7 Parade Ground

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey, three-bay building forming part of a terrace of seven houses. It is comprised of a ground floor and a separate first floor, with entrances to each floor both located in a projecting porch bay on the east elevation, but with doorways facing south and north respectively.

East elevation comprises a two-storey main block which contains two windows to each floor, to the left of a projecting two-storey lean-to porch. Main block roof is of synthetic slates in regular courses. Two chimneys, one to each extremity; the one to the left, common with the adjoining property, is smooth rendered, lined and blocked, with plain projecting block cornice, and four pots; three of them original octagonal stoneware, and one modern; the chimney to the right is of squared sandstone in regular courses, with plain projecting block cornice, and one modern pot.
Wall smooth rendered with projecting eaves course or frieze, all white painted, with black painted reveals to openings and black painted base to resemble a plinth. Metal gutter with cast iron downpipe to left but lower section missing. A cast iron soil pipe also runs across the façade above the ground floor windows. Windows to ground floor are rectangular timber white painted sliding sash, 2 over 4, with horns, the one to the left set in partly recessed frames, painted black, the one to the right of it set in exposed sash boxes which are painted black; projecting stone cills, painted black. Windows to first floor are, to the right, a similar sashed window as previous to ground floor to right; to the left, a small sashed window, 1 over 1 with horns, set in exposed sash boxes, painted as previous.

Porch has similar walling to main block; cast iron gutter and downpipe. Front wall has two windows, one to each floor. Ground floor one is rectangular timber sliding sash, 3 over 3 without horns, painted white, set in exposed sash boxes which are painted black; projecting stone cill. First floor window is sashed 2 over 2 with horns, set in partly recessed frames, painted as previous; projecting concrete cill. In the side wall of the porch, facing south, is a doorway, rectangular timber panelled, set in plain white painted reveals.

North elevation comprises the north gable of main block with the side of the front porch extending to the left, first floor areas only for both elements, due to the elevated ground level on that side. North gable is blank, smooth rendered and painted white, with raised quoins to extremities, painted pale blue as part of colour scheme of adjacent property at 2-6 Main Street. Overhanging eaves, with timber boarded soffits; timber barge boards to gable, ornamented with scrolling fretwork. Side wall of upper area of front porch, extending to left, is smooth rendered, with flush verge to roof: contains a rectangular sheeted timber door set in plain white painted reveals; sandstone step.

Rear elevation: single storey above ground, on a full basement storey. Roof slated as previous to entrance front. Wall is smooth rendered with raised quoins to left-hand extremity, with projecting eaves course, all painted white. Metal gutter; no downpipes. Three windows to upper floor: rectangular timber sliding sash, 2 over 2 with horns, in exposed sash boxes, in poor condition, set in plain reveals with projecting sandstone cills; right-hand window boarded up.
Ground floor openings are from left to right: a rectangular window, now boarded up; a rectangular door, sheeted timber with glazed panels; a small rectangular window sliding sash, 1 over 2 with horns; a larger sashed window, 2 over 4 with horns. Covering the wall at the right-hand end is a small lean-to porch with corrugated iron roof in semi-derelict state.
Ground floor openings overlook a small basement yard with a whitened basalt rubble retaining wall enclosing it, surmounted by a smooth rendered coping. Surface of basement yard is overgrown; contains a small single storey whitened brick outside toilet in corner next to open porch, with corrugated iron roof, in poor condition; basement yard closed at south end by the white painted basalt rubble wall linking the terrace with a long basalt rubble outbuilding extending to the west.

SETTING: The building stands within the built-up area of the town, located in a terrace of seven houses which faces the river but is set well back from it with an extensive hardstanding in front surfaced partly in tarmac; front boundary to hardstanding formed by a low rendered retaining wall to the riverbank, with a large metal pipe across it, on concrete supports, viewed through a screen of mature trees; front open area bounded to north by a basalt retaining wall surmounted by original iron railings, retaining the end of the elevated main street; this wall and railings abuts the east face of the first floor porch. Front open area bounded to south by a tall railway viaduct, now defunct, built of snecked basalt rubble. A single storey temporary building stands in the front area immediately in front of this building.
To the rear on the north side the end gable is enclosed behind the gateway of an adjoining property at 2-6 Main Street, where it overlooks an entrance driveway into a large rear yard or enclosure, below the level of which lies the basement well or yard immediately at the rear of the house.

Historical information

Built as part of a terrace of houses, but the precise date of the terrace is not known; its present frontage with projecting porches is shown on the OS map of 1903, plain rectangular blocks having been shown on the site on the OS maps of 1829 and 1858; the date for what appears on site now may be taken as mid-to late 19th century. The terrace of houses occupies the site of the barracks of the Antrim Regiment of Militia, built by Lord O'Neill (Colonel of the Antrim Regiment) in 1816 at a cost of £2000, solely for the staff of that regiment on its being disembodied. It was described in the 1830s as follows: "The barracks consist of 3 parallel ranges of buildings. The front range facing the river consists of 4 contiguous houses 2-storeys high, 130 feet long and 20 feet deep. The second range consists of 1-storey houses and the third is occupied with offices for the others … These barracks afford comfortable quarters to the militia staff and the front range is in good repair, but they bear no resemblance to a regular barrack either in their construction or fitting up, and do not in any respect differ from ordinary dwelling houses." It would appear that the present terrace is a later remodelling of the 1816 block. Where there were 4 houses originally in the block facing the river, there are now 7 which also have projecting porches. The same source in the 1830s also referred to the parade ground in front of the houses as follows: "In front of the barracks a very handsome parade ground 36 yards broad extends for 184 yards along the edge of the river. It is quite level and is kept well gravelled."
Another source, in the 1840s, described the parade as being "now the town mall or public promenade." The parade was later shortened in length by the building of the railway viaduct in the mid-1850s.
The first floor was at one time used as the estate office for Shane's Castle.

References – Primary Sources
1. OS Map 1829, Co Antrim 43.
2. OS Map 1858, Co Antrim 43.
3. OS Map 1903, Co Antrim 43.
4. Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland, Vol 19: Parishes of County Antrim VI, 1830, 1833, 1835-8 (Belfast, 1993), pp 34, 43.
5. S. Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Vol II (London, 1837), p 484.
6. Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland, 1844-45, Vol III, 1846, p 111.

Secondary Sources
1. UAHS, Antrim and Ballymena (Belfast, 1969), p 24 (item no 11).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
I. Quality and survival of Interior
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This house is part of a terrace that is probably a remodeling of a former militia barracks. The group have architectural as well as historic character and have a good setting beside the river Main and a listed bridge and viaduct.

General comments

This record was previously numbered HB20/04/022G.