89 Newry Street, Banbridge, Co Down, BT32 3EF

89 Newry Street, Banbridge

This end-terrace commercial premises dates from around 1820 and stands on the west side of Newry Street in Banbridge town centre, forming the northernmost unit of a terrace of three. It is two storeys with an attic, two bays wide, and roughly square on plan. A single-storey flat-roof extension abuts the rear and is in separate use. The building was delisted in December 2013 and is now recorded only, with no current listing status.

Exterior

The roof is pitched and covered in artificial slate with blue-black angled ridge tiles. A rendered chimney stack carries terracotta pots. Rainwater goods are cast-iron ogee gutters with plastic downpipes. The external walls are finished in painted smooth render with quoins to the northeast corner. Windows throughout are uPVC set in moulded architraves with painted sills.

The principal elevation faces east onto Newry Street. At first-floor level there is a single central window. The ground floor is occupied by a modern shop-front with plate glass, surmounted by a timber fascia board carried on fluted pilasters with console brackets. The south gable is abutted by the adjoining building to the terrace. The west (rear) elevation has a single window to the left at first-floor level; the ground floor is largely obscured by the flat-roof rear return. The north gable presents a timber-framed window to the right of centre at first floor, a six-panelled timber door with transom light to the right of the ground floor, and a modern plate-glass window to the left of the ground floor.

To the rear stands a two-storey rubble-stone building with red-brick dressings.

Setting

The building occupies a prominent position on a major thoroughfare in the centre of Banbridge, directly north of The Downshire Arms Hotel.

History

The terrace of which this building forms part was already standing by the time of the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, though the present structure is likely built around an earlier core, possibly contemporary with the neighbouring early 19th-century Downshire Arms Hotel. The rear of the terrace originally overlooked a linen market, the double-height outbuilding to the rear having served that purpose; the market yard later became gardens for the terrace buildings.

Originally the terrace was divided into two houses rather than three. The properties now numbered 91 and 93 formed a single house and post office belonging to Margaret Mitchell and her daughter, also named Margaret Mitchell. Margaret Mitchell senior served as postmistress from at least 1831 and was known to rise daily at five o'clock to sort the mail. In April 1831 the Belfast Newsletter reported that the post office had been broken into: a disgruntled former employee had scaled the rear wall, taken some silver, but was later captured and brought to trial. The terrace is thought to have been purpose-built with postal use in mind, given its position beside a posting inn.

The Townland Valuation of 1828–40 lists the Mitchell house and post office at a valuation of £16. The smaller adjoining dwelling — corresponding to the present number 89 — was let to John Hibbit and valued at £6 16s. Dimensions recorded at that date indicate that the post-office frontage already projected six inches forward of the adjoining dwelling, as it does today.

By the time of Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64, the terrace was being recorded as three separate buildings. Numbers 91 and 93 were both still occupied by Margaret Mitchell, though part of number 91 was let to solicitor Hugh Glass as an office. All three buildings were described as "plastered and stone finished." The post office was valued at £15, the attorney's office at £11, and number 89 — then vacant — at £9. Dimensions were given for the buildings and for the double-height outbuildings to the rear.

Number 89 saw frequent changes of occupant thereafter: Anthony McAreavey was followed by Thomas McCarry (1870), James Matchett (1875), and Robert Luce (1878). The 1901 census records Robert Luce, aged 55, as a letterpress printer, living with his wife (a bonnet-maker), his son (a carpenter), and a 13-year-old niece still at school. By the 1911 census the building was vacant.

In 1905 the landlord, Alexander Rowney, added a rear extension in brick and slate and described the building as "practically rebuilt." A plan and dimensions were recorded at that time, with the rent set at £15. Subsequent occupants included Alexander Jardine (1906), James Downing (1907), Joseph Thompson (1908), James Thompson (1909), David Patterson (1911), John Floyd & Co (1923), Alexander McQuaid Junior (1928), and Mabel McQuaid.

At the time of the First General Revaluation in 1933–34, the occupier was Alexander McQuade Junior and the house, shop, office and yard were revalued at £16. The accommodation at that date comprised, on the ground floor: a shop, a passage to the rear, a kitchen with closed range, a scullery with cold water only, and a pantry. On the first floor were one front reception room and one bedroom. The attic contained a large bedroom with a rear skylight. There was an enclosed yard with an outside WC. The first floor of the outbuilding in the yard was used as a store, and further outbuildings to the rear were sublet. The valuer noted the building as "oldish" but "in very good condition." A plan recorded a single-storey extension to the rear and a separate two-storey outbuilding.

In 1935 the landlord, Robert Rowney of New York, USA, lodged an appeal and an inspection was carried out. The valuer noted that this was a corner premises with the front room in use as a shop selling sweets, cigarettes, and minerals, lit by electric light, though the WC remained in the yard with no bath and no hot or cold water supply. A 500-gallon petrol pump was also part of the holding and had been in place for some years at that point.

The building was listed in 1977. In 1981 alterations were made, including the insertion of a wider shop-front and interior remodelling. A shop window and door were also inserted into the side elevation. The building was subsequently delisted in December 2013. The loss of architectural detailing and the modern interior have together compromised much of the original character.