2 Bannview Terrace, Gilford, CRAIGAVON, County Down, BT63 6HX

A two-storey four-bay mid-terrace house built around 1860, now comprising the former numbers 2 and 3 Bannview Terrace. The building is located on Dunbar Street, on the north side of the main arterial route into Gilford Village, directly on the street line.

The house is constructed in brick laid to stretcher bond with headers to every sixth course, with a raised cement pointing and cement plinth. The pitched roof is covered in replacement natural slate with clay ridge tiles and a replacement chimney. The roof has been slightly raised. Rainwater goods are replacement uPVC.

The principal elevation faces south-west and is asymmetrically arranged. The ground floor has a replacement door of no interest located right of centre, with a single window to the right and two windows to the left. The first floor has four windows directly above. The far right ground floor window was previously a door before alteration. The windows are 6/6 double-glazed timber sliding sash windows with horns, painted masonry cills, and 1½ brick flat arches. The left gable abuts the adjoining building HB17/01/027E. The rear elevation is completely refurbished with modern windows and is of no interest. The right gable abuts the adjoining building HB17/01/027A.

The building was erected around 1860 as two separate dwellings, one of which was designated first class in Griffith's Valuation of 1864 and valued at £6 with a rent of £8 annually. The other was also first class, valued at £6 10 shillings with a weekly rent of 3 shillings, and had two outbuildings. The two houses were converted into a single premises around 1901 and operated as a spirit grocer's, with the proprietor Edward Smith listed in the 1901 census as a publican. The two entrances were retained at this stage, giving six windows on the front façade. The house remained in the Smith family until at least 1929.

The terrace forms part of a row of seven houses (later converted into four dwellings) built by developer James Hall, who had leased the land from landowner William Uprichard. The houses were not built by Dunbar McMaster and Company but were nevertheless part of Gilford's expansion following the opening of the Dunbar McMaster spinning mill in the late 1830s. Gilford's population more than quadrupled between 1841 and 1851, from 643 to 2,814, and by 1870 the mill employed over 2,000 workers. Over the years the houses were often inhabited by mill workers.

The two houses were converted into a single dwelling around 1980. Much of the original detailing and character has been lost as a result of comprehensive alterations. No internal historic fabric remains. Although the general appearance and proportions of the façade have been retained, the rear elevation has been completely altered and the building's interest has been compromised. The building has only modest local significance on the main street.

The setting comprises a terrace that lines the north side of the main route into the village. Opposite is a gate lodge (HB17/01/029), beyond which lies a twentieth-century housing estate. There is a hard landscape yard to the rear, beyond which are further twentieth-century houses.