44-46 Frances Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Block of two, two storey house/offices set in the terrace on the N side of the eastern end of Frances Street.

HB24/09/001A No.44 is the smaller of the two properties and was largely rebuilt recently. The front (S) facade has a timber panelled door with semicircular fanlight (which leads to the upper floor) to the far left. To the immediate right of this is another panelled door with a plain semicircular fanlight and ‘Ards’ surround (which leads to the ground floor). To the right of this is a large three light shop window (in period style) with (slightly projecting) timber signboard above. This window was inserted recently, previously there were two smaller windows, like those to the first floor. The three upper floor windows are evenly spaced and set on a cill course with brackets. Each window has a PVC frame. The lower half of the front facade has rusticated render, the upper half is in plain render. Bracketed eaves course.

The rear of the building was rebuilt recently and now sports a large two storey gabled return with modern windows and plain render.

The roof has Bangor blue slates to the front and asbestos free to the rear. Mixture of PVC and cast iron rw goods.

HB24/09/001B No.46 is a larger house with a late Victorian appearance. To the left on the ground floor is a timber sheeted door with plain fanlight. The door has a fluted ‘pilaster’ surround with matching fluted architrave. To the left of the door are two windows with similar surrounds to the door and modern frames. Both windows have a low grill in front of their base. To the first floor are three similar but larger windows. The front facade is finished in plain render and painted. Bracketed eaves course.

To the left at the rear is a large two storey return with three sheeted doors and a window to the ground floor on the W facade and four windows to the first floor. The window to the left on the first floor has a modern frame, the rest have sash. The window opening to the ground floor is modern looking.

To the rear of the main house are two sash windows (with horizontal glazing bars) to the ground floor. The window to the left is slightly taller. To the first floor is a sash window with Georgian panes, to the right, and a much narrower sash window to the left. The rear facade and the return are finished in plain cement render and painted. A corrugated PVC roof covers part of the yard at the rear.

The roof has Bangor blue (almost Tullcavey-like) slates with two gabled dormers to the front with semicircular headed sash windows and decorative barge boards. There are two rendered chimney stacks to the W side of the roof. The stack slightly further to the E is much larger. Velux window to rear. Mixture of cast iron and PVC rw goods. Extensive outbuildings to rear.

Historical information

On the OS Map of 1834 a building appears to be shown on the site of No.44, but (part at least) of the site of No.46 seems to be unoccupied. This is supported by the evidence of the valuation records, which list the building on the site of No.44 as a constabulary barrack, whilst the site of No.46 is noted as a timber yard. Thus whilst No.44 may have been standing in 1834, it appears that No.46 was not. The late Victorian appearance of No.46 supports this; however, the arrangement (and varying size) of the windows throughout the house is odd, as if an earlier structure had been adapted at some point.

No.44 was a dwelling house when first surveyed in 1972, but was largely reconstructed recently and adapted to serve commercial purposes.

References- Primary sources
1 ‘The town and tenements of Newtown in the County of Down...1720’ reprinted in Trevor McCavery 'Newtown: a history of Newtownards' (Dundonald 1994) p.79. Though the author of this book gives no reference as to this map, the original undoubtedly belongs to the Colville estate maps contained within the Londonderry Papers [PRONI D.654/M1A].
2 PRONI D.654/M36-38B Londonderry Papers- Maps of tenements in Frances Street 1828.
3 PRONI OS Maps 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 6.
4 PRONI VAL 1B/34 p.96 1st valuation Newtownards parish, Newtownards, c.1836 (see also associated town plan).
5 PRONI OS Maps 1st rev. 1858-60, Co. Down 6.
6 Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), pp.105-106.
7 PRONI 2nd (‘Griffith’s’) valuation, Newtownards parish, Newtownards 1863. [The town plan to accompany the 2nd valuationdoes not appear to be held at PRONI thus making it difficult to match the information contained within the written record with actual buildings.]

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Odd block of two, two storey, terrace buildings, one now used as offices and seemingly dating from the early 1800s and the other a larger dwelling house, seemingly late Victorian. No.44 (offices) has been largely reconstructed recently and is, to all intents and purposes, modern, whilst No.46 retains some of its original internal detailing.