38-40 Shore Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

No.s 38-40 are owned and used by Portaferry Sailing Club. The main entrance is at no.38. The bar at ground floor, the restaurant at 1st floor extend into the first bay of no.40.
No. 40 is a relatively large three-storey, terrace, former Masonic Hall. It has late Victorian/Edwardian decoration to front façade including decorated gabled half-dormers, doorway, recessed arches and an unusual chamfered dormer. Despite its present appearance, this building may represent a c.1890-1900 remodelling of a pre-1834 house. The property is set within the terrace on the E side of Shore Road, to the S of Portaferry town centre.

The front façade faces SW and is generally symmetrical. The central doorway has a timber panel double door encased with pilasters with detailed floral decoration. Above the door are decorated brackets, keystone and entablature all below cornice hood with miniature balcony and ball finials with modern pre-cast decorative block which has replaced an earlier guilloche design. Sliding sash and case windows to either side of door with cill course and wrought iron decorative guard.

Three first floor windows similar to before but with decorated wooden hoods (pelmets) and cill course. Second floor windows are similar to first floor but slightly shorter and with a dentilled cill course incorporating ogee gutter. These windows are set within gabled ‘half dormers’ with moulded verges and ball finials. All windows are arranged within three arched recesses extending to the ground floor, with intermediate elliptical arch heads broken by central and shouldered smaller elliptical arch at ‘half dormer’ windows. Centre arrangement has no intermediate arch. The entire front facade is finished in plain render with chamfered quoins at right.

To the rear there is a large gabled return containing the Masonic hall. The upper portion of the main rear façade is rendered with evidence of a one time window opening to left, near the eaves. To the right there is a gabled half dormer.

Unusual, almost centred, chamfered dormer with hipped Bangor blue slate roof set behind second ‘half dormer’ gable. This upper dormer has small sliding sash windows to each of its sides and rises above ridge of roof to finish with a gabled chimney (set side on) to the rear elevation.

The main roof is gabled and covered in Bangor blue slates. There are two yellow brick chimney stacks, with simple corbelling and uniform pots. Similar chimney to rear of upper dormer. Stone parapets. Three square cast iron down spouts between ogee gutters on roof (between gabled dormers) and second floor gutter in cill course. Similar spout from cill course to ground. Rear has large return with pitched Bangor blue slate roof.

[N.B. The original survey of this building (Nov. 1970) described the somewhat similarly decorated house (No.38) to the left as if it were part of this hall, however, the house appears entirely separate from the hall, even though it bears some similarities and was probably built/remodelled at the same time.]

Following access to the interior of the buildings, it can be confirmed that no.38 and no.40 are integrated and both occupied by Portaferry Sailing Club.

No. 38 is a simpler atached building with a single panel door encased with pilasters, floral decorated brackets and entablature. There is one 1/1 sash window to the right of the door, 2 at first floor and 2 at second floor level set within gabled ‘half dormers’ with moulded verges and ball finials. There is evidence of an archway between the 2 houses which has been blocked up and rendered. This was more than likely an access to the coach house to the rear of the building.

Setting: The terraces are located on the Shore Road overlooking Strangford Lough. There is a large raised garden to the rear of the with the remains of a possible coach house and according to the club's representative a water tank below the garden (not visible).

Historical information

Site with building shown on Patrick O’Hare’s 1799 map in possession of either Widow Nielson or Thomas Waugh. The valuation records of c.1835-38 tell us that there were at least two, three storey dwelling on this general site at that stage, but (given the difficulties of matching the 1838 valuation town plan with the modern OS map) it is difficult to state for certain which of these buildings (if any), occupied this site. The present building and its neighbour (No.38) have a matching Edwardian look but turn of the century photographs show that both had Georgian facades, suggesting that they originally date from c.1790-1830, and may have been present in 1838. Alternatively (and this seems highly unlikely) the early 19th building may have been demolished c.1890-1900 with the present property constructed in place.

References- Primary sources
1 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]
2 Linen Hall Library ‘Pigot & Co.’s Dublin and Hibernian Provincial Directory’ (Manchester 1824)
3 'Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II', ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991)
4 PRONI OS/6/3/32/1 OS maps, 1st ed., 1834, Down sheet 32
5 PRONI VAL/1B/37 1st valuation, Ballyphilip, c.1835-38
6 PRONI VAL/1D/3/4 Valuation town plan of Portaferry, c.1838
7 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1846), p.520-23
8 PRONI and Linen Hall Library ‘Belfast and Province of Ulster Directory’ Vols.1-21, 1852-1900, (Belfast, Henderson [1852-65],
Belfast News-Letter [1865- ])
9 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1856), p.592-95
10 PRONI OS/8/23/1- OS town plan of Portaferry, 1859
11 PRONI Second ('Griffith's') valuation, 1863 [in print]
12 PRONI VAL/12E/112/1- Valuation maps of Portaferry, c.1863, with revisions of 1902
13 Linen Hall Library ‘Slater’s Royal National Commercial Directory of Ireland’ (Manchester 1870), pp.341-43
14 PRONI OS/8/23/2 OS town plan of Portaferry, 1874
15 George Henry Bassett ‘County Down Guide and Directory’ (Dublin 1886)
16 PRONI OS/8/23/3 OS town plan of Portaferry, 1900
17 UFTM WAG 609, 611, 612 W.A. Green Collection, photographs of Portaferry Quay, harbour, Shore Road etc.
18 UM W05/82/3 Welch Collection, photograph of the shore front, Portaferry etc.
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 Dick Oram, "The Buildings of Portaferry" in 'Journal of the Upper Ards Historical Society No.16' (1992), p. 24

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

No.38 and no.40 Shore Road are relatively large three storey, former houses, with No. 40 also being a former Masonic Hall. Both buildings have late Victorian/Edwardian decoration to front façade including decorated gabled half-dormers, doorway, recessed arches and an unusual chamfered dormer. Despite its present appearance, these buildings probably represents a c.1890-1900 remodelling of pre-1834 houses. To the rear of No.40, is a large two storey return which contains a former Masonic hall with a substantial chimney stack centred on the rear wall. There is an extensive raised garden with an historic boundary wall to the rear. Both former houses retain much historic fabric and detailing, particularly to the front elevations and are two of the more significant buildings in this part of Portaferry, where they have a fine setting overlooking Strangford Lough.