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

9 Waterside is a three-storey terraced building with basement, constructed around 1850 as part of a phased redevelopment of the Waterside area of Coleraine undertaken approximately between 1847 and 1854. The terrace was designed under the oversight of Samuel Angell, the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers' surveyor in Ulster, working alongside surveyor Stewart Gordon. It forms part of a largely uniform, Georgian-style terrace characterised by restrained detailing, ruled-and-lined rendered walling, and tall narrow frontages with large, regularly spaced windows above shop fronts — a typical urban form combining living accommodation over commercial premises.

The building is two openings wide and presents its principal elevation to the south, directly fronting one of the main routes into Coleraine town centre via the nearby Old Bridge. The roof is pitched and slated with blue-grey angled ridge-tiles; the brick chimney has been removed. Ogee-profile cast-iron rainwater goods are mounted on a plain timber fascia to boxed eaves. The walls are finished in ruled-and-lined render and stucco to the front, with smooth unpainted render to the rear.

The upper floors of the principal elevation retain their historic character well. The windows are square-headed replacement 1-over-1 timber sash windows, with some uPVC replacements to the rear. Each window opening on the upper floors has a rendered moulded architrave; those at first-floor level have floating cornices over them and projecting sills that run continuously across the first floor. On the left side of the upper floors, a raised panel-strip with a circular insert separates the façade from the adjoining property; vestiges of a similar panel-strip remain on the right side.

The ground floor has been altered and now features a modern timber shop-front of no architectural interest. This consists of a central glazed and timber door with side-lights, large plate-glass windows to either side each with transoms above, and a sign supported on marble-faced profiled brackets and pilasters.

The west elevation abuts the neighbouring terrace. The north (rear) elevation is largely obscured by a neighbouring three-storey building. A limited inspection reveals two windows at second-floor level and one at first-floor level on the left, positioned above a flat-roofed single-storey return containing a six-pane metal window with internal metal bars. To the right there is a two-storey gabled return, abutted to the north by a two-storey flat-roofed extension. This extension was originally built to connect the building to a former factory located a short distance to the north, serving as a link block when the building was used as offices for that factory. The connecting openings have since been blocked up. The east elevation abuts the adjoining terrace.

The building sits within an urban setting on the western bank of the River Bann, to the west of Coleraine's central Diamond. A related terrace faces it from the opposite side of the street to the south.

Historical background

The area known as Waterside forms part of Killowen Parish and was originally a suburb of Coleraine. From the early 17th century it lay within the ownership of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers, one of the London Merchant Companies charged with developing and settling — or "planting" — County Londonderry. The Company's practice of leasing out these lands, often to absentee landlords, led to general decline of the estate and limited new construction due to insecure tenures. When the lease expired in 1840 the Company regained direct control and embarked on a substantial programme of improvements to buildings, infrastructure and education.

As part of this programme, a new bridge of increased height was built around 1844 to replace an earlier 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 required the street level on the Killowen side to be lifted to match, which adversely affected the existing buildings. Rather than adapt the existing stock, the Company chose to demolish and rebuild the entire Waterside area in order to create a more dignified approach into their estate from the main part of Coleraine to the east.

The redevelopment was anchored by the construction of the neighbouring Clothworkers' Arms Hotel around 1846, which established the architectural tone for the whole scheme. Demolition of the neighbouring houses commenced in 1847. Samuel Angell designed the new terrace to complement the hotel and to form a near-processional approach into the Clothworkers' estate from Coleraine via the new bridge. Although individual buildings within the terrace were largely designed by other architects, all were strictly regulated by Angell and Stewart Gordon to conform to the overall scheme. The terrace is first shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1849–50, and the development was completed around 1854. The Clothworkers' Company recorded spending approximately £4,000 on the erection of houses in the Waterside area during this period. As architectural historian James Curl noted in 1986, the plain, balanced and unornamented style of the terrace reflects a conscious decision by the Clothworkers' Company to avoid the excessive ornamentation adopted by other London Companies during this period of widespread architectural improvement.

Records show that this house was first occupied by Thomas McGeagh (name uncertain) and was valued at £24 in Griffith's Valuation of 1856. Ownership passed to Sir Hervey Bruce around 1868 and then to Alexander Cassidy in 1880, though the assessed value remained unchanged until the mid-20th century. Census records for 1901 and 1911 show the ground floor in use as a draper's shop with a house above, both occupied by Robert Burns. Subsequent occupants included Mary Calvin from 1903 and James Paul from 1930. The building's footprint remained unchanged until the mid-20th century, when a large factory was constructed to the rear and the building began to serve as offices for it; the link block connecting the two was erected at that time and remains in place, though the connection has been blocked in recent years.

No. 9 is an important component of this overall Waterside redevelopment and shares group value with the other listed buildings in the terrace. The northern terrace as a whole contributes to the visual balance of Waterside, helps define the character of one of the principal approaches into Coleraine, and represents one of the few coherent historic street facades remaining in the town. While the upper floors retain much of their original integrity, incremental changes to the ground-floor shop front over the decades have resulted in the loss of some historic fabric at that level.