12-18 Victoria Avenue

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Terrace of four late Victorian (c.1887) two storey gabled houses, largely identical. The terrace is set on the W side of Victoria Avenue on the N side of the centre of Newtownards.

Nos. 12-16 have almost identical front (E) facades with the entrance to the right with moulded architrave with brackets above supporting a segmental arch pediment. Nos.12-14 both have panelled doors, but No.16 has a modern panelled and glazed door. All have semicircular arch fanlights. To the left of the doorway of each is a canted bay topped with a cornice, blocking course and flat roof. To the first floor of each are three windows with moulded architraves, all set on a cill course with brackets. The two windows to the left on each are paired. No.12 has its original sash frames, Nos.14-16 have PVC frames. The front facade of No.12 is painted, Nos.14-16 are unpainted and have a plain cement render finish.

To the rear of each house is a two storey gabled return with modern windows to all. Some of the window openings to the returns of Nos.14-16 appear to have been enlarged. Nos.12-14 have single storey lean to store extensions attached to the gables of their returns. The rear facades of all three houses are finished in plain cement render.

No.18 is a much larger, double fronted house. In the centre of the front facade is a doorway similar to Nos.12-16 but with a larger pediment, more decorative brackets and a decorative panel between the brackets. Timber sheeted door. To either side of the doorway is a canted bay as previous. To the first floor are outer paired windows and a single central window. These upper floor windows have ‘shouldered and heeled’ architraves and all rest on a cill course with brackets.

The N gable of No.18 now has a modern glazed ‘corridor’ which links the building with the formerly detached No.20.

To the rear there was formerly only a large two storey gabled return but a very large, modern, single storey extension, which is also linked to No.20.

The facade of No.18 is finished in plain render and painted. The window frames to the front facade are original sash but those to the rear are mainly modern.

The entire terrace has a gabled roof with Bangor blue slates and yellow brick chimneys. Nos.12-16 have Velux windows, of varying sizes, to the rear. The whole terrace has a mixture of cast iron and PVC rw goods.

Historical information

As its name hints at, Victoria Avenue was laid out in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee, though it was originally intended to be called Railway Avenue. Thus the buildings within it date from either this year or shortly afterwards, for in 1891 it was remarked that the houses were going up ‘faster even than was anticipated’. As this section of the terrace is close to the south end of the street (i.e. nearer to the town centre) it may have been one of the earliest portions to be built. No.18 was converted to office accommodation (and linked to No.20) during the 1980s.

References- Secondary sources
1 Trevor McCavery 'Newtown: a history of Newtownards' (Dundonald 1994), p.168.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Two storey late Victorian terrace of c.1887-91 with decorated doorways. Externally the terrace is largely intact though Nos.14-16 have modern window frames and No.18 is now linked to the formerly detached No.20 via a modern glazed ‘corridor’ and a large extension at the rear. The interior layouts of Nos.12-16 appear to be intact though 14 and 16 have lost some of their original fire places. The layout of No.18 has been radically altered in recent times (to accommodate offices).