The Market House, The Square, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1LN

The Market House, Portaferry

The Market House is a fine and little-altered two-storey market house of 1752, prominently sited at the centre of Portaferry's town square and now used as a community hall. It is a relatively plain building with a hipped roof, and the listing extent covers both the Market House itself and the cast iron water fountain located approximately 2 metres to the north-west of the building.

The north elevation, which forms the principal front, is symmetrical. At ground floor level there are two arched openings that were originally open but have since been filled with semi-circular windows and walling. Panelled doors are positioned either side of the arches. The first floor has four sash windows with horns and Georgian panes. There is no parapet, with the slate projecting over the edge of the pediment. A small bell sits in a crude wooden enclosure above the parapet on this elevation, positioned off-centre. The east and west facades are blank.

The south facade is finished throughout in roughcast with a base course. The ground floor has four almost square sash windows. At the centre of this elevation is a small painted plaque bearing the words "Erected 1752 by Andrew Savage Esq." along with the Savage coat of arms. The first floor has four similar windows, slightly taller than those on the ground floor. There is an eaves course and pediment, at the centre of which is a clock with a rope-pattern surround and the maker's name "N.J. Mackie Belfast" inscribed upon it. Cast iron gutters and downspouts are present throughout, with sandstone cills. As on the north elevation, there is no parapet and the slate projects over the edge of the pediment. The roof is covered in Bangor blue slates. Two plain rendered chimney stacks are present but have no chimney pots. Recent landscaping surrounds the building, including paving, stone cobbles, cast iron bollards, and trees with iron grille surrounds.

The question of the building's precise date of construction has attracted some scholarly debate. The plaque on the south elevation gives a date of 1752, and the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of the early 1830s record the same date, apparently on the basis of the plaque itself. However, the Archaeological Survey of County Down (1966) suggests the present structure dates from around 1800, without citing a primary source for this claim. A plausible explanation for the confusion lies in events during the 1798 Rebellion. The market house was then being used as a barracks for the Loyal Portaferry Yeomanry, whose commander, Captain Charles Matthews of Springvale, had the ground floor arches blocked up to prevent rebels from smoking out the garrison. The Yeomanry successfully repulsed the United Irishmen — with the assistance of cannons temporarily removed from the revenue cutter Buckingham, then lying off the quay — but the attack may nonetheless have caused some structural damage. It is possible that this damage, together with the blocking up of the arches, led to the building being repaired or partly rebuilt between late 1798 and around 1800. Whether or not it was partially rebuilt, there is little doubt that a market house has stood on this site since 1752.

The man responsible for the original construction was Andrew Savage of Portaferry, a member of the ancient Savage of the Ards family, who had been developing the town since the early 17th century. Savage had served as a soldier in the Spanish army and, like many of his name, had remained Catholic. His subsequent marriage to Margaret Nugent, daughter of Andrew Nugent of Dysert, led him to change both his name — to Nugent — and his religion, becoming a Protestant. His wish to build a market house in Portaferry can be traced back to 1739, when he first proposed the idea but was discouraged by his father-in-law on the grounds that the scheme was beyond his means. Despite this, Savage recognised the importance of such a building to a growing commercial centre and by 1752 had realised his plans, funding the construction himself.

Like many Irish market houses of the period, the building served not merely as a place of trade but as a court and a centre of local government, with business and regional administration closely intertwined. It was also a venue for social activity and leisure. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of the 1830s give a vivid picture of this variety of use, recording that the rooms to the right and left of the upper storey housed the library rooms of the Literary Society and the Mechanic Institute Library; that the central room served occasionally as a ballroom; that the seneschal held manor court there for settling debts of up to 40 shillings; that a court leet was held each June for appointing a grand jury, petty constables, plotters and appraisers, and for laying on cess for the repair of roads, and purchasing weights and seals; and that a temperance society frequently held tea in the room, decorating it with green leaves on such occasions.

During the 1850s, clocks were added — or replaced — on the pediments of both the north and south elevations, and some internal renovation and decoration appears to have been carried out later in the 19th century. Drawings within the Savage/Nugent Estate Papers held at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland also indicate that there may have been plans during the mid-19th century to alter the facade and add classical features to the building, though these do not appear to have been executed. The market house continued to play an important and varied role in Portaferry life throughout this period. A daily reading room was opened on the premises in 1853, and the founders of Portaferry's first bank, the Penny Bank, used the building to receive deposits around the same time.

The building remained a place of diverse activity well into the 20th century, though by the 1930s its social prominence had declined, with the ground floor serving at various times as a barber's shop, a butcher's shop, and a carpenter's workshop. This change in status reflected improvements in communications and the reorganisation of local government, which had shifted administrative functions to other centres such as Newtownards. Portaferry's role as an important market town had also been successfully challenged by neighbouring towns by this stage. By the mid-1960s the building had fallen into a much dilapidated condition, prompting both calls for demolition and a parallel campaign for its restoration. The case for restoration prevailed, and the market house was purchased from the Nugent estate by North Down Rural District Council and restored during 1971 to 1972. Since its restoration it has resumed a central role in community life, serving as a venue for public meetings, a senior citizens' day centre, and the premises for local clubs and societies.

The building sits within a conservation area and is of interest for its architectural style, proportion, ornamentation, plan form, structural system, and setting, as well as for its rarity, its historical authorship, and its considerable social, cultural, and economic importance.