13 Ann Street, Gilford, Craigavon, County Down, BT63 6HX

13 Ann Street is a two-bay, two-storey mid-terrace house built around 1840–1850, situated on the main road through Gilford, east of Gilford Mill, and north of Gilford town centre. It forms part of a terrace of 25 dwellings on Ann Street (excluding the gatehouse at No. 1 Ann Street) and sits within what was originally a mill workers' housing complex of back-to-back houses. The building is square on plan with a two-storey modern flat-roofed return to the rear.

The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with angled ridge tiles. There is a rendered chimney stack with clay pots. Cast-iron half-round rainwater goods are present to the front, with uPVC to the rear. The walls are finished in painted ruled-and-lined render. Windows throughout are replacement uPVC, with a timber casement to the rear, all set above projecting masonry sills.

The principal elevation faces east and comprises a window in the centre at first-floor level, a half-panelled timber door to the ground floor right, and a window to the ground floor left. The south elevation is abutted by the adjoining building. The west (rear) elevation has a timber casement window to the first-floor right and is abutted on the left by the two-storey flat-roofed modern return. This return has a large timber casement window at each floor level; the right cheek was not viewed, and the left cheek has a blank first floor with the ground floor also not viewed. A timber sheeted door to the right gives access to an enclosed yard. The north elevation is abutted by the adjoining building to that side. The site has vehicular access to the rear and is bounded towards the mill site by mature trees.

The house was built as part of a terrace of back-to-back workers' housing constructed by the proprietors of the adjacent linen thread spinning mill, originally known as Dunbar and Thompson and later as Dunbar McMaster & Co Ltd. The mill, which opened in 1839, was the driving force behind the rapid growth of Gilford throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Between 1841 and 1851 the town's population more than quadrupled, from 643 to 2,814, and by 1870 the mill employed over 2,000 workers. The company built around 200 houses for its workforce between 1836 and 1862, and all mill-owned houses were inspected monthly, lime-washed annually, and painted and repaired at the firm's expense.

The terrace was originally constructed as two rows of back-to-back houses: numbers 9 to 26 fronted onto High Street, and a matching row sharing their rear wall — known as Bann Street — opened towards the mill. Both rows are shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858, and are listed in Griffith's Valuation of 1863 as the property of Dunbar McMaster & Co. The High Street houses, each two storeys and 15 feet long by 12 feet wide, were valued at £2 10s, while the Bann Street houses to the rear were valued at £2 5s despite being the same size. By 1863 both rows were already rated as "deteriorated by age and not in good repair." The houses have been described as the most basic units available, each having only two rooms with a single window at each floor, providing cramped conditions for more than four occupants. The absence of rear doors and windows reduced ventilation, though this was considered less critical on an open site allowing free circulation of air.

These houses were often home to single people and couples, but it was not uncommon for a two-room dwelling to house a family of four or more. The valuation records and census returns show considerable movement of tenants within the terrace. The first tenants recorded at what is now No. 13 (formerly No. 14) were John Cunningham in the High Street house and Andrew Martin in the Bann Street house to the rear. Subsequent occupants included Daniel Kennedy (1887), John Scullion (1902), James Buchanan (1904), Henry Harrison (1905), John Burns (1902), James Quinn (1905), Joseph Roberts (1907), and Maggie Greenfield (1908). The 1901 census records the High Street house as occupied by John Scullion, a carter, living with his wife and five children aged between 9 and 21; the two elder daughters worked as spinners at the mill. In the rear Bann Street house lived John Burns, a carter, with his wife and two sons, the elder of whom was fourteen and worked as a millhand. By 1911, the High Street house was occupied by John Clayton, a grocer's van-man, with his wife and three young children, while the rear house was home to Margaret Greenfield, a 55-year-old widow.

In 1915, the rear Bann Street house was incorporated into the front High Street house, and the combined dwelling was revalued at £4 10s with a weekly rent of 3s 3d. Subsequent occupants after amalgamation included Anne Jane Holland and Mary Cole (1921). The back-to-back arrangement was gradually dismantled: most of the rear houses were incorporated into the front houses in 1915–16, though six of them remained until the 1930s.

The mill itself had a worldwide reputation. The British Trade Journal of 1890 reported it exporting salmon fishing twine to British Columbia, carpet threads, bookbinder's threads, extra-strong threads for leather and thick cloths, and fine threads for sewing machinists and lace makers, trading with the United States, South and Central America, Brazil, Australia, and across the British Colonies. In 1879, following the imposition of heavy import taxes on linen thread in the United States, Hugh Dunbar McMaster established a mill in Greenwich Village, New York, sending workers and machinery from Gilford and installing his brother John as manager. This emigration had a significant impact on Gilford's population, which halved between 1871 and 1881. The mill continued to operate in Gilford through much of the 20th century before the decline of the Ulster linen industry led to its closure in the early 1980s.

The building has been retained in use as a dwelling. Although it is of local interest on account of its relationship with Gilford Mill and as an example of mill workers' housing, it is not considered among the best examples of its type. Extensive alterations over the years have removed much of the historic fabric and have significantly reduced its architectural and historic interest. The building was removed from the statutory list on 1 November 2013.