43-47 South Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Two storey seven bay gabled block forming the end of the terrace on the W side of South Street, to the S of Newtownards town centre, comprising (from right to left), no. 43 (a take away as at 2018) and nos. 45 and 47 (a public house as at 2018) which turns the corner and fronts onto John Street.

The front (E) facade of no.43 has a large modern opening to ground floor, no windows to first floor (the two former window openings are now blocked). To the rear, the window openings are all blocked, with the ground floor having been extended into the rear yard. The front façade is rendered and painted.

The original ground floors of nos.45 & 47 has been merged, and fitted with a good quality painted timber replica shop/pub front. Five windows to the first floor, all openings, surrounds and cills as original. Moulded surrounds to the three first floor windows of no.47. Replacement plastic windows. Original eaves detail and raised quoins. Rendered and painted. One chimney (between nos. 43 and 45). Modern extension to rear. Elevation to John Street is wholly modern.

Historical information

South Street was laid out in the 1760s as part of Alexander Stewart’s new regular grid-like street plan based around the new market house (to the north). By 1834 the western side of the street (as far as what is now Upper Court Street) was largely developed, but it is difficult to say whether this site was occupied or not. Thus this block could have been built between c.1760s and the 1830s, or perhaps slightly after this date. When first surveyed in October 1972 the block comprised three dwelling houses with traditional 'Ards' doorcases.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.654 Londonderry Papers
2 PRONI OS Maps 1st ed. 1834, Co. Down 6.
3 PRONI VAL 1B/34 p.107 1st valuation Newtownards parish, Newtownards, c.1836 (see also associated town plan).
4 PRONI OS Maps 1st rev. 1858-60, Co. Down 6.
5 Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland Vol.7: Parishes of County Down II, ed. Angelique Day and Patrick McWilliams (QUB 1991), pp.105-106.
6 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.]

Secondary sources
1 Trevor McCavery 'Newtown: a history of Newtownards' (Dundonald 1994), p.88.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Two storey gabled end of terrace block formerly comprising dwelling houses, now converted to commercial premises. As a whole the group does not merit listing, largely as a consequence of intenal alterations. No. 43 is only of interest as a component of the terrace streetscape. The public house, however, at nos. 45 and 47 is of significant local interest. On a prominent corner site with an interesting modern elevation to John Street, the South Street elevation is good, retaining not just its original character and form but also largely intact first floor openings and eaves detailing.