36 Main St, Scarva, Craigavon, Co Down, BT63 6LS

36 Main Street, Scarva, is a two-storey four-bay mid-terrace townhouse pre-dating 1830, located centrally in the village on the east side of Main Street. It is part of a continuous terrace running the full length of the east side, with a heavily vegetated embankment to the rear. Opposite the house is a landscaped public area, beyond which runs the Newry Canal.

The building displays external proportions and detailing that have remained largely unaltered. It has a rectangular plan form with pitched natural slate roofing (artificial slates to rear) and clay ridge tiles; cast-iron rainwater goods; and cement rendered and brick chimneys with clay pots. The walling comprises smooth rendered finish to the ground floor with roughcast to the first floor, separated by a plain platband, a projected smooth rendered plinth, and banded quoin to the left side only.

The principal elevation faces west and is asymmetrically arranged. The front door, located left of centre with a feature smooth plaster surround and projected key-block, is a replacement glazed timber door. To the left of the door is a window, and to the right is a tripartite window with a timber sheeted rear access door at the far right. Plaster marks indicate that an opening was blocked-up between the tripartite window and rear access door. The first floor comprises four unequally spaced windows. Windows throughout are 2/2 timber sliding sash windows with vertical glazing bars unless otherwise stated, with masonry cills; a replacement tri-partite sliding sash window is also present.

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged. A single-storey lean-to bay abuts the ground floor right of no architectural interest; a segmental arched access is located far left. The first floor has three unequally spaced windows, with the middle window being 1/1. The left gable is abutted by 34 Main Street, and the right gable is abutted by 38 Main Street.

The building is of late eighteenth or early nineteenth century date, originally lime-rendered, and is likely one of the earlier buildings in Scarva. The village of Scarva was founded beside the newly-opened Newry Canal in 1746 by John Reilly of Scarva House. The earliest buildings in the town are those nearest the bridge, with the town extending northwards during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The impetus for building the town came from the opening of the Newry Canal in 1742 to connect Carlingford Lough with Lough Neagh, principally to bring coal from east Tyrone to Dublin speedily and inexpensively. John Reilly procured a patent for holding fairs and markets and to build a small dock and quay. Taylor and Skinner's 1777 map shows that early development was concentrated around the bridge over the canal. The 1797 Topographica Hibernica describes Scarva as a "small neat village" with a large salt work and fairs held four times a year. By 1829, Capper's Topographical Dictionary records the population as 170 living in 33 houses. By 1875, traffic along the Newry Canal was bringing cargoes of turf to Scarva, using the dock and quay for lighters, though the market was no longer being held. The population remained reasonably steady throughout the nineteenth century, standing at 157 in 1910.

The house is shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834. Historical records indicate the property served for some years as a drapery and boot and shoe warehouse. The 1901 census shows the premises as a draper's shop occupied by 22-year-old Jacob J Hanna, who describes himself as a boot and shoe merchant and lived with his three sisters, all drapers. The 1911 census describes the premises as a drapery, boot and shoe warehouse, with Jacob J Hanna continuing to live in the seven-room house with his sisters. The building has evolved over time and now presents an appearance typical of nineteenth century village tenements. It continues in domestic use and remains a good example of a small village terrace property, noteworthy for its larger scale.