35-41 Lower Main Street, Bushmills, Co. Antrim, BT57 8QA

35–41 Lower Main Street, Bushmills, is a two-storey, six-bay painted commercial building of mid-19th century date, constructed in roughcast and smooth render, with a three-centred carriage archway leading to the rear yard and car park. It stands on the west side of Main Street at the northern end of the village centre, with the River Bush to the west and Metal Row to the south. The building was constructed between 1834 and 1855, and was originally built as two separate dwellings before being converted into a single commercial premises in around 1988 following a major refurbishment. It was subsequently delisted on 2 June 2017.

The building has a rectangular plan and a pitched slate roof with black clay ridge tiles. Two unpainted rendered chimneystacks rise from the roof, each fitted with buff clay pots. To the front elevation, rainwater is collected by half-round painted cast-iron guttering discharging to a painted cast-iron circular downpipe; uPVC rainwater goods serve the rear and the modern extension.

The principal elevation faces north-east and is accessed directly from the paved footpath on Main Street. At first-floor level it is six bays wide, with a mixture of painted timber sliding sash and casement windows. At ground-floor level there is a timber shopfront painted in Co-operative colours with a recessed doorway. A single three-centred arched carriageway to the left side leads to the rear yard and car parking. The whole front elevation is set on a rendered plinth painted in a contrasting colour. The replacement top-hung windows fitted to the front elevation detract from the historic character of the building.

The south-east elevation is adjoined to a neighbouring property at first-floor level and has smooth painted rendered walling at ground-floor level. The south-west rear elevation is abutted to the left by a large unpainted rendered modern extension, built around 1997 to provide additional retail accommodation for The Co-operative Food Company; the rear slope of the main pitched roof also has a small modern rooflight. To the right side of the main elevation there is a small timber casement window at first-floor level above the coach arch, and a two-storey flat-roofed unpainted rendered outshot to the left with a concealed large window at first-floor level. The north-west elevation is constructed of stone and red brick with painted rendered sections at first-floor height, topped by an unpainted rendered chimneystack with four buff clay pots; at ground-floor level it is abutted by the neighbouring property at Nos 31–33 Lower Main Street.

Internally, the original floor plan has been much altered and little historic fabric or detailing survives. The large modern extension to the rear further dominates the overall composition.

Historically, the two buildings that now form Nos 35–41 Main Street were among the last to be constructed along the west side of Main Street as part of the general rebuilding of Bushmills in the early 19th century. Bushmills was already a significant settlement before the end of the 18th century, but from the 1820s onward the village was extensively rebuilt by the MacNaghten family of Bushmills House, who had acquired the estate in 1787. The two buildings did not appear on the Townland Valuation Town Plan or the contemporary Townland Valuations of around 1834–35, but the row was recorded on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1855.

Late 19th century valuation maps show that Nos 35–41 were originally divided into a two-storey two-bay dwelling occupying the northernmost two bays, and a two-storey four-bay dwelling occupying the southernmost four bays including the coach arch. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 records that both buildings were leased to tenants by the MacNaghten estate. The two-bay dwelling, valued at £7, was initially occupied by Matthew Alexander, a local leather cutter, while the larger four-bay house, valued at £8 and 10 shillings, was inhabited by a Mr Patrick McIninch. The McIninch family continued to occupy the site until around 1910 with few changes to the property during that period. In around 1887 the adjoining two-bay dwelling was acquired by the Guardians of the Poor Coleraine Union and converted into Bushmills' local Dispensary, which operated from the site until around 1895 when the building reverted to use as a private dwelling.

By at least 1911, the Annual Revisions and the Census of Ireland record that Nos 35–41 had been divided into three two-bay dwellings. In that year the northernmost two bays (Nos 35–37) were occupied by Daniel McIlrevey, a house carpenter; the middle two bays (No. 39) were occupied by Daniel McCaughan, a local flesher, and had a ground-floor shopfront; and the southernmost two bays (No. 41, including the coach arch) were occupied by David Montgomery, also a carpenter. The census building return described the three units as second-class dwellings each comprising four rooms.

The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland, covering the period 1936–57, recorded the three properties as still separately rated with a combined rateable value of £24 and 10 shillings. The valuer noted that the two northernmost buildings (Nos 35–39) both had ground-floor shopfronts by at least the 1930s, while No. 41 remained in use as a private dwelling. This arrangement persisted through the Second General Revaluation, by the end of which the combined rateable value had risen to £42.

In 1972 the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society's guide to North Antrim described the buildings along Main Street in Bushmills in the following general terms: "A well-scaled street. Many good doorways and shopfronts remain, although there is the usual profusion of signs. While no building apart from the former Courthouse is worthy of individual mention, the unity of the street frontages must be maintained."

Nos 35–41 were individually listed in 1980 and subsequently included in the Bushmills Conservation Area, designated in 1992 to preserve the built heritage of a village that possesses the highest number of listed buildings in the north-east of Northern Ireland. The three separate addresses were merged into the current six-bay structure during the refurbishment of around 1988, and a further renovation around 1997 produced the modern commercial extension to the rear. Planning permission was granted in 2003 for alterations to the street frontage, internal alterations, minor demolition, and extension to the rear. Given the extent of internal alteration, the loss of historic fabric and detailing, the intrusive replacement windows to the front, and the dominance of the large modern rear extension, the building was considered not to retain sufficient architectural and historic interest to justify its listing status, and was delisted in June 2017.