Warehouse, Opposite Reformed Presbyterian Church, Hawthornes Row, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34

This three-story warehouse, built between 1900 and 1919, stands opposite the Reformed Presbyterian Church and contributes significantly to the streetscape, reflecting Rathfriland’s historical importance to the local farming community. The building has a double-pile arrangement and a pitched roof covered with natural slate, with tiled verges. The external walls are smooth cement-rendered over a random rubble granite core.

The north elevation, which consists of two gables, has symmetrically arranged openings. The left pile features a painted, tongue-and-groove (t+g) sliding door at ground floor level, and a smaller t+g loading door on each upper floor. A pulley beam projects from the head of the ground floor door. A metal casement window is positioned to the left of both upper floor doors, with the first-floor window sheeted over. The right bay is similarly detailed, but in a mirror-image arrangement. The ground floor door is boarded over, and the upper floor doors are divided into two halves. A pulley beam that was originally present at the top has since been removed. Two metal gutters are visible – one running from the left elevation, across the gable between the ground and first floors, and another running from the roof valley across the gable of the right pile. Both gutters discharge into a downpipe on the right elevation. The east elevation is abutted at ground and first floor levels by a single-pitched shed, built of wet-dashed render, which belongs to Stewart & James and is of no particular architectural interest. A metal casement window is present on the south elevation of the main block. The rear (south) elevation has a window to the left pile at ground floor level on the right, and to the first floor level on the left, alongside two windows on the second floor. The right pile has two windows on each upper floor. All windows are metal framed. The west elevation is abutted at ground floor level by a modern building. A modern door has been inserted at ground floor level in the middle, and each upper floor has three equally spaced metal casements.

The warehouse first appeared in the Valuation revision book entry of 1907 and was then owned by David Adams, operating as a store. From then until 1985, it was used by Messrs Dalgetty as a meal store.