12 The Parade

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Large three storey gabled terrace house of c.1820 situated in the middle of The Parade, overlooking the shore.

Front N facade has a symmetrical arrangement. In the centre is a large doorway set in an elliptical arch with panelled surround, plain sidelights, panelled aprons and ‘radial’ fanlight. To either side of the doorway there used to be two sash windows, there is now a large single window with a modern frame. Timber sign boards above doorway and above windows.

To the first floor are five sliding sash windows, with five more to the second floor, only smaller. The front facade is finished with lined render and chamfered stone quoins. Both gables are blank and finished in lined render (only the uppermost section of the E gable is exposed).

The rear has been altered in recent times. To the right is a large (and long) two storey gabled return with modern windows and modern doors all irregularly arranged and a varying size and shape. In the centre of the rear facade and attached to the W face of the return, is a three storey lean two projection attached to a large modern metal fire escape. The projection has modern doors to the upper levels. To the left of the projection (on the rear of the main building) is a window to the first and second floors, now both with modern frames. To the right of the projection (again on the rear of the main house) is a window to the second floor, also with a modern frame. The rear is partly finished in plain render and partly in rough cast. The return is finished in rough cast.

The main roof is gabled and has fibre cement slates, but the chimney stacks have been removed. The return roof has fibre cement slates. The roof of the rear projection has Bangor blue slates. Mixture of PVC and cast iron rw goods.

Historical information

This building does not appear to be shown on Samuel Delacherois’s drawing of Donaghadee Harbour in 1817, but is shown in D. Kennedy’s 1834 water-colour of the harbour, with its original ground floor window arrangement. The 1836 valuation records state that the building was at that point in possession of a James Kelly and had a rateable value of £18. In recent times the property has served as a hotel and most recently as part of the Peto Institute, a Hungarian organisation specialising in physiotherapy for children with cerebral palsy. Part of the ground floor is currently used by a children’s playgroup.

The rear return is not shown on the OS Map of 1834, though it appears to be shown on the revised map of 1858-60. The front facade ground floor windows appear to have been enlarged c.1980. The original Georgian panes appear to have been removed in the later 1800s.

References- Primary sources

1. Drawing of Donaghadee harbour by Samuel Delacherois 1817 (This drawing is in possession of the owner of the Manor House, High Street, Donaghadee).
2. Water-colour of Donaghadee Harbour by D. Kennedy, 1834. [Sections of this painting are reproduced in Hugh Dixon et al Historic buildings, groups of buildings, buildings of architectural importance in Donaghadee and Portpatrick (UAHS 1977)].
3. PRONI VAL 1B/32 p.7 1st valuation, Donaghadee parish, Donaghadee, c.1836. [See also accompanying town plan.]
4. PRONI OS Maps 1st rev. 1858-60, Co. Down 3.
5. PRONI 2nd (‘Griffith’s’) valuation Donaghadee parish, Donaghadee, 1863. [The town plan for the 2nd valuation is not available at PRONI and therefore it is difficult to match the properties listed in the valuation with actual buildings.]

Secondary sources

1. Hugh Dixon et al Historic buildings, groups of buildings, buildings of architectural importance in Donaghadee and Portpatrick (UAHS 1977), p.24.
2. W.G. Pollock Six miles from Bangor: The story of Donaghadee (Belfast 1975). [This book contains many photographs dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some of which show The Parade.]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Large three storey terrace house of c.1820-30 which, despite the substantial alterations, still retains its historic character.