Cockle Row

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A single storey, four bay building divided into two sections each with a direct entry layout. The part to the south is thatched and that to the north has a slated roof.

The building faces east set back a little distance from Main Street. The north gable overlooks the harbour with Cockle Island beyond.

The forecourt is paved with large orange coloured concrete tiles with an inset panel of red and grey tiles in front of the entrance. The orange tiles continue around the north gable. The areas at the rear and at the south gable are grassed in front of rough stone or concrete hard standing. A disabled ramp has been formed in front of the entrance.

The building is divided externally into three sections. The southern parts are thatched and the part to the north is finished with natural slate. Blue clay ridge tiles are of a socketted type and rainwater goods are of cast iron.

The thatched covering is finished with cement skews at the south gable and it abuts against the wall of the slated part including cement fillets.

While the thatch is continuous at the front the rear is divided into two sections with the joint made up of cement skews and fillets. The southern part is set back a little distance.

The south gable has a projection on the south gable that is not provided with a stack. There are three corbelled chimneystacks on the roofs of the building. Two rise from the end walls of the slated part and the other is over the hearth position of the thatched portions. Only that on the south gable has a chimney pot.
The south gable has a buttress extending from the line of the front wall of the building flanking a small plain sashed vertically sliding window with sash stops and a sill of traditional depth.

Starting from the south corner of the thatched part the sequence of openings is as follows: -

A small plain sashed vertically sliding window with sash stops and without a sill.
A larger plain sashed vertically sliding window without sash stops or sill.
A timber sheeted half door.
A larger plain sashed vertically sliding window without sash stops or sill.

Moving to the slated part: -

A narrow plain sashed window with sash stops and a narrow sill.
A timber sheeted door.
A narrow plain sashed window with sash stops and a narrow sill.
A narrow plain sashed window with sash stops and a narrow sill.

At the rear starting from the south corner there is a small plain sashed vertically sliding window with sash stops and without a sill lighting the kitchen of the thatched part and a similar window lighting the reception area of the slated part.

The north gable is blank.

Historical information

Lewis, Samuel, Topographical Dictionary of Ireland 1837, pp. 674-675
Publicity material issued by Bangor Borough Council includes the information that Groomsport was the departure point for America of the ship named the “Eagles Wing” with a complement of persecuted Presbyterians in 1631.
A column near the War Memorial records the landing of the advance army of William III in 1689.
The forge at Cockle Row is said to have been associated with these events.

The building appears in present form on the OS map of 1833.

References – Primary Sources

1. OS map, 1st edition 1833, Co. Down sheet 2
2. The OS map 1st revision is missing

Secondary Sources

Publicity material issued by North Down District Council
The first survey uses the number HB23/01/024 to identify the building
Postcard illustrating the site about 1930 showing Peggy and Mercy Hunter who ran a tea room in the building. Mercy appears to be the person who later became President of the Ulster Academy.
Postcard of Groomsport Harbour and Cockle Row in the 1930s. The buildings in the foreground were removed in the 1960s.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
F. Structural System
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A single storey, four bay building divided into two sections each with a direct entry layout. The part to the south is thatched and that to the north side has a slated roof.
The building presents an appearance as a vernacular structure and there is an interest in the contrast between the thatched and the slated sections.
The slated part with walls of increased thickness and construction exposed in the display area is of some antiquity. The thatched part has been restored in acceptable fashion retaining features such as the hearth and roof construction.