24-26 Castle Street, Comber, Co. Down, BT23 5DZ

This site on the south side of the east end of Castle Street in Comber was occupied by two former terrace houses of pre-1834 origin, demolished in early September 1999. The site remains vacant, awaiting planned construction of new shops and offices.

The two houses were two storeys and of reasonably large proportions. No. 24 (to the east) had its entrance door to the left on the ground floor of the front north façade. The door was panelled with a semicircular fanlight featuring spider web tracery. The doorway was encased with fluted pilasters with Gibbs-style blocks and a moulded archivolt with keystone. To the left of this was a lower level timber sheeted door leading to a narrow side passage. The ground floor contained two sash windows to the left of the entrance, with four further sash windows to the first floor. No. 26 had a similar front façade but smaller in scale, with three sash windows to the first floor, which were slightly shorter than those to No. 24. The west gable of No. 26 contained two small single pane attic windows. The entire front façade of both houses and the gable were finished in fresh looking unpainted lined render.

At the rear of No. 24, a full height return or bay projected to the right. At ground floor level on the rear face of this bay was the rear entrance to the side passage. To the left of the bay, the ground floor of the main rear façade was almost entirely covered by a fairly recent lean-to conservatory-like extension with corrugated asbestos roof. To the left of this was a sash window. Above the extension was a sash window at stair landing level to the right, with a first floor sash window to the left. The west and south faces of the first floor of the return bay each had a sash window. This façade was finished in plain unpainted render. The rear of No. 26 had a single storey return with mono-pitched roof to the left on the ground floor. A modern window and door occupied the east face of the return. To the right of the return on the main rear façade were two sash windows with a tiny two pane window between them. The first floor contained two more sash windows with horizontal glazing bars (two panes over two), though that to the right on the first floor was boarded up at the time of inspection. This façade was unrendered, revealing greywacke rubble construction, but the lower half was whitewashed. The roof was gabled and covered in Bangor blue slates. No. 24 had a rendered chimney stack with tall octagonal pots, while No. 26 had a yellow brick stack with more modern short pots. Cast iron rainwater goods were present.

The site is documented on the 1722 map of Comber and on all subsequent available maps. The houses probably dated from the late 1700s or very early 1800s and were likely those noted in the 1834 valuation as belonging to James Andrews (No. 24) and Dr. James O'Neill (No. 26). James Andrews, a prominent local miller, lived in the large three storey house immediately to the east (then named Urraghmore, now the Comber Sports Centre). At the time of valuation, Andrews was seeking a new tenant for No. 24, while No. 26 housed the town's post office as well as serving as Dr. O'Neill's residence. By 1846 the post office had moved to High Street, and both properties became private houses. They remained as such until around 1998, when they were demolished in 1999 to make way for planned shop and office development.