21-45 Railway Street, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5HG

Two storey terrace of c.1880 set on the west side of Railway Street, to the west of Comber town centre, containing 13 houses. Railway Street was laid out following the arrival of the Belfast and County Down Railway line in 1850. By 1858 the northern half of the street had appeared as far as the present No.45, but no building had occurred along it. Based on architectural style, most or all construction took place after 1870 and was complete by 1901.

The properties from No.23 to No.45 are largely identical. The front eastern façade of each has a doorway to the ground floor left and a window to the right, with two similar windows to the first floor. Each doorway is encased with pilasters, frieze lintel and cornice. Most have panelled doors apart from Nos.23, 27, 31 and 41 which have modern glazed or PVC varieties. Plain fanlights sit above each door. Windows have segmental arch heads except those to the ground floor of Nos.43 and 45 which have been recently enlarged. All windows have modern timber or PVC frames apart from those to Nos.27 and 41 which retain sash frames, with No.27 retaining original horizontal glazing bars.

The rear of the terrace is more varied. Apart from No.45 (which has a large modern full height extension and single storey lean-to) and No.21 (whose rear is obscured by a high yard wall), all houses have a doorway to the right on the ground floor with a window to the left. The first floor has a similar window along with, in many houses, a much smaller window either to the right or left. Nos.27, 37 and 41 lack a second smaller first floor window, while No.41 alone has an extra small ground floor window. Most rear doors are plain timber sheeted variety, though some are stable doors (Nos.23, 33–37) and some have small glazed panels. Nos.25, 29 and 31 have modern style doors with greater glazing, and Nos.33–41 have fanlights of slightly varying size. Window frames are modern in both PVC and timber, though the two larger windows to No.41 retain original sash frames with horizontal glazing bars. No.45 has a first floor window with modern frame on its southern gable.

The front façade and gables are finished in lined render and painted with chamfered quoins at either end. The entire rear is finished in rough cast (painted only in a few areas), while No.45's rear is finished in painted lined render. The roof is covered in Bangor blue slates with 15 chimney stacks, most in combination red and yellow brick and a few rebuilt solely in red brick. No.29 has a small Velux window to the rear. The rainwater goods are a mixture of cast iron and PVC, the latter mainly to the rear. Each property has a low rendered garden wall to the front with a mixture of iron and timber gates of varying vintage.

No.21, at the south end of the terrace, is double the size of its neighbours and appears to have originally been two properties. At the ground floor of the front façade is a roughly central large plain flat roofed projecting porch with a modern door to the front and modern windows to the sides. To the left is a single storey flat roofed canted bay with modern windows to each side. To the right of the porch is a window opening as to the front of the rest of the terrace, with four similar windows to the first floor, all with modern frames. The rear was obscured from view by a high wall; three unevenly spaced first floor windows were visible. The outer windows have modern frames but the middle one has a sash frame with margin panes and coloured glass. Photographic evidence indicates that No.21 began life as two separate properties which were amalgamated some time prior to 1949.

The terrace is set on a slight incline with Nos.21–31 at a lower level. Remnants of stone built outbuildings to the rears of some properties once contained toilets. The present terrace is a relatively plain structure with modern window frames throughout and ground floor windows to Nos.43 and 45 recently enlarged.