16-20 Court Street, Newtownards, Co. Down, BT23 3NX

Two storey gabled terrace block on the north side of Court Street, south-east of Newtownards town centre, consisting of three properties: two houses and a shop, dating from approximately 1850.

Number 16 is currently vacant and appears largely intact externally and possibly internally. The south-facing front has an 'Ards' doorway with a plain sheeted door and semicircular fanlight to the right, with a sash window to the left of the doorway and two similar windows to the first floor, all with simple surrounds. The roof is covered in 'Bangor blue' or Tullycavy-like slates. There is a single chimney stack, part rendered and part brick, with cast iron rainwater goods. The rear facade has been obscured by bushes and was not inspected.

Number 18 is now a shop. The ground floor has an 'Ards' doorway with a panelled door and tracery to the semicircular fanlight. A recently installed 'Regency' style bow window with modern frame and Georgian panes sits to the left of the doorway. The first floor has two windows with simple surrounds and modern frames with Georgian panes, with a timber sign board above the bow window. The front facade is finished in lined render and painted. A single storey store extension extends to the ground floor at the rear, which is rendered and painted. The rear facade has modern window frames on the upper floors, a large Velux window, and a single rendered chimney stack to the east. Cast iron rainwater goods are present throughout. The roof is covered in asbestos slates.

Number 20 has a similar front facade to Number 16 but with a recent panelled and glazed door and a Georgian paned sash frame to the ground floor window; the first floor windows have modern frames. The rear has a single storey extension with modern openings and modern window frames on the upper floors of the main rear facade. A small attic window is visible on the exposed section of the east gable. The rear is finished in unpainted cement render and has a neglected appearance. The roof is covered in rough Tullycavy-like slates, with cast iron rainwater goods. There is a partly rendered, partly brick chimney stack to the east and a rendered parapet to the east. A high rendered wall bounds the rear of the entire block. Number 18's interior has been radically altered with little original detailing remaining. Number 20's interior is largely gutted, with the original layout and most original detailing removed.

Court Street was laid out in the 1840s, taking its name from the old priory which served as a court house between 1817 and 1850. The revised Ordnance Survey map of 1858 shows the south side completely developed with a long unbroken terrace, whilst the north side was never built up to the same extent, possibly to allow for future expansion of the town gas works, which was erected on this side in 1845. This block appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1858–60, though this is difficult to confirm with certainty, and is probably roughly contemporary with the terrace to the south. All properties were still dwelling houses when first surveyed in October 1972.