14 Mill Street, Cushendall, Co.Antrim

14 Mill Street, Cushendall, County Antrim, is an end-of-terrace, three-bay, two-storey house with an attic storey, rendered throughout, constructed around 1887. It was built as a constabulary barracks for the Royal Irish Constabulary and stands on the east side of Mill Street, terminating a terrace and sitting adjacent to No. 16 Mill Street. At the time of survey it was operating as a bed and breakfast.

The building is rectangular on plan, facing northwest. It has a pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles, two steel rooflights to both the front and rear pitches, and cast-iron rainwater goods. A rendered, profiled chimneystack with black pots rises from the southwest gable, which has a cement coping. The front elevation is finished in painted ruled-and-lined render with painted rusticated quoins to the corners; the side gable is smooth rendered and the rear elevation is rough-cast rendered.

Window openings are square-headed with painted masonry sills and replacement horizontally-glazed 2/2 timber sliding sash windows with angled horns and exposed sash boxes. The three-bay, two-storey front elevation has a central square-headed door opening fitted with a replacement timber panelled door. The first-floor windows are distinguished by moulded architrave surrounds, bracketed sills, and steel sill guards. The gabled northwest side elevation faces onto a public lane and has two diminutive attic-level window openings fitted with replacement top-hung timber casement windows. The three-bay, two-storey rear elevation has a central door opening with a replacement sheeted hardwood door, and a paired window opening to the right containing 2/2 timber sliding sash windows with a central sash box. The southeast side elevation is abutted by the adjoining No. 16 Mill Street. The Ordnance Survey Town Plan of 1903 records that the building originally had a rear return, which was demolished in the late 20th century.

The rear yard is concrete paved and enclosed by a tall rubblestone wall with vehicular steel gates. A public access lane runs along the northwest gable, linking Mill Street to a public car park on the banks of the River Dall.

The building carries considerable historical interest as one of several properties in Cushendall used as a police barracks. The Royal Irish Constabulary had previously been stationed at Kilnadore House, No. 20 High Street, and, immediately before the construction of No. 14 Mill Street, at the adjoining Nos. 10–12 Mill Street. Upon completion around 1887, the valuer set the total rateable value of the new barracks at £10 and 10 shillings. The constabulary occupied the building until around 1909, when it was converted to a private dwelling and occupied by a Rosetta Wallis. Valuation sources also record that a shop operated from the premises at some point, although the building was not captured in the 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57), a Kathleen Duffy occupied the property, with its rateable value raised to £14; she remained until 1963 when a Mr. Michael McCarthy purchased it outright. By the close of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72), the rateable value stood at £16 and 10 shillings. A general renovation was carried out around 1983, though no specific details were recorded. The building was listed in 1976.

The broader setting of Mill Street in which the building sits has long been recognised as architecturally significant. Most of the two- and three-storey buildings along the street were erected in the first half of the 19th century by the Turnly family. Francis Turnly, the proprietor of Cushendall, had travelled to China in 1796 where he accumulated a fortune of around £75,000. In 1801 he used this 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 cabins, a mill, and a bridge, but Turnly — described by Brett as an eccentric character who "effected extraordinary improvements in buildings and roads on his property" — developed it into a coastal resort, taking advantage of growing tourist traffic en route to the Giant's Causeway. Hotels such as the Glens of Antrim on Shore Street and numerous commercial properties were erected as a result. In 1972 the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society described Mill Street as "an outstandingly good street by Ulster standards; there is almost nothing to jar the eye," and specifically noted No. 14 as a "pleasant stucco quoined house with architraves and Regency glazing." Mill Street was included in the Cushendall Conservation Area in 1975 — only the second conservation area to be designated in the province — and in the same year Cushendall was selected as one of Northern Ireland's four pilot schemes for conservation during European Architectural Heritage Year.