Calla Dental and Cosmetic Care

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Symmetrical mid terrace three-storey brick former townhouse, built c.1855. Rectangular on plan facing west lining the east side of Railway Street.

Roof hidden behind rendered parapet wall with masonry coping and redbrick chimneystacks with clay pots to either gable end. Replacement metal hopper and downpipe breaking through parapet wall. Redbrick walling laid in Flemish bond with render plinth course. Square-headed window openings with rendered reveals, painted masonry sills and uPVC windows.

Symmetrical three-storey front elevation three windows wide with a central round-headed door opening having replacement double-leaf timber panelled doors and semi-circular fanlight opening onto two concrete steps to the street with an embedded wrought-iron bootscraper.

North side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.16 (HB19/13/026A).

Painted brick three-storey rear elevation abutted by iron-sheeted full-height projection, with replacement timber casement windows.

South side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.12 (HB19/13/025D).

Setting:
Street-fronted within a terrace of three-storey brick former townhouses, all now in commercial use lining the east side of Railway Street.

Roof Not seen
RWG Replacement metal
Walling Redbrick
Windows uPVC

Historical information

No. 14 Railway Street, a three-storey Georgian townhouse, first appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857 along with Nos. 16 to 22 Railway Street (HB 19/13/026A-D). This three-storey terrace was constructed after 1830 as it does not appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 or an illustrated map of the centre of the town by Thomas Pattison c.1830; field inspection would support a construction date of c.1855 when the extended terrace first appears on the Ordnance Survey maps, however No. 14 was constructed at a higher level than Nos. 16 to 22 Railway Street, suggesting that it was constructed either earlier or later than the rest of the adjoining terrace.

Bass records that No. 14 Railway Street may have been the residence of Hugh Seeds, who Griffith’s Valuation records owned much of the property in Lisburn; the valuations show that Seeds also owned a number of properties in Railway Street, only one of which he records him as an occupant, a house valued at £16 (Bass). The Ulster Towns Directory records that No. 14 Railway Street was occupied by a Dr. George Alexander Waring in 1910; Waring died that same year leaving £1 as his sole effects (Ulster Town’s Directory 1910; PRONI Wills Catalogue – 19 February 1910). After his death the property passed to his family who are recorded in the 1911 Census; Waring’s widow Sarah Leeds Waring (39) was left to raise her four infant children with the aid of a nurse and a domestic servant. The Census Building Return describes No. 14 Railway Street as a 1st class private dwelling which consisted of 15 rooms and possessed a stable and coach house as its sole out offices.

In 1969 Brett described the terrace (Nos. 4 to 22) as ‘good three-storey Georgian brick or stucco houses with glazing bars intact ... the backs of [which] are of stone’ (Brett, p. 13). No. 14 Railway Street maintains its original Georgian character; however the interior of the house has been extensively renovated and now operates as the premises for a local Dental Practise.

References
Primary Sources

1. PRONI MIC/664/1 – Picture of Lisburn by Thomas Pattison
2. PRONI OS/6/1/68/1 – First edition OS map 1833
3. PRONI OS/6/1/68/2 – Second edition OS map 1857
4. PRONI OS/6/1/68/3 – Third edition OS map c.1900
5. PRONI OS/6/1/68/4 – Fourth edition OS map 1920
6. 1901 / 1911 Census
7. Ulster Towns Directory (1910)

Secondary Sources

1. Bass, H. G., ‘A short history of an old family firm: Records and recollections of Alexander Boyd & Co. Ltd’ Lisburn: 1977 (Pamphlet).
2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, buildings of architectural importance in the Borough of Lisburn’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1969).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Symmetrical mid terrace three-storey brick former townhouse, built c.1855. A former Georgian townhouse forming part of the terrace on Railway Street extended post 1830s. Whilst retaining its overall facade composition, the building has lost character as a result of alterations to the interior, windows and parapet and is not considered of sufficient quality for listing.

General comments

This record was completed without access to original source material held by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.