28-29 The Square, Portaferry, Co Down, BT221LR

28-29 The Square, Portaferry

This building has been demolished. When surveyed in 1997, before its demolition around 1998, it comprised a two-storey terrace block of probable 18th-century construction, positioned on the east side of Portaferry town Square. A shop front was inserted in the mid-1800s.

The front elevation facing west was asymmetrical. At ground floor level, number 29 had a four-panel door positioned left of centre, with a plain fanlight and smooth cement door surround. To its left was a casement window with smooth cement window band. Number 28 contained a shop front with a sheeted timber door to the left and a large timber window with centre mullion, above which hung a recessed timber sign board. The first floor had four windows matching those of number 29's ground floor. The front facade was rendered and painted, with in and out quoins. The gabled roof was covered with Bangor blue slates and fitted with cast iron guttering and downspout. Number 29 had a small central red brick chimney stack; number 28 had a yellow brick chimney. Both lacked chimney pots. A smooth cement render parapet separated this building from number 27. Prominent electric cabling ran between ground and first floor levels.

Historical records show a building occupied this site in 1799, when it was in the possession of James Brown according to Patrick O'Hare's map. By 1838, the valuation returns recorded a two-storey dwelling of mid to later 18th-century date occupied by Thomas Gelston; this is likely substantially the same structure as that surveyed in 1997. The building was divided into two separate properties by 1863, coinciding with the insertion of the shop front. The building was demolished circa 1998 with a new building erected on the site by 2000. The site lies within a conservation area.