The Cedars 51B Riverside Antrim BT41 4BL

The Cedars is a substantial two-storey house located in Townparks townland, 0.3 kilometres directly south of Antrim town centre on the east side of Riverside. The property lies within Antrim Town Centre Conservation Area and is set within spacious, overgrown suburban grounds now largely obscured from view by surrounding vegetation.

The building appears to be in part, if not in whole, of pre-1832 construction, though it may have been remodelled and possibly enlarged around 1870. It now stands derelict, abandoned in the late 20th century, with its roof structure stripped of slates and the interior long exposed to the elements.

The house consists of three sections attached in linear fashion. The main section to the south is a two-storey gabled block with a lower two-storey rear return to the east. Joined to the north gable of this block is a lower two-storey section, and attached to the north of this is a narrower portion, apparently single-storey. The two larger blocks are finished in roughcast render. Both roofs have been stripped of their slates, exposing the timber structure. A chimneystack stands at each gable. Most openings are boarded over except for several to the rear.

The front (west) elevation of the main block is three openings wide and symmetrical. A central entrance with a cut-stone classical surround in the style of the early to mid-1700s is flanked by windows at ground floor level, with three windows above. The lower section is likewise three openings wide, with three windows to each floor. The south gable of the main block appears devoid of openings. The south side of the return has a door and window to ground floor level with at least one window to the upper level. The rear elevation is largely obscured by tree growth but appears to have two windows to the ground floor of the main block and two to the first floor, the left-hand window of the upper storey being a longer stairwell window with a semicircular arched head.

The building is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832 with a similar, though not identical, plan. At that time the grounds were more congested, with other structures nearby and a road or lane running along the northern and eastern perimeter. These adjacent buildings may originally have had a connection to the paper mills established in the 1770s-80s to the west, close to the Six Mile Water River. By the revised Ordnance Survey map of 1857, the plan appeared as today, though the return was shown only as an outline.

In the second valuation of circa 1860, the building was described as a vacant 'house, offices and yard…in bad repair' rated at £12. Around 1870, Reverend Thomas West, Minister of First Antrim Presbyterian Church, became resident as leaseholder from the Cunningham family of nearby Belmont. In 1872 the house was recorded as having been 'improved' and described as having a garden, with the rateable value doubling to £24. Major work was undertaken at this time, including the clearance of the long block containing three small dwellings to allow creation of a garden and the gentrification of the site. The exact nature of the work to the house itself is unclear, but the leap in valuation indicates it was extensive.

From circa 1878, the property was occupied by a succession of short-stay tenants including Gilbert James Talbot, a Royal Irish Constabulary sub-inspector, and Henry Wilton. Around 1888 the lease was taken up by Charles McCarthy, an electrical engineer and reputedly 'The largest contractor in Ireland', from which time the property became known as The Cedars. McCarthy was followed by George Hurst in 1894, who was succeeded by John F. Gelston, an RIC district-inspector. In the 1901 census, Mr Gelston is recorded as residing here with his wife Edith, their young daughter, his mother Eliza, and two domestic servants. The house was recorded as a '1st class' dwelling with a slate roof and 13 windows in front.

The house may subsequently have been tied to the post of RIC district-inspector, as John J. Heatley, who held this position, was resident from 1906 until his death in 1937. Later occupants included Mr and Mrs Crinion in 1944, W.G. McNeilly in 1948, Miss E Nicholson in 1965, Mrs Agnes Harvey in 1966, and a family named Whiteside at some point thereafter. The property appears to have been vacated around 1990.