office, altering the original floor-plan. Forming part of an eighteenth/early nineteenth-century thoroughfare on the approach to Hillsborough town centre, number 22 contributes to the character of the street. Although of interest, as the building has been significantly altered internally and is not considered to be of special interest, it does not meet the criteria for listing.

General comments

The record has been renumbered from HB19/05/049.