31 Frances Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Large two storey terrace house of c.1845-50 (now converted to a shop, restaurant and dental surgery), set on the S side of Frances Street.

Front (N) facade has a central doorway with modern panelled and glazed door and sidelights with panelled aprons. The door and sidelights are encased with sturdy (relatively) plain pilasters supporting entablature, ‘bellied’ frieze and cornice. To the left of the doorway is a modern (c.1960s) shop front with large picture window and adjacent panelled door. Recent period style sign board above shop front.

To the right of the central doorway is a sash window with Georgian panes. To the right of this is an elliptical arch headed former carriage entrance with in/out dressings and moulded ‘impost blocks’. The arch is now filled with a recent panelled and glazed door and screen. To the first floor are five sash windows (as ground floor). The front facade is rendered and painted.

To either side at the rear is a large two storey gabled return. The inner faces of the returns have mainly sash windows, with three windows to the first floor of the right return and one to the ground floor, with two windows to the first floor of the left (W) return (one of which has a modern frame). At ground floor level on the left return a modern projecting flat roofed ‘corridor’ extension’ has been added. Spanning between both returns (an attached to the main rear facade) is a modern single storey, flat roofed, extension. Directly above this (on the exposed first floor section of the main rear facade) is a large centrally placed semicircular headed sash window with margin panes and horizontal glazing bars. This window is flanked by smaller plain sash windows. The rear facade is finished in unpainted rough cast, with the recent flat roofed extension in plain unpainted render.

Both returns have smaller gabled sections to their respective gables which all link to an outbuilding, thus forming a ‘courtyard’ at the rear.

The roof is covered in asbestos free slates. Four rendered chimney stacks. Mixture of cast iron and PVC rw goods.

Historical information

This site is shown occupied on the OS map of 1858-60. The property itself may date from the 1840s. The building appears to have remained a dwelling house until the 1950s, with the shop to the east on the ground floor inserted perhaps in the 1960s. The carriage entrance and the western portion of the ground floor were converted to a dental surgery in 1988. By this stage also the first floor housed a restaurant.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.654 Londonderry Papers [This collection contains many documents relating to the development of Newtownards.]
2 PRONI OS Maps 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 6.
3 PRONI OS Maps 1st rev. 1858-60, Co. Down 6.
4 PRONI 2nd (‘Griffith’s’) valuation, Newtownards parish, Newtownards 1863. [The town plan to accompany the 2nd valuation does 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

Large terraced ‘town house’ of c.1845-50, now converted to two shops and a restaurant with front facade and interior radically altered in the process. The impressive front entrance survives, but now only leads to the first floor. There are some modern flat roofed extensions to the rear. The building does not meet the test for listing but is of significant local interest.