9-11 Newry Street, Rathfriland, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5PY

A three-storey mid-19th-century building forming part of a terrace on the south side of Newry Street. It incorporates two small shop units and offices across its frontage.

Roof and Exterior Structure

The building has a pitched natural slate roof with cement-rendered and coped chimneys to each gable. The rendered skews to the front pitch feature moulded kneelers. Semicircular metal rainwater goods sit on an advanced eaves course.

Front Elevation

The upper floors present four equally spaced windows across a lined, rendered and painted facade adorned with stepped V-channelled stucco quoins.

The ground floor is divided into two distinct parts. The left half contains two symmetrical shop fronts meeting at the centre, where a pair of storm doors leads to a small common vestibule between them. Each storm door has a glazed top panel and a bolection-moulded bottom panel, set above a red and black tiled threshold with glazed cheeks. Flanking each side of this entrance is a large shop window with a horizontal transom above. The entire shopfront is framed at either end by thin moulded render pilasters with rounded heads and tails. Surmounting this is a timber fascia with an overhanging leaded cornice and timber brackets, each finished with a small drop finial.

The right half of the ground floor contains a four-panelled, bolection-moulded door with raised insets, fitted with a large decorative brass doorknob and plain brass letter slot. Above the door is a plainly glazed transom. Both are surrounded by a painted timber architrave embellished with fretted circles and lozenges. The door sits within a rectangular opening having a two-stage moulded reveal, low moulded basecourse, and granite threshold. A modern hanging sign and brass wall plaque are positioned above. To the right of the door is a 2/2 horizontally divided sliding sash window with horns, sitting above a painted granite cill.

The first floor contains four equally spaced 2/2 horizontally divided sliding sash windows with horns, sharing a common cill course featuring moulded stucco brackets (visible on the right end, concealed by the fascia on the left). Each window opening is framed by tapering stucco pilasters with small plinths and small moulded Ionic capitals. The pilaster heads support the cill course of the second floor windows and are flanked by similar brackets.

The second floor windows match those below but are slightly diminished in height.

The left gable is abutted by a lower adjoining building and is rendered but unpainted.

Rear Elevation

The right half of the rear elevation is abutted by a two-storey return with a pitched roof at lower eaves than the main block. Its walls are lined and rendered but unpainted.

At ground floor on the rear of the main block left is a modern timber door, with a modern 1/1 top-hung casement (without cill) to its right. Between ground and first floors on the right is a margin-paned 1/1 sliding sash window.

The return's left cheek at ground floor features a 6/6 sash window with external wrought iron grille on the left; a similar window to the right has been infilled. At first floor left is a modern top-hung casement; the window opening to the right is infilled. The return's gable is blank. Its right cheek has a 6/6 sliding sash window at ground floor right and a pair of tongue-and-groove sheeted doors to its left. At first floor there are two modern top-hung casements, both positioned at the right end.

On the main block's first floor left is a 1/1 margin-paned sliding sash window. At the right, between first and second floors, is a modern 1/1 landing window and escape door served by a metal fire escape ladder currently in a state of collapse.

At second floor left is a 3/6 sash window with horns; at second floor right, over the return's roof, is a second 3/6 sash window.

The right gable is abutted by a lower single-storey building and is rendered and unpainted.