23-25 Frances Street, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT23 3DW

This is a large two-storey terrace block built around 1873 on the south side of Frances Street in Newtownards. It was originally constructed to house a newspaper office (number 25) and an editor’s residence (number 23). While the front facade retains much of its original appearance, rear extensions have been added over time to accommodate printing equipment.

The front, north-facing facade features an entrance to the far right, serving number 23, with a partly glazed door dating to around 1950-1960, set within a simple surround and topped by a cornice supported on decorative brackets. To the right of this entrance are two sash windows with simple architraves and matching brackets and cornices. A central, elliptical carriage arch is located to the left of these windows, now fitted with a metal roller shutter. The arrangement of windows and doors to the left of the arch mirrors the right side, except with an older panelled and glazed door leading to number 25, and with curved blocking above the cornices. The windows on this left-hand side have lost their original architraves; the render around them appears to have been recently repaired. The first floor has seven windows, mostly single sash windows with segmental arch heads and simple architraves, except for the central window, which is tripartite with a flat arch head and brackets to the mullions. All first-floor windows are set above a cill course. The ground floor is finished in rusticated render, while the first floor is in lined render. An eaves course features small decorative roundel mouldings. The east-facing facade is blank and rendered.

The rear elevation features a large two-storey gabled return, one to each property, with modern window frames to the first floor of the inner faces. A single-storey, mainly flat-roofed extension is built to the rear of the carriage arch, apparently spanning the gap between the two returns. Above the carriage arch and between the returns, three windows with modern frames are visible on the exposed section of the rear facade. The entire rear facade and returns are finished in plain cement render. The roof is gabled and covered in Bangor blue slates, with three small cast iron skylights. A single rendered chimney stack is located to the west. Cast iron rainwater goods are present.

The terrace block was built in 1873 for the newly founded Newtownards Chronicle newspaper. Number 23 served as the editor’s residence, and remained so until the mid-20th century.