13 Church Square, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5PT

13 Church Square, Rathfriland

This large three-storey building faces the Market House on the west side of Church Square. It is a 19th-century structure that was largely demolished and rebuilt, retaining only its façade and original features.

The building is constructed in red brick with cement-rendered walls and a pitched natural slate roof with brick skews. Red brick chimneys with projecting moulded brick copings rise from each gable. The roof has seven skylights to the front pitch and four to the rear. A rendered eaves course with three stages supports an ogee metal gutter with metal downpipes at either end.

At ground floor level, the left side contains a vehicular passage to the rear, now enclosed by modern decorative metal gates. The remainder of the ground floor is occupied by a symmetrical reproduction timber shop front, painted and featuring a pair of modern glazed and panelled doors with decorative geometrically glazed transoms. Large display windows flank the entrance, each divided vertically into three sections with matching transoms above. Five broad fluted timber pilasters on advanced cement-rendered bases provide vertical divisions, supporting a broad timber fascia with scrolled ends and a moulded leaded cornice.

The upper floors are five windows wide. Each floor has five reproduction sliding sash windows with horns and granite cills. The first-floor windows are horizontally divided 2/2, whilst the second-floor windows are smaller in height and divided 2/1. The glazing bars are very heavy. Four modern attached up-lighters at first-floor level illuminate the upper floors.

A large modern rear return extends from the main block, four storeys high with a hipped natural slate roof and cat sliding to the left. This section has smooth rendered walls with moulded platbands between each floor, boxed timber eaves, and plastic squared gutter and downpipe. The rear gable features modern uPVC casement windows on each floor.

The building is recorded on a 1776 map of Rathfriland. In the 1835 Valuation it was valued at £12 and measured 22ft by 25ft by 17ft 6in (three storeys). By circa 1862 it was recorded as 2.5 storeys and described as a house and shop. An 1860 Valuation map suggests a rebuild sometime after, though the valuation dropped by £4 in 1889. During the 20th century it was used as John Crummie's Outfitters and General Draper. The building stood vacant for a period before undergoing a CRISP Scheme conversion to retail units and flats. During these works, the building was demolished except for the façade, which was held in place with scaffolding. The building was reopened on 26 November 1998, as noted by a plaque in the shop vestibule.

Historical records describe the original shop front as a good late-Victorian example with a traditional asymmetrical design, featuring pilasters supporting the fascia and painted in dark green and white, with horizontal glazing bars to the windows above. The original configuration had no vehicular access to the rear and a chimney aligned along the ridge to the right of centre. These features have since been replaced with modern elements during the 1998 conversion.