38-42 Bridge Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Short two storey terrace of c.1835 set on the N side of Bridge Street and now containing a public house and off license.

No.38 is to the W side. Its front (S) façade has its main (original) entrance to the centre right. The door is six panelled with panelled ‘margins’ and a semicircular radial fanlight. The door opening is framed with plain pilasters and an archivolt with keystone. To the left is a window with modern upper opener timber frame. To the right of the doorway is an off licensed premises (now No.40). The door and shop windows are set in a recent (slightly mock period style) timber shop front. The recessed door is to the right and the three paned shop window is to the right. To the first floor are four equally spaced windows (all belonging to No.38), as ground floor left.

To the rear is a single storey gabled return (with an eccentric pitch) to the right side. This return has been altered in recent years. To the first floor of the rear façade of the main building there were originally four windows, but the first and the third are now blocked with breeze blocks and the remaining two have modern frames.

No.42 is a public house. Roughly to the centre of the front façade there is a long timber painted shop sign. Below the left side is a recent ‘shop’ front like No.38 with four panes to the window. Below the window are painted timber panels. To the immediate right of this is a semi circular arched door opening (within the shop front ensemble). To the far right and still below the sign is a further modern matching window opening with five panes. The door and window plus the window to the right are all framed with pilasters. To the far left is a coach entrance with double timber ‘doors’ (?now permanently shut), and a rendered surround with pilasters and keystone. To the far right is a similar coach arch but narrower timber door and a glazed panel to the right. To the first floor are six equally spaced windows as No.38.

The rear of No.42 has a mainly flat roofed and windowless rendered return which obscures all of the original rear façade.

The E gable is blank but now sports a large modern bill board. The E side of the flat roofed extension has three heavily barred window openings with modern timber window frames.

The façade of the entire terrace (excluding the return to No.42 and much of that to Nos.38-40) is in Scrabo sandstone

The roof of the block is gabled to the E side and hipped to the W side. It is covered with Bangor Blue slates and has three potless chimney stacks. Those to the E are in Scrabo stone and that to the W is constructed in brick. Cast iron and PVC rw goods.

On the bridge to the E of this terrace is an inscribed panel which reads ‘Erected A.D. 1843 Edward Porter Contracter’ (sic).

Historical information

When Bridge Street was surveyed for the valuation of 1834, the houses toward this end were all exempt. Annotations to the valuation returns made four years later, however, mention newly built two storey properties, which probably equate to the terrace we see today. The annotations also tell us that whilst the present Nos.38-40 were built as a single dwelling house, the present No.42 was originally a police barracks.

No.42 remained a police barracks until sometime between 1856 and 1861, when the police moved into new premises in Mill Street. After this No.42 appears to have been converted to a dwelling house and later [?in the early 20th century] a public house. The property to the east side (Nos.38-40), which was built solely as a dwelling house, had part of its ground floor converted to shop some time prior to 1970.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI D.654/M1B/2 Londonderry Papers- ‘Survey of the town, tenements and parks of Comber…1722’.
2 PRONI D.654/M54/3, 11, 27, 33, 37 Londonderry Papers- Maps of Bridge Street 1793-1833.
3 PRONI VAL 1B/316A p.61 1st valuation, Comber, 1834.
4 PRONI OS/1/3/10 OS map, 1st ed. 1834, Down 10.
5 PRONI OS/6/3/10/3 OS map, 1st rev. 1858, Down 10.
6 PRONI 2nd valuation, Comber, 1861. [In print in PRONI search room and in the Linen Hall Library- the town plan to accompany this valuation is missing.]
7 PRONI OS/2/3/10 OS map, 2nd ed. 1901, Down 10.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Short two storey terrace block of c.1835 with Scrabo sandstone façade, now with recent shop/pub fronts and a large modern extension to the rear of No.42. No.42 itself was originally built as a police barracks and served as such until c.1860, whilst Nos.38-40 were originally a single dwelling house.