3 Babington Terrace, Main St., Castlerock, Coleraine, Co.Londonderry

3 Babington Terrace, Main Street, Castlerock

A two-bay three-storey mid-terrace house built around 1860, constructed in uncoursed squared blackstone and located on the south side of Main Street in Castlerock. The building has a square plan with a three-storey flat-roof return to the rear. The roof is pitched with natural slate and angled ridge tiles; a red-brick chimneystack with terracotta pots serves the building. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods are fitted to the projecting eaves, with a uPVC fascia. The walling is rendered smoothly on the return.

The north-facing front elevation has two openings per floor. The ground floor window is positioned left of centre in a painted brick surround with a projecting painted sill. To the left stands a round-headed doorcase with a replacement four-panelled timber door flanked by fluted jambs and topped by a replacement fanlight, all set within a painted brick surround. The current fenestration consists of replacement uPVC windows in painted brick surrounds with projecting painted sills. The east elevation is abutted by the adjoining building (HB03/12/002B). The south elevation has windows to the upper floors at left, and is abutted at right by the flat-roof return with a window at each floor level. At ground floor left a small modern flat-roof extension contains uPVC double doors. The west elevation is abutted by the adjoining building (HB03/12/002D).

The house sits set back from the road with concrete to front, enclosed by an original rubblestone garden wall. Historic refurbishment has resulted in the loss of original fenestration, which degrades the building's character. However, as one of four terraced houses, it holds group value and contributes significantly to the historic quality and character of Castlerock alongside the neighbouring Clifton Terrace.

Babington Terrace was built in 1862–63 by developer Richard Babington and first appears on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1904. Castlerock, formerly part of the Clothworker's Company estates, developed along a coastal site near Downhill House following the opening of a railway halt in 1853. Active promotion by the railway company, which offered cheap tickets to those willing to build or purchase villas, drove the growth of a bathing resort in an area previously comprising open countryside. From 1860 Frederick William Porter served as architect to the Clothworkers' Company on whose estates the terrace was situated; he may have designed the terrace as part of the Company's development of the area. Sir Henry Hervey Bruce, the local landlord, also took particular interest in Castlerock's development and required all new building to meet standards of quality and size.

The current terrace first appears in valuation records as unfinished buildings in 1862. Numbers two, three and four were completed in 1863, with number one following shortly after. All houses were valued at £11, with Richard Babington initially listed as occupier. They were subsequently taken over by lodgers and leased from Sir Henry Hervey Bruce, who purchased the Clothworkers' Company lands in the 1870s. The first recorded occupier of the current house was William Jackson in 1878, followed by Alexander McKillop (1891), Mrs Connor (1893), William Kirkpatrick (1898), and Thomas A Perry in 1908. At the 1911 census, Thomas A Perry, a carpenter, occupied the house with his Scottish wife. William J Swan took over in 1928 and was succeeded by a succession of tenants. Valuer's notes from the 1930s record accommodation comprising two receptions and a kitchen on the ground floor, and four bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, with an annual rent of £2 13 shillings 4 pence. Contemporary plans show a return and outbuildings in the rear yard. The terrace was listed in 1977.