8 The Crescent

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three-storey three-bay symmetrical Georgian terrace house, built c.1800, located to the south of High Street, close to the centre of Holywood. Rectangular on plan with two-storey gabled return to rear and garage to west.

Pitched natural slate roof with rectangular brick chimneystacks having stone plinth and terracotta pots. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods with drive-in brackets; uPVC rainwater goods to rear extension. Walling is painted smooth render with quoins and plinth; plat band between ground and first floor. Windows are 6/6 timber-framed sliding sash (unless otherwise stated) with projecting stone sills; canted bay windows 2/2 sliding sash with horizontal glazing bars and dividing Doric pilasters.

The principal elevation faces north and is symmetrically arranged being three openings wide. Entrance comprises double panelled timber door with brass furniture and slender transom light; flanked by pilasters and surmounted by scrolled console brackets with moulded cornice. Modern plaque with the following:

“Ballystewart House: Hereabouts lived William E. Praeger, Linen Merchant, Father Robert, 1865-1953, The Naturalist and Author and Rosamund 1867-1954. The Sculptress.”

The east elevation is abutted by adjoining building (HB 23/20/034C)

The south (rear) elevation is enclosed by a large garden which could not be accessed.

The west elevation is blank and abutted by a modern garage.

Setting

The terrace is located in a secluded square with mature trees, enclosed by a brick wall with modern electric gates to north, and by mature hedges to east and west. To the rear of the property there are two outbuildings of no real interest, one of which has been converted into a modern garage.

Roof: natural slate
Walling: render
Windows: timber
RWG: cast-iron

Historical information

According to Merrick, this house began life as an isolated farmhouse in the late eighteenth century, at which time it would have been situated at the edge of the village of Holywood. In the 1820s the plot was taken over by Hugh Stewart and redeveloped to create a terrace of four houses, in the process of which the farmhouse was raised a storey. Hugh Stewart had been appointed Post Master in Holywood in 1822 and was responsible for a number of housing developments including Holywood’s first public baths. (Merrick, p.3, 54)

In the Townland Valuation (1828-40) all the houses are listed as the property of Hugh Stewart and this house is valued at £12.12s. In Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) the house is occupied by William Haliday and valued at £16. The valuer notes that the house has rather uncomfortable proportions and that the ceilings are very low on the second storey. He also comments that it is not in as good order as the other houses. Dimensions are given for the house and stables and carriage houses are listed to the rear of the terrace. The valuation town plan dating from c1860 to c1866 notes that the plot in front of the houses is ‘in potatoes’.

In Hugh Stewart’s will of 1858 he bequeaths the houses in the Crescent to his daughter Harriet Kennedy “ for her own sole use and benefit independently of her present or any future husband and I direct that they be subject to her own control nevertheless that she be not at liberty to sell alien or mortgage or anticipate the same during her life but that at her death she may will them to whom she pleases”. He further directed that a £12 annuity be paid to his daughter Susan Greenfield “out of the rents derived from the Crescent lying behind the house in which I at present dwell”. As the immediate lessor remains Hugh Stewart in Annual Revisions, we can conclude that Stewart’s grandson, also called Hugh Stewart, was the landlord.

By 1887 Michael Browne is the occupier and John Anderson and others, the immediate lessor. The valuation is reduced, in stages, to £13. Elizabeth Kennedy is the occupier in 1889 and the house is further reduced in value to £11. However, in 1903, with the arrival of James Ferris the valuation is raised again to £13 and the valuer notes that the house has been altered and a bathroom put in. Valuer’s notes give dimensions and a plan. In 1911 the occupier is Ellen Brown and in 1925 Thomas Cunningham. Cunningham becomes the immediate lessor in 1923.

(Brett notes that his great-great-grandmother lived in this house, but this is not the case. Matilda Brett lived at a house which was numbered 8 in valuation records but which today is number 3, The Crescent.) (Brett, p.175)

References:

Primary Sources

1.PRONI OS/6/3/1/1 – First Edition OS Map 1834
2.PRONI OS/6/3/1/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
3.PRONI OS/6/3/1/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-02
4.PRONI OS/6/3/1/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-31
5.PRONI OS/6/3/1/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1938-41
6.PRONI VAL/1/B/318 – Townland Valuation (1828-40)
7.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/18A – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
8.PRONI VAL/12/A/3/53 – Valuer’s Notebook (1900-6)
9.PRONI VAL/12/B/17/10A-G – Annual Revisions (1867-1930)
10.PRONI VAL/12/E/123/1/1-6 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c1860-c1866)
11.PRONI VAL/12/E/123/2/1-6 – Annual Revisions Town Plan (c1867-1900)
12.PRONI T1342/5 – Will of Hugh Stewart dated 12th March 1858

Secondary Sources

1.Brett, C.E.B. “Buildings of North County Down” Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2002
2.Merrick, Tony “Buildings of Holywood” Holywood: Holywood Advertiser, 1986

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A three-storey three-bay symmetrical Georgian terraced house, c.1800 situated in an informal square. The house has a slightly earlier date than the rest of the terrace and was most likely originally conceived as a solitary Georgian farmhouse. The architectural detailing is of quality and is largely intact, with Regency glazing bars in canted bay and Georgian glazing patterns to upper floors. Although the original floor-plan has been retained much of the detailing has been lost and finishes are largely modern. The house is a good example of the type in fairly condition and has group value within its own terrace, which combines with a Victorian terrace (HB23/20/033A-D) located at right angles to this one to form the square. The setting of an informal square is of note and survives in relatively original form.

General comments

Renumbered from HB23/20/034 H