48-50 East Street, Newtownards, Co Down, BT23 3EN

48-50 East Street, Newtownards

A two-storey gabled block on the north side of East Street, comprising two separate dwellings. Number 48 occupies the western side and Number 50 the eastern side. The building likely dates from the late eighteenth century, possibly between 1760 and 1779, and was originally constructed as a weaver's dwelling house with an attached store. The store was converted to a separate dwelling in the mid to late nineteenth century.

Number 48

The front (south) facade has a doorway slightly left of centre with a modern PVC partly glazed door and fanlight. The doorway features a plain sandstone surround, but above this are a pair of elaborate console brackets and a cornice—undoubtedly added in the mid to late nineteenth century and notably at odds with the original irregular character of the facade. To the left of the doorway is a window opening with a PVC frame, and to the right is a similar window. The first floor has three irregularly spaced windows. The western gable merges into a two-storey lean-to section at the rear, probably added in the later nineteenth century. This lean-to has two ground floor windows on its gable and a boarded first floor opening. The rear of the lean-to features a modern glazed door and PVC window at ground floor, with two first floor windows, the right one in PVC and the left retaining a sash frame with margin panes and coloured glass. A small single storey lean-to projection is attached to the east face of the main lean-to, with a PVC window on its north face. To the rear of the main house are a glazed door with adjoining sidelight window and a further door opening with a sheeted door, plus a first floor PVC window.

Much of the rendered facade has been removed, exposing rubble construction and brick dressings to window openings. The building is undergoing preparation for new render. An eaves course is present, and the roof is covered with asbestos-free slates with a parapet. A concrete brick chimney stack is visible, along with a mixture of cast iron and PVC rainwater goods. A large outbuilding to the rear is said to have served as the weaver's store after the present Number 50 became a dwelling. This outbuilding has been extended and repaired in recent times.

Number 50

Originally a store, converted to a dwelling in the later nineteenth century. The front facade is considerably smaller than Number 48's. A doorway to the left features a panelled timber door, with a square window to its right in a PVC frame. The first floor has a single window on a cill course with PVC frame and moulded surround. The front facade is finished in lined render with chamfered quoins and has an eaves course. The eastern gable is blank, with some untidily patched render around the chimney breast area. The rear comprises a large two and single storey flat-roofed return with modern windows and door, and includes Velux windows. The roof is covered with asbestos-free slates and has a brown brick chimney stack to the gable. A mixture of cast iron and PVC rainwater goods is present.

Historical Context

During the late 1760s and 1770s, Alexander Stewart, who became landlord of Newtownards in 1744, undertook extensive improvements to the town. The centrepiece was a new market house, around which a more regular street pattern was established, with approximately sixty new houses constructed between 1769 and 1777, mostly built of stone or slates. This particular block may have begun life as one of these new houses, though the irregular facade suggests Number 50 was probably originally a store. Valuation records of around 1836 record this block (then part of a longer terrace) as part of 'eleven houses exempt'—that is, below rateable value. The mid to late Victorian decoration to the doorways and the coloured glass window at the rear of Number 48 suggest that the present Number 50 was converted to a dwelling in the late nineteenth century, around the 1870s. It was likely at this time that Number 48 also received the lean-to extension to the rear.