59-61 Court Street, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT23 3NX

The site, located near the eastern end of the southern side of Court Street in Newtownards, was formerly occupied by a block containing two, two-storey houses likely constructed in the 1840s. The block included an “Ards” doorway for number 59, a slated gabled roof, and a carriage arch. The houses were demolished around 1985, and the site is currently vacant.

The original block had a concrete tile roof, rendered chimneys, and rendered, lined, and painted walls. It featured five first-floor and two ground-floor double-hung windows with horizontal astragals. The ground floor contained a doorway with a lintel, plain surround, fanlight, and glazed panelled door, along with a window and a lintolled coachway with sheeted doors. Court Street itself was laid out in the 1840s, taking its name from its association with a nearby medieval priory that served as a courthouse between 1817 and 1850. The 1858 Ordnance Survey map shows the entire south side of the street as a continuous terrace by that date. The properties were occupied during a survey in 1972. Primary source documentation, including Londonderry Papers, Ordnance Survey maps, Griffith’s valuation records, and photographs from around 1910, are archived at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, and further historical information about Court Street can be found in reference HB24/13/041.