The ‘Corn Store’

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two to three storey warehouse of perhaps mid to late 19th century construction, possibly originally built as a corn mill but much altered in succeeding years. The building is constructed in snecked random rubble with brick quoins, and dressings to all openings, and a segmental arch roof, with many door and window openings of various shapes and sizes. It is two storey to the north and three storey to the south and has a shallow segmental arched roof. The building is set on the N side of (on the slope of) Castle Street the ‘Corn Store’ is a two storey (with semi basement)

Front (west) elevation is one of the gable ends and is symmetrical. The timber main entrance door has a projecting pitch roofed canopy over which is supported on timber brackets, with decorative barge boards. To either side are sash windows each 2 over 2 and with brick dressings. The ground floor windows have slim concrete cills and the first floor windows are without cills. Five steps rise to the front door, to the right of this is a long wheelchair ramp. Wooden restaurant sign over left ground floor window. The ground slopes away from the front elevation into Castle Street.

South elevation- The south elevation faces on to a courtyard which is at a much lower level than the front, north and east elevations, thus the building is three storey to this side with a basement level. The basement has a low coach arch to the left with an elliptical head and brick dressings. This arch is now filled with timber and glazed shop doors with side lights and a plain timber sheeted double outer door. Timber painted shop sign above arch. There are traces of other, now blocked, openings at this level. The ‘first’ (i.e. ground) floor has three windows as front elevation. There are windows as before to the ‘second’(i.e. first) floor, except for a much larger eight pane window to the far left. Towards the right of the courtyard steps rise up into a narrow lane heading into Cuan Place.

North elevation- The ground floor of this elevation has five openings with two almost identical large arches with elliptical heads to far left and right, now filled with twelve pane timber windows with diagonal timber sheeting below the windows. The arch to the right has a concrete cill and rendered area to its base. Window as front elevation to the right of the left hand arch. Doorway (for staff use only) with plain sheeted timber door in center with plain fanlight and large eight pane window directly above (on first floor). This door and window are both in the same ‘vertical bay’ which may have had a warehouse door to the upper level where the window is today. On either side of the vertical bay to the first floor are two windows same as front elevation. Modern projecting, internally illuminated, plastic ‘pub’ sign to far right.

East elevation- The ground floor of this elevation displays traces (such as the still visible lintel and brick piers) of once having been completely open. This opening has since been blocked up(with matching random rubble) and there are now two bays with a plain timber sheeted door to the left and a window, as front elevation, to the right. Timber restaurant sign above window. The first floor has three windows, all as before.

Roof- Shallow segmental arch roof with felt covering. Cast iron gutters and down spouts.

Additional Information

The building measures roughly 16.5m x 10.6. The curved roofs are on Anderson type Belfast Roof Trusses

Historical information

A building is shown on this site on the valuation map of c.1835-38, which was part of a distillery complex belonging to one John Maxwell. By 1861 this complex had been converted to a corn mill, with the building on this site the mill itself, with the water wheel to the west end and the mill pond to the north, next to the Rope Walk. At this point the valuation records state that the mill was 'dilapidated'. The OS town plan of 1900 shows a building of same siting and plan, though the water wheel and mill pond have all been removed. At this stage (and for most of the 20th century) the building appears to have acted as a warehouse, but was converted to a warehouse in the early 1990s.

It is difficult to guage the age of the building. The Belfast truss roof construction and myriad of window openings all point to a late 19th early 20th century construction. Alternatively, it could represent a remodelling of the mill of the mid 1800s, which in turn may have been a remodelling of the the earlier distillery building.

For background information about the Belfast Roof Trusses, see HB18/08/139.

References- Primary sources
1 Walter Harris, 'The Ancient and Present State of the County of Down' (Dublin 1744), p. 44. [ Harris describes Portaferry as ‘a market town, but irregularly built, and few other than thatched houses in it’.]
2 'Taylor's and Skinner's Maps of the roads of Ireland' (Dublin 1777)
3 PRONI D.552/B/3/3/1 Savage/Nugent Papers: ‘A Plan or Map of the Town of Portaferry’ by Patrick O’Hare, 1799 [The
Savage/Nugent Papers contain many documents relating to Portaferry and the surrounding area]
4 Linen Hall Library ‘Pigot & Co.’s Dublin and Hibernian Provincial Directory’ (Manchester 1824)
5 'Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II', ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991)
6 PRONI OS/6/3/32/1 OS maps, 1st ed., 1834, Down sheet 32
7 PRONI VAL/1B/37 1st valuation, Ballyphilip, c.1835-38
8 PRONI VAL/1D/3/4 Valuation town plan of Portaferry, c.1838
9 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1846), p.520-23
10 PRONI and Linen Hall Library ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ Vols.1-21, 1852-1900, (Belfast, Henderson [1852-65], Belfast News-Letter [1865- ])
11 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1856), p.592-95
12 PRONI OS/8/23/1- OS town plan of Portaferry, 1859
13 PRONI Second ('Griffith's') valuation, 1863 [In print.]
14 PRONI VAL/12E/112/1- Valuation maps of Portaferry, c.1863, with revisions of 1902
15 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1870), pp.341-43
16 PRONI OS/8/23/2 OS town plan of Portaferry, 1874
17 George Henry Bassett ‘County Down Guide and Directory’ (Dublin 1886)
18 PRONI OS/8/23/3 OS town plan of Portaferry, 1900
19 PRONI VAL/12E/112/2- Valuation maps of Portaferry, 1902, with revisions of 1935

Secondary sources
1 G. Philip Bell, C.E.B. Brett, Sir Robert Matthew, 'Ulster Architectural Heritage Survey: Portaferry & Strangford'
(Belfast UAHS 1969)
2 PRONI Portaferry: Sources for Local History (PRONI ?1970s)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Large two to three storey warehouse of perhaps mid to late 19th century construction, possibly originally built as a corn mil. The building is rubble constructed with a curved (Belfast truss) roof and a myriad of brick dressed window and door openings. The property was converted to a restaurant in the 1990s. This building has had several uses in its life and with this history and the belfast roof trusses it has special architectural and historic character.

General comments

Additional information added in connection with the Belfast Roof Truss Survey.