14 Church Street, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1LS

Two storey terrace house with attic, probably originally dating from before 1834 but substantially altered in recent years. The building now has a sharp, modern appearance with several openings altered, PVC window frames throughout, and fresh render. The roof has been raised recently.

The property sits in the terrace on the west side of Church Street, just north of Portaferry town centre. The front façade faces east and is asymmetrical. At ground floor right is a panelled timber door with moulded surround. To the left are two windows with PVC frames, with another to the right of the door. The doorway appears to have been repositioned recently; a survey photograph from May 1971 shows it to the left where the second window now stands, and the window to the far right was originally a doorway. The first floor has four windows matching those below. The front façade is finished in fresh, unpainted, lined render with moulded quoins. No access to the rear is available.

The gabled roof is covered with Thru-tone composite asbestos-free slates and has two centred Velux windows. Red brick chimney stacks with matching pots sit on both gables. The roof was raised approximately 0.75 metres recently. Extruded aluminium ogee guttering and PVC downspout are fitted. The exposed parts of both gables are rendered.

The site appears on Patrick O'Hare's 1799 map of Portaferry when it was in the possession of William Nesbitt, and also on the Ordnance Survey map of 1834. Valuation records from around 1835 to 1838 indicate that this end of Church Street was largely filled with two storey houses, some of which were considered relatively old, probably dating from the 18th century. At that date the building was again in the hands of a William Nesbitt (possibly the son of the 1799 occupier), which could suggest it was substantially the same property. In 1861 the building was occupied by Edward Chermside. Serious damage was caused by terrorist bombs during the 1970s, following which the entire building was completely renovated with front openings altered in the process.