Bush House, 72-74 Main Street, Bushmills, Co.Antrim

Bush House, 72–74 Main Street, Bushmills, County Antrim

Bush House is a two-storey, four-bay, pebble-dashed mid-terraced public house with a coach arch, constructed around 1834 as part of the extensive rebuilding of Bushmills village carried out by the MacNaghten family of Bushmills House, who had acquired the estate in 1787. The listing covers both the public house and the two-storey outbuilding to the rear.

The building sits within a terraced row on the north-east side of Main Street, facing south-west, just south of Market Square. Its rectangular plan incorporates a coach archway on the right side of the ground floor, which leads through to an enclosed rear courtyard.

Front Elevation

The principal south-west elevation is four bays wide at first-floor level. At ground floor, from left to right, the arrangement is as follows: a single 1-over-1 timber sliding sash window to the left; two doorways side by side in the centre; a large window opening to the right of the second doorway; and the coach archway on the far right.

The left-hand doorway is recessed within a painted stone or rendered surround with a fluted pilaster to each side supporting a dentilled cornice above. The timber screen incorporates integrated sidelights and a transom light over, and the door itself is a diamond-faced raised-and-fielded painted timber door with two raised-and-fielded panels to the top.

The right-hand doorway is the main entrance to the bar. It is set within a painted pilaster-band surround and fitted with a pair of painted panelled half-doors and a glazed transom light above. The transom light carries an inscription — in places now faded — reading: "CHARLES H. CALLAGHAN. License to sell Wine Spirits & Beer to be consumed on or off the premises."

The large window opening to the right of this doorway has a timber window frame set within a painted plaster-band surround. The coach archway on the far right is closed by a pair of horizontally-sheeted painted timber gates.

A painted rendered plinth runs along the base of the front elevation, and cast-iron rainwater goods are fixed to the front.

At first-floor level, four 1-over-1 timber sliding sash windows with exposed sash boxes sit within plaster-band surrounds on painted sills. Painted rendered stepped quoins appear to either side of the front elevation. Between the second and third windows, "BUSH HOUSE" signage is rendered in individual letters in relief on a painted render or stone background.

The roof is fibre cement pitched, with two pebble-dashed chimney stacks centred on the ridge — one to the north-west and one to the south-east, the latter positioned to the left of the coach archway.

Rear Elevation and Outbuildings

The north-east rear elevation overlooks an enclosed courtyard. Approximately at its centre, a large two-storey flat-roofed rear extension abuts the main building, stepping down to single storey on its right side.

To the left of this extension on the main rear elevation, at first-floor level above the coach archway, there is a replacement top-hung timber window; to the right, above the single-storey part of the extension, a single 2-over-2 timber sliding sash window. The rear face of the two-storey extension has a large timber casement window at ground-floor level on the left side and, on the right side, a recess containing a timber-and-glazed door alongside a small 1-over-1 timber sliding sash window. At first-floor level on the extension there is a large timber window to the left and a 1-over-1 timber sliding sash window to the right. The south-west side of the rear extension has a timber casement window at ground-floor level and a smaller opening above, which is boarded up.

On the rear slope of the main pitched roof, a small flat-roofed dormer with a 1-over-1 timber sliding sash window sits to the right side. Cast-iron rainwater goods serve the main rear elevation; uPVC rainwater goods serve the rear extension.

A single-storey outbuilding abuts the rear extension on the right side; it has a tin roof and painted rendered and limewashed rubblestone walls, with openings fitted with plywood doors. This outbuilding in turn abuts a two-storey limewashed rubblestone outbuilding with a tiled roof and randomly placed openings fitted with vertically-sheeted timber doors. A further single-storey outbuilding abuts the right side of this two-storey structure; it is of painted brick or blockwork construction with a slate roof.

The south-east and north-west flanks of the main building are abutted by the neighbouring properties at No. 70 and No. 76 Main Street.

Historical Background

The building was first recorded on the Townland Valuations Town Plan of around 1834, depicted along its current layout and already showing an outbuilding to the rear matching the position of the one surviving today. The Townland Valuations of around 1835 described it as a Class 1A structure — that is, a new or nearly new slated building — measuring 45 feet by 28 feet and standing 19 feet in height, initially valued at £11. At that time it was occupied by a Mr James McKibbin as a dwelling and shop, with a range of outbuildings to the rear.

By the time of Griffith's Valuation in 1859, the value had risen to £12 10 shillings and the property was leased from the MacNaghten estate by George Dinsmore, a local miller. Dinsmore vacated around 1863, and around 1871 the building was taken on by James McNeill, a local publican who established the first public house on the premises. By the 1901 Census of Ireland, the public house was run by Margaret Jane McNeill, described as a local grocer and spirit merchant. The census building return recorded it as a first-class public house of 12 rooms, with four stables, a coach house, a barn and a store among its outbuildings.

The McNeill family left around 1905, after which several occupants briefly used the property. It became known as the Bush Hotel and, under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57), its value had risen to £30. Records show that around 1930 the site had been purchased outright from the MacNaghten estate by Mr Charles Callaghan, whose name still appears in the inscription on the bar entrance transom. The public house and hotel continued to operate at least through the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), by which time the total rateable value stood at £76.

The building was listed in 1980 and subsequently included within the Bushmills Conservation Area, designated in 1992 to preserve the built heritage of a village that holds the highest number of listed buildings in the north-east of Northern Ireland. Records held by NIEA note that the building is no longer in use as a public house and has fallen into a state of disrepair.

Condition and Significance

While the original natural slate roof has been replaced and a flat-roofed rear extension has been added — both of which detract from the building's historic fabric — the front elevation retains considerable historic character through its timber sliding sash windows, original front door within its decorative surround, and the inscribed overlight. The coach arch, the rear courtyard, and the outbuildings remain intact, and together the public house and its outbuilding continue to enhance the character of the Main Street setting.