Old Market House (& Court House), New Street, Donaghadee, Co Down

The Old Market House is a sturdy looking free standing, cement rendered, rectangular block set on the SE side of New Street, built c.1819. like many other market house of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the largely open market hall was to the ground floor which the upstairs room serving as a court room as well as fulfilling other local social functions The SE front facade has a large central bay which projects marginally. To the ground floor of the bay are three semicircular headed arch openings. That to the centre is an entrance and has decorative curving wrought iron gates and a large ‘fanlight’ with mildly ‘gothick’ tracery. The opening has a similar architrave with keystone and ‘Gibbian’ blocking stones. The two outer openings have similar ‘fanlights’ with a large six pane window filling the rest of the opening and architrave’s as previous. To the first floor of the bay are three sliding sash windows, with Georgian panes, set on a cill course. The bay is topped with a pediment. To either side of the central bay is a similar arched opening to bay, but with central panelled door and large three pane sidelights, in place of windows. To the first floor above each outer arch is a sliding sash window as before. The SW facade has two semicircular headed arch recesses to the ground floor (similar is size to arched openings at front), with inner arched recesses. To the first floor are two rectangular recesses, same size as windows to front and set on cill course. The NE facade repeats this arrangement but with windows (similar in style to windows at front) to the inner arch recesses. The rear is finished in rough cast. In the centre of the ground floor are three semicircular headed shallow arch recesses. Those to the centre and left each have an inner semicircular headed sliding sash window with Georgian glazing bars, sections of which appear to have been removed. The arch to the right has a high level semicircular window with tracery similar to fanlight at front. To the far left and far right on the ground floor is a squat sash window with Georgian panes. To the first floor far left is sash window as front. To the right of this are four evenly spaced window-like recesses which may once have been actual window openings. The front, SW and NE facades are all topped with a parapet, set on a cornice, behind which is the shallow, slated, hipped roof. Cast iron rw goods. The building rests on a chamfered plinth with chamfered quoins to the ground floor front.