10-12 Main Street, Limavady, Co Londonderry, BT49 OEU

A row of three Georgian buildings, constructed between 1840 and 1859, forms a visually appealing section of Main Street. They rise in three blocks towards the Alexander Memorial Hall (HB02/12/005), stepping up from the adjacent single-storey courthouse (HB02/12/007). While the buildings have undergone alterations that prevent them from being listed, a particularly noteworthy feature—the Tuscan door case—should be preserved as a tangible reminder of Limavady’s 18th-century prosperity.

The three-storey buildings are rendered and form a terrace abutting a taller brick terrace (listed as HB02/12/005 and 006). The main facade faces southeast onto Main Street. An arch to the northeast connects with number 14 (HB02/12/006A) and provides access to the rear. The facade is divided into three sections by two cast iron rainwater pipes. Each section originally featured three window openings on each level, which were formerly sash windows but have now been replaced with casement windows. The northeastern section is wider, and the window rhythm is broken at the first and second floors to align with the arch. On the northeast side of the central section is a finely detailed Tuscan door case, incorporating recessed three-quarter columns and a crude segmental fanlight. The door itself is a replacement with four horizontal glass panes separated by thick rails. A more modern door with a rectangular fanlight has been inserted into a former window opening at the southwest end of this section. The southwest section has two ground-level openings blocked, one previously an archway to the rear. Closer to the central section, an enlarged window looks into a disused shop space. The roof is covered with natural slate, and two chimneys remain at each level. The rear elevation is rendered, and the windows have been altered.

According to Girvan (p.8), the buildings were formerly the old Academy. Maps from 1830 show a single building (number 12) on the site, with an archway adjoining number 14, indicated as a passage. A long return extended to the rear of the present number 10A at the southwest end of the site. By 1848, the buildings had been divided into three separate structures (numbered 94, 95, and 96). Numbers 94 and 95 comprise the current 10A. The original long return to the rear was removed, and a much longer return was constructed to the southwest end of the present central portion. Further expansion extended the buildings over the passage to abut number 14 via an archway, a configuration that has remained largely unaltered. The buildings were omitted from surveys conducted in 1907 and 1925. The 1858 Griffiths Valuation lists occupants as William Allinson MD, John Martin, and Henry Tyler (in the main portion), all of whom were leasing from J Ogilby. Reference: Girvan, W.D., The Buildings of North Derry, U.A.H.S., p.8. Summary of History of 6 & 8 Main Street Limavady by A Witherspoon.