36-38 Church Street, Portaferry, Co. Down, BT22 1LS

A long, two-storey terrace block of possible pre-1834 construction, now containing a house, shop and large elliptical carriage entrance. The building is situated on the west side of Church Street, with the front façade facing east and presenting an asymmetrical elevation.

The ground floor comprises, from left to right: a house doorway with partly glazed door and moulded surround with keystone; a window to the left of the door with similar surround and modern frame; another similar window to the right of the doorway; a modern shop front with an off-centre glazed door flanked by two fixed light windows; a window to the right of the shop front with a single fixed pane; and at the far right a large elliptical archway with sheeted double timber doors incorporating a wicket gate and metal kick plate, the right-hand opening being wider than the left. The elliptical archway rises above the level of the first floor, resulting in reduced ceiling height to the room above due to a raised floor level. A small fixed window with stone cill sits above the archway.

The first floor contains six windows matching those at ground level on number 36, together with a small squat fixed light window above the archway. The entire front façade is finished in roughcast render and painted. A modern illuminated plastic shop sign is positioned between the fourth and fifth windows.

A large elliptical carriage entrance occupies the northern end of the block, with a large yard to the rear. Access to the rear was not granted during inspection.

The gabled roof is covered with Bangor blue slates and is surmounted by three yellow brick chimney stacks with decorative corbelling, one pot stack to the south. The building features stone parapets, an eaves course, and PVC gutters and downspouts. Both the window frames and shop front are modern.

Historical records indicate that a building on this site was in the possession of Sam Little in 1799, as shown on Patrick O'Hare's map of Portaferry. By 1838, the block comprised two two-storey dwelling houses: the southern dwelling, owned by John Ringland, was relatively newly built at that stage and possessed a bake house, while the northern dwelling, smaller and considerably older (probably dating from the mid to later 18th century), was occupied by Robert Martin. The same arrangement is shown on the valuation town plan of circa 1838. The shop front was inserted sometime prior to 1975.