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

No. 4 Waterside is a three-storey-with-basement Georgian-style terraced building, two bays wide and rectangular on plan, constructed around 1850 as part of a phased terrace development built between approximately 1846 and 1854. It sits on the western side of Coleraine town, fronting one of the main approaches into the town centre via the nearby Old Bridge over the River Bann. The building currently accommodates a shop or restaurant at ground-floor level with residential accommodation above.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

The building forms part of a largely homogeneous Georgian-style terrace characterised by restrained detailing, rendered walling, tall narrow frontages, and large regular window patterns over shop fronts. The overall design was overseen by architect Samuel Angell and surveyor Stewart Gordon, ensuring each building conformed strictly to the scheme as a whole. The terrace's plain, balanced and unembellished style reflects a conscious decision by the Clothworkers' Company to avoid the excessive ornamentation embraced by other London Companies during this period of widespread architectural improvement.

EXTERIOR

The roof is pitched slate with blue-grey angled ridge tiles. There is a rendered chimney stack with multiple terracotta pots. Half-round cast-iron rainwater goods are mounted on a plain timber fascia to boxed eaves, with a projecting course below. The walling is painted smooth render over brick to the front, and roughcast and painted to the rear. Window openings are square-headed with plain reveals and painted projecting sills. The windows are original 6-over-6 timber sash, except where otherwise noted.

The principal elevation faces north and comprises two windows to the upper floors. The ground-floor shopfront is modern, consisting of a timber fascia, painted masonry surrounds, four timber-framed windows with glazed transoms above, and a replacement timber door and glazed door positioned right of centre.

The east elevation is abutted by the adjoining terrace. The west elevation is likewise abutted by the neighbouring terrace. A limited inspection of the south (rear) elevation reveals a modified rectangular window opening with a timber casement to the upper left; the remainder of this elevation is abutted by the rear extension.

To the rear there are a number of substantial modern additions of no further architectural interest. These include an adjoining two-storey-with-basement structure with a hipped roof and 4-over-2 casement windows. A metal fire escape connects the accommodation to the return of the neighbouring building to the east. To the south of the rear extension is a small yard with a plain timber double-leaf door leading to a shared yard beyond.

The upper floors have been entirely reconfigured into apartments in recent decades, and access is now via the staircase and front door of the adjoining terrace property.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

This area of Killowen Parish, now known as Waterside, was originally a suburb of Coleraine and formed part of the lands owned by the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, one of the London Merchant Companies charged with developing and settling the county of Londonderry during the early 17th century. The Company typically leased out these lands, often to absentee landlords, resulting in general decline and a lack of new building due to uncertainty of tenure. When the lease expired in 1840, the Company regained direct control and embarked on a substantial programme of improvement covering buildings, infrastructure and education.

As part of this programme, a new bridge of increased height was built around 1844 to replace a previous timber structure dating from around 1735, and stabilising works were carried out to the western embankment of the River Bann. The raising of the new bridge also necessitated raising the street level on the Killowen side, which affected the existing buildings. It was considered more appropriate to demolish and entirely rebuild the Waterside area in order to create a more dignified entry into the Clothworkers' estate from the main part of Coleraine to the east.

The general layout of Waterside had already been established before the redevelopment, so the terrace changed little in plan. However, the design, scale and style of the new buildings were governed by a strict architectural approach, established first with the erection of the neighbouring Clothworkers' Arms Hotel around 1846. The hotel marked the first stage of the new development, and demolition of the neighbouring houses began in 1847. According to James Curl (1986), the houses on the southern terrace were erected first to provide visual balance to the then-isolated hotel opposite. Samuel Angell, who designed the hotel and oversaw the redevelopment scheme, provided the designs for the corner house. Three further houses were subsequently built under a contract awarded to a builder named Dornan at a cost of £924, and No. 4 is likely to have been among those erected at this stage, abutting Angell's corner building. The terrace was completed around 1854, by which time the Clothworkers' Company claimed to have spent approximately £4,000 on the erection of houses in the Waterside area.

The building appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1849-50, replacing an earlier street shown on the first edition map of 1830, which comprised buildings of a similar layout with extensive outbuildings to the rear. The property was occupied by a grocer, Thomas Henry, until 1907 and was valued at £20 in Griffith's Valuation of 1856. Ownership transferred to Sir Hervey Bruce around 1872, though the valuation did not significantly change until the mid-20th century. In 1907 David Todd became the occupier and operated a shop from the premises into the mid-20th century. Ordnance Survey maps from 1882 to 1968 show that the building's footprint remained largely unchanged since construction, with the exception of the remodelling of the outbuildings and rear return.

SETTING AND GROUP VALUE

The building is set in an urban residential context, with its principal elevation fronting directly onto Waterside, one of the main approaches into Coleraine town centre. It sits on the western bank of the River Bann, to the west of the central Diamond. A related terrace of similar buildings is situated on the opposite side of the street to the north. This southern terrace remains important to the visual balance of Waterside as a whole, helping to define the character of the approach into Coleraine and presenting one of the only coherent street facades within the town. No. 4 has group value with the other listed buildings in this terrace.