1 Cook’s Brae, Kircubbin, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT22 2SQ

A two-storey public house of probable early 19th-century origin, situated at the southern end of the main thoroughfare in Kircubbin. The building has been substantially altered and extended in recent times, with much of its interior layout modified on several occasions.

The main front elevation faces northeast and presents a gabled form with a timber panel door left of centre, flanked by modern two-pane timber windows—two to the right of the door and two to the left. The first floor has three similar windows. The ground floor wall projects slightly outward (approximately 60 centimetres) to the level of the window heads. A PVC internally illuminated projecting pub sign occupies the far left on the first floor, with more traditional projecting signs at the centre and far right. Modern window frames have replaced earlier openings, and some window openings have been enlarged.

The southeast gable is blank but has attached to its far left a large single-storey flat-roofed extension, with an internally illuminated projecting pub sign in the middle of the gable. The northwest gable contains two first-floor windows and merges into a large flush two-storey gabled return attached at the rear, itself containing two modern upper-level windows. At ground level of this return is the outline of a now-blocked coach doorway with an elliptical arch head. Adjacent to the gable of the return stands a long two-storey gabled store extension with three small modern windows to its upper level. The main building's gable, return, and extension are positioned on a sloping street and arranged in stepped formation at different levels.

The main building is finished in lined render with chamfered quoins and plinth, painted bright yellow. A low rendered curved wall is attached to the front facade at the right. The roof of the main house and return is pitched with concrete pan tiles, featuring three rendered chimney stacks to the main house and one to the return. A mixture of PVC and cast iron rainwater goods is present throughout.

The rear of the building has been greatly extended with a mixture of gabled and flat-roofed extensions, predominantly finished in roughcast with modern windows.

Historical Development

The main front section and a detached block to the rear appear on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map. In the near-contemporary first valuation (circa 1835), the property is recorded as a dwelling house in the hands of James and Charles Dorrian, measuring 33 feet by 22 by 14½ feet, with cellars used as stores of 15½ feet by 22 by 5½ feet and offices (outbuildings—presumably the detached structure) of 24½ feet by 19 by 14½ feet. The valuers' grading system suggests the building was relatively newly constructed at that date, possibly from the previous decade.

Charles Dorrian is listed as a "spirit and porter dealer" in an 1846 directory, indicating the property functioned as a public house by that date. The revised 1860 Ordnance Survey map shows a rear return on the site of the formerly detached outbuildings, with other structures to the southwestern side of the yard and a detached building fronting the roadside, apparently another dwelling.

Charles Dorrian remained the leaseholder until his death around 1882. In late 1885, the premises—described as "an old established house for the general business of a grocer and spirit dealer"—was put up for sale, after which Andrew Turney (or Torney) acquired the lease. In the 1901 census, Mr Turney, a 64-year-old general merchant, is noted as occupying the house with his wife Catherine Anne Turney. The building itself is described as a second-class slated or tiled dwelling with nine rooms in use.

Joseph D. Turney is listed as householder in 1906, followed by William Dorrian in 1907. In the 1911 census, William Dorrian is recorded as a widowed 50-year-old farmer and publican, living here with his two sons, Patrick Hugh and William John Dorrian. The latter succeeded to the property around 1918 and retained it until circa 1922, when it was acquired by or passed to Charles O'Flynn, who appears to have held it until at least 1934, by which time the premises was known as "The Tower Arms".

The unusual outward projection of the main section's frontage beyond the upper level may suggest the building incorporates fabric from an earlier single-storey structure or that this walling was rebuilt at some point. Census records confirm the building had five windows in front until at least 1911, evidencing subsequent alterations to the fenestration.