20 Crawford Square, Londonderry

No. 20 Crawford Square, Londonderry

Victorian end-of-terrace townhouse, built in 1862, attributed to the prominent Londonderry architect John Guy Ferguson (c.1830–1901). The house forms the end of a terraced row of four similar houses — Nos. 20 to 23 Crawford Square — and was built as a pair with the adjoining No. 21. Crawford Square itself was laid out in 1861 by civil engineer and architect Fitzgibbon Louch (1826–1911), during the early years of his independent Londonderry practice, on land formerly owned by local solicitor Samuel Law Crawford, after whom the square was named. The square forms part of the city's northward Victorian expansion, developed for Londonderry's professional and merchant classes at a time when Northland Road was still largely a country road leading out toward Donegal. Nos. 20–23 are grander in both scale and style than the later terraces along the east side of the square, which were built mostly in the 1870s, and their combined construction cost was recorded by the period valuer at over £5,000.

The building is three bays wide and three storeys over basement, with an attic level and a rear return. It is rectangular on plan. The principal elevation faces south onto Crawford Square and is built in red brick in Flemish bond on the upper floors, with stucco dressings, rusticated render to the ground floor, and smooth rendered painted finish to the basement level. A dentilled band runs along the moulded sill-course to the first-floor windows. First-floor windows have moulded stucco architrave surrounds with decorative console brackets to either side supporting a deep projecting cornice above. Second-floor windows have lugged architrave surrounds. All windows are square-headed; ground-floor and upper-floor windows are currently concealed with plywood sheets, and basement windows have replacement timber casement windows.

The entrance doorway at ground floor level has a large round-arched opening with a moulded surround, accessed via a broad flight of entrance steps shared with No. 21, over the basement well. The original door case and its historic detailing have been removed and partially replaced with a reconstructed timber dentilled cornice and side panels; the semicircular fanlight above has been concealed with plywood sheeting. The basement is accessed via a separate flight of steps from ground-floor level.

The roof is of natural slate with a platform ridge and two pitched-roof dormer windows, each with a semi-circular fascia, 2-over-2 timber sliding sash windows, leaded roofing and slate cheeks. There are two large two-stage chimney stacks in ashlar sandstone rising from the west elevation, each with a projecting string course, a panelled upper stage, and a corbelled cap supporting octagonal buff clay pots. A deep timber soffit board at eaves level carries a timber fascia and paired modillion moulding. Rainwater goods to the front elevation comprise moulded uPVC guttering discharging via a fluted hopperhead to a circular cast-iron downpipe; uPVC rainwater goods serve the rear elevation and rear return.

The west elevation is a blank gable end of smooth unpainted render with two wide chimney breasts offset to the north and south of the platform ridge, topped by the large two-stage sandstone chimney stack described above. The east side adjoins No. 21. The rear (north) elevation is two bays wide, three storeys over basement with attic level, and is of smooth unpainted render. It has replacement timber sliding sash windows to the second floor, a plain glass roundel above the return, and boarded-up openings to the ground and first floors. A pair of small dormers with slated duo-pitched roofs and cheeks carry 2-over-2 timber sliding sash windows.

A two-and-a-half-storey gabled rear return, also of smooth unpainted render, is built off half-landing level on the left side and is split evenly between Nos. 20 and 22. Its fenestration is more informal, with timber sliding sash windows; one large window within the west face, assumed to be at first-floor landing level, has margin panes. The rear return has a pitched natural slate roof. A two-storey stone outbuilding with red brick dressings and a slated pitched roof also stands to the rear.

The building has suffered some loss of original fabric as a result of fire damage in 2008, including the loss of some historic interior detailing. Despite this, it remains a very good example of its type, retaining finely detailed stucco dressings, heavy eaves and well-ordered fenestration.

The building's social history is particularly notable. Its rateable value was set at £55 in 1862, when it was first leased by Samuel Crawford to Stewart Christie, a local merchant. From 1870 it was occupied by the Reverend A. C. Murphy of First Londonderry Presbyterian Church, and for almost a century it served as a residence for both Presbyterian and Church of Ireland ministers. By 1880 it had passed to the Reverend Joseph Potter of Christ Church, who remained there until at least 1901. The 1911 Census described it as a first-class dwelling of 17 rooms with a stable as its sole outbuilding, then occupied by the Reverend John F. M. Cox of Christ Church. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) records it as owned by Christ Church and used as a rectory until the 1960s, at which point J. Ballantine Ltd. purchased the property and converted it into self-contained apartments. By the end of the Second Revaluation (1956–72) the rateable value had risen to £61.

The square was included in the Clarendon Street Conservation Area in 1978, and Nos. 1–23 Crawford Square were listed in 1979.

The setting contributes significantly to the building's character. No. 20 stands behind a rubblestone boundary wall with painted stone copings and cast-iron railings above (some now replaced), elevated and set back from the pavement, with paired entrances opening onto the broad shared steps over the basement well. To the rear, a shared yard is enclosed by a row of two-storey rubblestone outbuildings — a former stable block — with red brick dressings and slated roofs. A further rock-faced uncoursed schist stone retaining wall beyond marks the boundary with Northland Crescent and returns to the west. The schist stone walling and the rubblestone mews buildings add considerably to the rear character of the property. The decorative cast-iron railings on stone walling to the front steps and basement well significantly enhance the street setting. The southeast side of Crawford Square comprises a long terrace of eighteen similar townhouses, together forming a distinctive townscape group within the Clarendon Street Conservation Area.