15 Waterside, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, BT51 3DP

15 Waterside is a three-storey-with-basement, rendered, Georgian-style terraced building, constructed around 1847 to 1854 as part of a phased terrace development. It was designed under the oversight of Samuel Angell, the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers' surveyor in Ulster, and strictly regulated alongside surveyor Stewart Gordon to conform to an overall architectural scheme. The building is two openings wide and represents the typical urban form of living accommodation over a shop.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER AND SETTING

The terrace of which this building forms part is characterised by restrained detailing, ruled-and-lined rendered walling, and tall narrow frontages with large, regular fenestration patterns over shop fronts. As noted by James Curl (1986), this plain, balanced and unembellished style reflects the Clothworkers' Company's conscious decision to refrain from the excessive ornamentation embraced by other London Companies during this widespread period of architectural improvement. The integrity of the upper floors has been largely retained, though incremental changes to the ground floor over the decades have eroded some historic fabric. The terrace remains important to the visual balance of Waterside as a whole, helping to define the character of one of the main approaches into Coleraine and presenting one of the only coherent street facades in the town. The building has group value with the other listed buildings in this terrace.

The principal elevation faces south and directly fronts one of the main thoroughfares into Coleraine town centre via the nearby Old Bridge. The building is situated on the western banks of the River Bann, to the west of the central Diamond. A related terrace is situated on the opposite side of the street to the south.

EXTERIOR

The roof is pitched slate with blue-grey angled ridge tiles. There is a rendered brick chimney without pots. Cast iron ogee-profile rainwater goods are mounted on plain timber fascia to boxed eaves, with some uPVC replacements present. The walling is ruled-and-lined rendered and painted to the principal elevation, with smooth unpainted render to the rear.

Windows throughout are square-headed 2/2 timber sash unless otherwise noted. The principal south elevation has two windows to each of the upper floors, each with contrasting stop-end chamfered reveals and painted projecting sills, which are continuous at first floor level. To the left side of the upper floors, a raised panel-strip with a circular insert separates the façade from the adjoining terrace to the east. The ground floor has a modern timber shop front of no architectural interest, with a deep timber fascia and modern openings.

The west elevation abuts the adjoining terrace. The north rear elevation is largely obstructed by a neighbouring three-storey building. A limited inspection reveals two 1/1 sash windows to the second floor and one below to the left. There is a gabled single-storey return below with a timber casement window, and a gabled return to the right extending to first floor level, with a bricked-up window at ground floor. A flat-roofed corrugated structure abuts to the north and is of no architectural interest. The east elevation abuts the adjoining terrace.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

This area of Killowen Parish, now known as Waterside, was originally a suburb of Coleraine and was under the ownership of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, one of the London Merchant Companies charged with developing and planting the county of Londonderry during the early 17th century. The Company chose to lease out these lands, often to absentee landlords, which resulted in a general decline of the estate and a lack of house construction due to the uncertainty of tenures. The Company regained direct control of its proportion in 1840 when the lease expired, and a subsequent era of improvement followed, including substantial expenditure on buildings, infrastructure and education.

A new bridge of increased height was built around 1844 to replace a previous timber construction of around 1735, and stabilising works were carried out to the western embankment of the River Bann. At this time, the street level on the Killowen side was raised to correspond with that of the new bridge, which affected the existing buildings. It was deemed more appropriate to demolish and rebuild the entire Waterside area in order to create a more dignified entry into the Company's estate from the main part of Coleraine to the east.

The general layout of Waterside had already been established prior to redevelopment and the terrace therefore did not alter greatly in plan. However, the design, scale and style of the new buildings adhered to a strict architectural rigour, established by the erection of the neighbouring Clothworkers' Arms Hotel around 1846, which marked the first stage of the new development. Demolition of the neighbouring houses commenced in 1847, and a new terrace was designed by Samuel Angell to complement the hotel and line the processional approach into the Clothworkers' Estate via the new bridge. Although designs for individual buildings were largely generated by other architects, each was strictly regulated by Angell and Stewart Gordon to conform to the overall scheme. The terrace is first shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1849 to 1850, and was completed around 1854. The Clothworkers' Company claimed to have spent approximately £4,000 on the erection of houses in the Waterside area during this period.

VALUATION AND OCCUPANCY HISTORY

In Griffith's Valuation of 1856, the building was first valued at £23, though it remained unoccupied until around 1859, when Andrew Stedman took up residence. Ownership transferred to Sir Hervey Bruce around 1868, and subsequently back to Andrew Stedman around 1885, who remained owner until around 1930. During the late 19th century the premises was split and its value increased by £2 around 1879. By 1897, the upper part of the house and outbuildings were occupied by James Watton, the shop below by Andrew Starvett, and the stable and loft by the neighbouring proprietor Andrew Reid. John Clements took over occupation of the house and shop in 1924, with a combined value of £20, while George Stedman occupied the stable and loft, valued at £5.

ALTERATIONS

The outline of the building had not altered since the Town Plan map of 1882; however, field evidence shows a small flat-roofed extension to the rear added in recent years. During the mid-20th century the outbuildings were removed and replaced by a large modern factory. The previous street on this site, as shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1830, comprised buildings laid out to a similar pattern with extensive outbuildings to the rear.