18 Shore Street, Cushendall, Co.Antrim

18 Shore Street, Cushendall, County Antrim

This is a mid-terrace, two-storey, three-bay late-Georgian style townhouse, built in the 1830s and located on the north-west side of Shore Street, Cushendall. It forms part of a continuous terrace of similar Georgian houses that front directly onto the pavement, and sits within the Cushendall Conservation Area. The building has group value with its neighbours, including No. 16 Shore Street to the south-west and No. 20 Shore Street to the north-east.

Architectural Description

The building is rectangular in plan with its principal elevation facing south-east. The roof is pitched and covered in natural slate with clay ridge tiles, and is punctuated by three smooth-rendered chimney stacks each topped with circular terracotta pots. Rainwater goods are cast iron throughout: ogee-profile guttering is carried on a moulded cornice and terminates at a circular downpipe positioned to the right of centre on the front elevation. There is a small original cast iron rooflight on the left side of the roof slope, just below the ridge.

The principal elevation is finished in smooth render with banded plaster quoins at each end. On the ground floor, a square-headed door opening sits to the left; it is fitted with a replacement sheeted painted timber door with a square glazed vision panel and a narrow plain fanlight above. The door opens onto a single concrete threshold step that projects into the pavement. To the right of the door is a coupled pair of 2-over-2 timber sliding sash windows with exposed boxes. Further to the right is a square-headed coach arch, now fitted with a modern replacement roller shutter door. The first floor has three bays, each with a 2-over-2 exposed-box timber sliding sash window. All window openings are square-headed and sit on masonry sills; the ground-floor bays are not vertically aligned with those above. All openings are finished with plaster hood moulds.

The south-west gable abuts No. 16 Shore Street, with the gable of No. 18 projecting above No. 16's roofline in unpainted smooth render. The north-east gable similarly abuts No. 20 Shore Street, again projecting above that building's roofline in unpainted smooth render.

The north-west rear elevation retains the former coach arch to the left, now covered by a lean-to tin roof forming a car port. To the right is a two-storey lean-to return. The rear walls are smooth-rendered with no surrounds to the window openings. The ground-floor window to the right of the former coach arch is a 1-over-1 timber sliding sash. Two 2-over-2 horizontal timber sliding sash windows serve the first floor. On the rear return, the ground-floor kitchen window is a 1-over-1 timber sliding sash, and the back door is a replacement timber door with a square glazed panel. The first-floor bathroom window of the rear return is a replacement timber top-hung unit. Single-storey monopitch outbuildings with tin roofs, blockwork and rendered walls, and timber casement windows abut the rear return. The garden to the rear and sides is enclosed by tall walls; those on the north-east and north-west sides are of exposed rubblestone.

Materials throughout are: natural slate roofing; cast-iron rainwater goods; rendered walling; and timber sliding sash windows.

Interior

The original plan form has largely been retained internally.

Historical Background

The majority of buildings along Shore Street were erected in the first half of the 19th century by the Turnly family. Francis Turnly, Cushendall's proprietor, had travelled to China in 1796, where he accumulated a fortune of around £75,000. In 1801 he used this money to purchase the estate of Newtownglens from the Richardson family for £24,000, subsequently renaming the settlement Cushendall. At the time of purchase the village consisted of little more than a handful of insignificant cabins, a mill, and a bridge. Turnly — described by architectural historian Brett as an eccentric character who "effected extraordinary improvements in buildings and roads on his property" — developed the village into a coastal resort to serve the growing number of tourists travelling through the area on the way to the Giant's Causeway. This development included the construction of hotels such as the Glens of Antrim on Shore Street and numerous commercial properties.

A row of buildings along the northern half of Shore Street was already depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832, indicating that No. 18 is likely to date from the early 19th century. The buildings may also have featured in the Townland Valuations of 1834, though the loss of the associated town plan makes it impossible to identify individual properties with certainty. No. 18 is first recorded with certainty in Griffith's Valuation of 1859, which set its total rateable value at £6 15 shillings. At that time the property also possessed extensive rear outbuildings used as timber stores, separately valued at £4. The entire site was leased by the Turnly family to Daniel McAlister, a local timber merchant, who operated the building as a lodging house for visitors travelling along the Coastal Road. This use continued until around 1905, when the house was occupied by Archibald McKeegan, a general labourer, while McAlister continued to use the rear timber stores. The 1911 Census of Ireland described No. 18 as a second-class dwelling comprising two inhabited rooms, with a fowl house and shed among its outbuildings. The McKeegan family remained at the address until around 1928, when the property was acquired by Daniel McCollum, a local building contractor. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57), the rateable value was increased to £17. John McCollum, a local joiner, purchased the site outright from the Turnly family in 1967. By the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72) the rateable value had risen further to £19 10 shillings. The McCollum family continued to reside at the property until at least the 1970s.

In 1972, the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society's guide to the Glens of Antrim described the north side of Shore Street as "a miscellany of two and three-storey houses, stuccoed, rendered and pebble dashed." The buildings along Shore Street were included in the Cushendall Conservation Area in 1975 — only the second conservation area to be designated in the province — a status described as "testimony itself to the special qualities of the village." In the same year Cushendall was selected as one of Northern Ireland's four pilot schemes for conservation during European Architectural Heritage Year.

Despite the intrusive modern roller shutter door to the former coach arch, the exterior of No. 18 retains considerable historic character through its timber sliding sash windows and plaster hood moulds. The building makes a valuable contribution to the Cushendall Conservation Area and has group value with the neighbouring properties that form the terrace along Shore Street.