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

14 Waterside is a three-storey terraced building with basement, constructed around 1850 as part of a phased redevelopment of the Waterside area of Coleraine completed between approximately 1846 and 1854. The building is two openings wide and rectangular on plan, and forms part of a largely homogeneous Georgian-style terrace whose design was overseen by Samuel Angell, the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers' surveyor in Ulster, working alongside surveyor Stewart Gordon.

The building sits on the western side of Coleraine, on the western bank of the River Bann, and its principal elevation faces north onto one of the main approaches into the town centre via the nearby Old Bridge. A related terrace stands on the opposite side of the street to the north. The terrace as a whole is characterised by restrained detailing, rendered walling, and tall narrow frontages with large regular fenestration patterns over shop fronts — a purposefully plain and unembellished style that reflected the Clothworkers' Company's conscious decision to avoid the excessive ornamentation embraced by other London Companies during this period of widespread architectural improvement.

The roof is pitched slate with blue-grey angled ridge tiles and a rendered chimney stack with multiple terracotta pots. A modern skylight sits to the rear. Rainwater goods are uPVC, mounted on a plain timber fascia to boxed eaves. The external walls are painted brick, smooth rendered and painted to the rear. Window openings are flat-arched with plain reveals and painted projecting sills, and are fitted with 1/1 timber sash windows throughout, unless noted otherwise.

The principal north elevation has two windows to each of the upper floors. The ground floor has a modern timber shop front with large glazed openings, and a replacement four-panelled timber door to the left with a plain glass transom over and flanked by contemporary timber pilasters. The shop fascia spans across the elevation of the adjoining terrace to the west, and the two buildings have been substantially remodelled and now present as a single unit. The east elevation is abutted by the adjoining terrace to that side. The rear south elevation, inspected only in part, shows two windows to the upper floor, the left of which has been enlarged and fitted with a uPVC sliding door. The remaining rear elevations are abutted by substantial flat-roofed returns fitted with uPVC windows and modern doors, which are of no architectural interest. The west elevation is abutted by the adjoining terrace on that side. There are also substantial modern abutments to the rear at first floor to basement level, adjoining the neighbouring terrace to the west. A metal fire-escape stair serves the rear extensions and leads to a shared yard to the south, which is accessed via a common alley at the far south serving the adjoining terraces.

Internally, the building has been largely amalgamated with the adjoining terrace and has undergone extensive reconfiguration, with various modern extensions added to the rear.

The historical background to the building is significant. The area known as Waterside, falling within Killowen Parish, was originally a suburb of Coleraine and had been under the ownership of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers since the early 17th century, when the London Merchant Companies were charged with developing and settling — or 'planting' — the county of Londonderry. The Company had historically leased out these lands, often to absentee landlords, which led to a general decline of the estate and a lack of new building due to the uncertainty of tenures. The Company regained direct control of its proportion in 1840 when the lease expired, and a subsequent programme of improvement followed, including substantial investment in buildings, infrastructure and education.

As part of this programme, a new bridge of increased height was built around 1844 to replace a previous timber structure dating from around 1735, and stabilising works were carried out to the western embankment of the River Bann. The raising of the street level on the Killowen side to match the height of the new bridge had a significant impact on the existing buildings in the area. Rather than adapt the existing fabric, it was considered more fitting to demolish and rebuild the entire Waterside area in order to create a more dignified approach into the Clothworkers' estate from the main part of Coleraine to the east.

The neighbouring Clothworkers' Arms Hotel, erected around 1846, was the first building of the new development and established the architectural tone for what followed. Demolition of the neighbouring houses commenced in 1847. According to James Curl (writing in 1986), the houses on the southern terrace — of which this building forms a part — were erected first in order to provide visual balance to the then-isolated hotel on the opposite side of the street. Samuel Angell designed a suitable corner terrace to complement his hotel design and to line what amounted to an almost processional approach into the Clothworkers' estate from Coleraine town via the new bridge. Although the designs for individual buildings were largely generated by other architects, each was strictly regulated by Angell and Stewart Gordon to conform to the overall scheme. The terrace was completed around 1854, by which time the Clothworkers' Company claimed to have spent approximately £4,000 on the erection of houses in the Waterside area. The general layout of Waterside had already been established before the redevelopment began, so the terrace did not alter greatly on plan, but the design, scale and style of the new buildings adhered to a strict architectural discipline throughout.

The terrace as shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1830 comprised buildings laid out to a similar pattern, with extensive outbuildings to the rear. The rebuilt terrace first appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1849 to 1850. In Griffith's Valuation of 1856, the house and outbuildings at this address were first recorded as occupied by Margaret Laughry and valued at £26. Ownership subsequently transferred to Sir Hervey Bruce around 1872, and then to John Ross in 1878, though the valuation did not change significantly until the mid-20th century. Among later occupiers, Benjamin Guthrie, a grocer, is recorded from 1885 and remained until 1930. The building also functioned as a post office until recent decades.

The building is an important element within the overall redevelopment of Waterside and carries group value with the other listed buildings in the terrace. Together they define the character of one of the main approaches into Coleraine and present one of the only coherent historic street facades within the town. The integrity of the upper floors has been largely retained, though incremental changes to the ground floor shop over the decades have resulted in some loss of historic fabric.