26/28 Main St, Scarva, Craigavon, Co Down, BT63 6LS

A former pair of two-storey two-bay mid-terrace townhouses, pre-dating 1830, now substantially altered and converted from two dwellings into a single residence. The building is located centrally in the village of Scarva on the east side of Main Street, part of a continuous terrace running the full length of that elevation.

The original dwellings date from the late 18th or early 19th century and were originally lime-rendered. The building now has a rectangular plan form with a flat-roofed single-storey extension to the rear. The roof is pitched with artificial slate and clay ridge tiles; rainwater goods are uPVC. Chimneysstacks are cement rendered. The external walls are dashed with smooth rendered plinth and surrounds. All windows are replacement casements in enlarged openings, and the door is replacement timber.

The principal elevation faces west and is asymmetrically arranged. The front door is located right of centre with a window to either side; two first floor windows sit directly above. The left bay provides access to the rear. The left gable is abutted by 24 Main Street and the right gable by 30 Main Street.

The rear elevation is also asymmetrically arranged and cement rendered. It contains three altered first floor windows. A flat-roofed single-storey extension of no historic interest extends to the rear.

The setting comprises a tiered hard-landscaped garden to the rear, beyond which lies a heavily vegetated embankment. Opposite the house is a landscaped public area, beyond which runs the Newry Canal.

Historically, Scarva was founded in 1746 beside the newly-opened Newry Canal by John Reilly of Scarva House. The Newry Canal (opened in 1742) connected Carlingford Lough with Lough Neagh primarily to transport coal from east Tyrone to Dublin. Early town development concentrated around the canal bridge. By 1797 Scarva was described as a 'small neat village' with a large salt works and held fairs four times yearly. In 1829 the population was 170 in 33 houses.

The house appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1834 and is listed in the Townland Valuation of 1828–40 as one of three houses exempt from valuation due to insufficient value. In Griffith's Valuation (1856–64) it is listed as two separate dwellings of similar size, valued at £2 5s and £3 respectively, with a single-storey outbuilding and small garden attached to one. The property was leased from JT Reilly; Patrick McCourt was tenant of the larger house and sublet the smaller to Samuel Burns. Subsequent occupiers included John Lowry (1867), James McEvoy (1892), Catherine McCourt (1899), and Bessie McVeigh (1901). From 1919 the two houses were valued together at £4.

The 1901 census records Bessie McVeigh as a widow and housekeeper, living with her son (a labourer) and daughter (a seamstress), plus a 55-year-old boarder and boat-man. Shipping records reveal Bessie McVeigh owned a 60-ton lighter called 'The Tyrone' on the Newry Canal. The neighbouring house was listed as her property but uninhabited at this time. She remained resident in 1911 with a nine-year-old granddaughter. A photograph of circa 1900 survives showing two lighters on the canal at Scarva.

In 1940 John Donnelly purchased one house for £50; it comprised a kitchen and bedroom with an office and garden, valued at £2 15s with rent of 2s 6d weekly plus taxes. In 1952 the house and outbuildings were sold to Wm John Cromie. The neighbouring house contained a kitchen, scullery and two bedrooms with a gateway.

The building has been substantially remodelled in recent years. The two dwellings were converted into a single residence following a planning application approved in October 2004. The building is recorded only and is not of special interest.