6-8 The Square, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5DT

6-8 The Square, Comber

A two-storey terraced building of probable late 18th-century origin, now a bank, with a greywacke rubble-faced façade set on the north side of The Square.

The building is almost symmetrical in composition. Its principal features include a painted semi-circular arched central doorway flanked by plain pilasters supporting a broken pediment on moulded console brackets. The timber door has vertical sheeting. To the left of the doorway is an enlarged window opening with a modern top opener frame made to resemble a tripartite sliding sash and case, formed into a slight bow shape. To the right of the doorway are two much smaller, equally spaced windows with similar frames. The lower sash of the left window is blocked with a bronze night deposit box. The first floor contains five equally spaced windows, all with matching frames. Throughout, all windows have painted stone cills and random rubble flat arch heads. Modern PVC signage to the left of the façade is internally illuminated.

The building underwent significant alterations in the mid-1970s when it was converted to banking use. The window immediately to the right of the entrance was previously a doorway until that date. The large bowed window to the left of the entrance replaced a shop front-like opening with doorway, which had been part of the building from around 1910 onwards but had ceased trading by circa 1955.

At the rear, the building may be accessed via an elliptical-headed coach arch with painted stone dressings. A recent full-width, flat-roofed single-storey extension has been added to the rear, with a return to the rear elevation. The north face of the return contains two equally spaced, two-light windows with steel security bars. The east face of the return has a plain door. The first floor of the original building has five equally spaced barred windows. To the west side is a small two-storey flat-roofed projection which appears to contain the main staircase. The small yard area is tarmacadamed for parking. The roof is finished in Bangor Blue slate with cast iron rainwater goods. The building no longer retains any chimney stacks.

Historical context

The site is recorded as occupied on the 1722 map of Comber and on all subsequent maps. David Geddas's 1786 pictorial lease map of the north side of The Square shows the building as property of Mr. James Riddle, though the drawing shows only one doorway and a different window arrangement, with the carriage entrance to the east side indicated. The greywacke rubble construction points to a pre-1830, possibly 18th-century building, though its openings may have been altered at some point, with the property possibly sub-divided. The presence of two pedimented doorcases suggests these changes were probably carried out in the very late 18th or early 19th century.

By 1834, there were two separate properties on the site, both houses belonging to the representatives of James Allen. The western property may have been a manse or curate's residence at that stage, recorded as the home of Reverend Mr. Wilson. The eastern property, which was vacant in 1834, also took in the room above the carriage arch (now belonging to No. 10). This property was again recorded as unoccupied in the 1861 valuation, whilst the western property was in the hands of William Gillen. By around 1910, at least the western dwelling incorporated a shop at ground floor level. Photographic evidence suggests the shop ceased trading by circa 1955, though the shop front remained in position until 1976, when both No. 6 and No. 8 were converted to a bank. During this conversion, the doorway to No. 8 was removed and replaced by a window, with the large bowed window inserted in the place of the former shop front.