27-29 Castle Street, Ballycastle, County Antrim, BT54 6AS

27–29 Castle Street, Ballycastle, County Antrim

These are two small, plain, two-storey terraced houses on the south side of Castle Street, to the west of Ballycastle town centre, their north-facing front elevation visible from the street. Although the site has been occupied since before 1835, the buildings assumed most of their present form in 1907 when an earlier single-storey structure — which already contained two dwellings — was lifted by a full storey. The rear has been greatly extended from the 1930s onwards, and the front openings to No. 27 were altered after 1972.

Front Elevation

The asymmetrical front elevation is finished in a relatively recently applied lined, unpainted cement render. To the left of centre is a flat-arched doorway with a modern panelled timber and glazed door (belonging to No. 29). To its left is a flat-arched window with a modern timber frame that opens on an awning mechanism. To the right of the doorway is a smaller flat-arched window with a one-over-one timber sash frame (belonging to No. 27), and to the right of that is another flat-arched doorway (also No. 27) with a modern panelled timber and glazed door. This second doorway was inserted after 1972, having swapped position with the window beside it: the window now stands where the original doorway was, and the doorway occupies the position of the former window. At the far right of the ground floor is a flat-arched carriage entrance fitted with double doors of timber sheeting.

At first-floor level there are four unevenly spaced windows. The one at the far left broadly matches the ground-floor window beneath it; the two middle windows are similar to the other ground-floor window; and the one at the far right is similar to the middle ones but larger.

Roof and Rainwater Goods

The gabled roof of the main block is partly covered in natural slate and partly in an artificial slate-like tile. There is an off-centre rendered ridge chimneystack, two small skylights, and a small Velux window on the south side of the roof. The rainwater goods are a mixture of PVC-u and cast iron.

Rear Extensions

The rear of the property carries three large extensions added at various dates.

To the left (west), belonging to No. 27, is an upper-floor flat-roofed projection that spans over the carriage entrance. At ground level this joins a large single-storey shed or carport that is completely open on its east side. According to the present owner, this entire western section was added just before the Second World War (approximately 1939). It is finished in unpainted roughcast and has a single first-floor window with a modern timber frame on its south face. The flat roof is presumed to be covered in asphalt.

To the far right (east), belonging to No. 29, is a much larger two-storey projection with a single-pitch roof that leans against the return of the neighbouring property to the east. At its south end is a lower, narrower single-storey section that itself appears to have been built in two phases, its lean-to roof having two differing levels. The entire extension is finished in plain unpainted cement render. The two-storey section has one ground-floor and two first-floor windows on its south face; the single-storey section has two windows and a doorway between them on its west face. All windows have modern timber frames of differing sizes, and the doorway has a modern half-glazed timber door. Based on map evidence, this two-storey extension appears to date from the mid to later 1950s.

Between these two outer extensions is a central single-storey addition with a lean-to roof, finished in unpainted lined cement render, with two windows fitted with modern timber frames on its south face and a Velux window in its roof, covered in a similar artificial slate. A small central area of the original rear façade of the main block is still exposed above this central addition, finished in unpainted roughcast and containing a small window with a modern timber casement frame.

Historical Background

The 1835 valuation records this site as occupied by a single old but well-maintained single-storey thatched dwelling measuring 30½ feet by 20½ feet, occupied by a George Robinson, with an equally elderly thatched outbuilding of 18 by 15 by 6 feet to the rear. By 1859, George Robinson — or a son or relative of the same name — had sublet the dwelling to a James Blair while retaining the use of half the outbuilding and a haggard. Robinson is also recorded at that date as holding a very small, recently built single-storey slated house measuring 2 yards 2 feet by 8 yards 1 foot, apparently sited at the eastern end of the present site. By 1867 the buildings Robinson had formerly occupied directly were recorded as ruins, and by 1870 the lease of the main house had passed to an Arthur McPeak, who sublet it to a Patrick Doohy (or possibly Dooley). Archibald Curry is recorded as both leaseholder and tenant in 1876, his family remaining until 1902, when the lease — covering the house, a forge, and a garden — was acquired by William Graham.

In 1907 two new houses are recorded on the site, both apparently built by William Graham. This corresponds with information supplied by the present owner of No. 27, a descendant of William Graham, who stated that his grandfather added a storey to an old single-storey house in the early 1900s. The valuers' office notebook of 1908 records the two new dwellings as measuring 13½ feet by 20½ by 19 feet, and 17 by 20½ by 19 feet, alongside a third older building measuring 8 by 20½ by 9 feet, which appears to have stood on the site of the present vehicle entrance. This third, older building may correspond to the small slated dwelling noted in 1859, even though that structure was recorded as ruinous in 1870. According to the present owner of No. 27, this third building was demolished just before the Second World War when the carriage entrance and the extension above it were created; however, it continues to appear in the valuation books until 1969.

No. 27 has remained with the descendants of William Graham. No. 29 has seen a succession of tenants since 1907, including Archibald McAleese (to 1911), Samuel Douthart (1911–12), Alexander Dickson (1912 to approximately 1946), Elizabeth Roy (approximately 1946), James McKiernan (1946–56), and Hugh Simpson in the 1960s. The doorway of No. 27 was moved further to the east after 1972, swapping places with the adjacent window. The large single-storey extension to the rear of No. 27 appears to date from the 1990s.

Both properties lie within a conservation area.