23-29 Main Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Terrace consisting of four gabled houses on the SE side of Main Street, Carrowdore.

No.23 is at the SW end of the terrace and is single fronted. The front (NW) facade has a PVC door (inc. sidelight to the left) with a PVC window to the right and two similar windows to the first floor. Simple surrounds to front facade openings. SW gable blank. The rear is completely taken up with a full height flat roofed extension with PVC windows and a door. Entire facade finished in rough cast render. Main roof pitched with asbestos free slates. Rendered chimney stack to gable. PVC rw goods.

No.25 is also single fronted, with a modern glazed door to the left, and an enlarged window opening with modern frame to the right, with a similar enlarged window to the first floor. The rear is completely taken up with a very large full height extension, with a flat roof and modern windows and door. The front facade is finished in rough cast render, with smooth render surrounds to windows. The rear extension is constructed in concrete brick. The roof is pitched with asbestos free slates and a single rendered chimney stack. PVC rw goods.

No.27 is single fronted, but slightly larger than Nos.23 & 25. To the left at the front is a modern panelled and glazed timber door. To the right of this is a modern six pane timber window, with two similar windows to the first floor. Front facade finished in rough cast render with smooth render surrounds to windows and door. The rear is taken up with a full height, flat roofed, extension, with modern windows and a door. The roof is pitched with asbestos free slates to the front and asbestos to the rear. Single rendered chimney stack. PVC rw goods.

No.29 is double fronted and much larger than the other houses in this terrace. In the centre of the front facade is a modern panelled and glazed timber door with sidelights. To the left is a modern timber window, with one to the right and three, evenly spaced, to the first floor. The NE gable is blank. The length of the roof to the rear is longer, thus sloping to make the rear facade single storey. To the left at the rear is a single storey, flat roofed extension, with and modern window (?in enlarged opening) to the right of this on the main house. The entire facade is finished in rough cast. The roof is pitched with asbestos slates, rendered parapet and three rendered chimney stacks.

Historical information

This terrace appears on the OS Maps of 1833/4 and 1858-60 and may be of early to mid nineteenth century in origin, though all of the houses were probably not constructed at the same time. The houses may been have among the 11 ‘2 storey houses, all slated’ noted in the OS Memoirs of c.1834. In recent times (c.1970s) No.23 was a post office, and some time prior to this No.29 had fulfilled this role.

References- Primary sources.
1 PRONI VAL 1B/32 Valuation records for the townland of Ballyrawer (Parish of Donaghadee) early 1830s.
2 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps 1st Edition 1833/4.
3 Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB1991), p. 49.
4 PRONI CR1/50 Correspondence relating to the parish of Carrowdore 1837-1874.
5 PRONI Ordnance Survey Maps 1st Revision 1858-60, Down 6.
6 PRONI ‘Griffith’s’ valuation for the townland of Ballyrawer (Parish of Donaghadee) 1863, Down 6.
7 UFTM W.A. Green Collection WAG 1067 Photograph of Main Street, Carrowdore c.1910.
8 Grace Seymour 'Echoes of Millisle and District' (Rathfriland ?c.1980), p.88 [Photograph of Main St. Carrowdore ?c.1910.]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Largely informal terrace of possible early to mid nineteenth century origin, now with most houses greatly extended at the rear and sporting modern windows, doors and interiors.