22 Joymount,

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Terraced street-fronted three-bay two-storey with attic-storey rendered house, built c.1870, facing southeast, built as one of a pair (HB22/08/012A), with a two-bay two-storey return shared with adjoining house No.21 to the south and a further three-bay two-storey return to the north, built c.1830, as an earlier detached house.

Pitched concrete tiled roof (shared with No.21) with a large rendered chimneystack to the north gable having clay pots. Overhanging roof to cavetto moulded eaves to a rendered plat-band with original cast-iron rainwater goods. Natural slate pitched roofs to both rear returns with replacement plastic rainwater goods.

Painted rendered walling to front elevation, cement wet-dash render to rear elevation and returns.

Square-headed window openings with moulded architrave surrounds, painted masonry sills and replacement multi-pane timber casement windows. Single-pane timber sash windows with ogee horns to rear elevation and to north gable at attic-storey. Square-headed window openings to both returns with horizontally-glazed two-over-two timber sash windows with ogee horns to the south return. The north return has early three-over-three timber sash windows having exposed sash boxes, no sills and some crown glass.

Round-headed door opening with a moulded architrave surround, replacement timber panelled door flanked by pair of slender moulded pilasters on plinth blocks, lintel cornice and original iron spoked fanlight. Door opens onto sandstone step with a decorative cast-iron bootscraper. A further round-headed door opening to the left gives shared access to the rear exiting beneath the shared return and having a moulded architrave surround and replacement timber panelled door. The shared return has a square-headed door opening set at an angle with an original timber plank door. The north return contains a square-headed door opening with a replacement timber door opening onto a stone step with an early cast-iron bootscraper.

Small rear concrete yard opens into a raised garden enclosed by a rubblestone wall to the north, timber fence to the south and a redbrick wall to the west.

Historical information

The buildings are shown on the second edition OS map of 1857 and on the Town Plan of Carrickfergus of 1860 along Joymount Bank. They are identical in plan.

Griffith’s Valuation of 1860 records both properties as a ‘house, office, yard and small garden’. Each building is valued at £13.10s.
No. 21 is occupied by William Larmour, who owns the freehold, whilst number No. 22 is occupied by Andrew Monroe and leased from William Larmour.

The wall to the rear of No. 22 is significant as an isolated upstanding portion of the original seventeenth century town wall.

Boyle’s OS Memoirs state that in the 16th century a town wall was demanded by the people of Carrickfergus for reasons of protection. This request was not granted initially due to delays caused by Sir Henry Sidney’s resignation as Lord Deputy. (pp 13-14)

The Memoirs continue “...in 1607 a letter was addressed to Sir Arthur Chichester the lord deputy...requesting aid in behalf of the walling of the town” and in 1608 a letter from Chichester announced that “his majesty had consented to furnish 100 men to assist in walling the town...” Boyle notes that “till of late years the walls were pulled down and mutilated with impunity, but in 1815 a complaint [was made]...one individual was obliged to rebuild a portion he had taken down [and]...since then they have remained unmolested”.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/52/1-First Edition OS Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/52/2-Second Edition OS Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/52/3-Third Edition OS Map (1902)
4. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/22D-Griffith’s Valuation (1860)
5. PRONI VAL/2/D/1/14 A+B -Town Plan of Carrickfergus (1860)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/7/5A-F -Valuation Revisions (1861-1894)
7. Boyle, J. OS Memoirs, Parishes of Co. Antrim XIV, Vol 37 (1832, 1839-40)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

An attached two-bay two-storey mid-Victorian terraced house overlooking Belfast Lough, built as one of a pair. The house has been altered which detracts from its architectural interest. Whilst not of listable quality these two houses contribute positively to the Conservation Area.