21 Crawford Square, Londonderry

21 Crawford Square, Londonderry

This is a mid-terrace Victorian townhouse of three bays and three storeys over a basement, with an attic level and a rear return. It was built in 1862 and is thought to have been designed by John Guy Ferguson (c.1830–1901), one of Londonderry's most prominent architects. The building is now subdivided into flats.

Crawford Square was originally laid out in 1861 by civil engineer and architect Fitzgibbon Louch (1826–1911), during his early career in Londonderry. The square was named after Samuel Law Crawford, a local solicitor who owned the land, as recorded in the Dublin Builder. It is set at an angle to the Northland Road on an inclined site to the northwest of the city, centred on a rectangular mature garden bounded by low walling and enclosed on three sides by three-storey buildings. At the time of its construction, the Northland Road was still essentially a country road leading out of the city towards Donegal.

No. 21 was built as a pair with the adjoining No. 20, and together the two form part of a coherent row of four similar houses with Nos. 22 and 23. These four houses, constructed in 1862, are grander in both scale and style than the later terrace of eighteen similar townhouses that runs along the southeast side of the square, most of which were built in the 1870s. The Annual Revisions record that the construction of Nos. 20–23 cost over £5,000 in total, and the original rateable value of No. 21 was set at £55. The terrace is thought to have been designed by Ferguson, who is also known to have designed Nos. 1 and 2 Crawford Square in 1865 — the earliest houses currently attributed to him in the Dictionary of Irish Architects. Ferguson later went on to design the Apprentice Boys' Hall and the Guildhall (1887). If Nos. 20–23 were indeed by Ferguson, they would represent the earliest known domestic commission by Londonderry's most prolific architect.

The principal elevation faces south onto Crawford Square. It is built in red brick laid in Flemish bond on the upper floors, with painted stucco dressings, rusticated ground floor render, and smooth painted render at basement level. A dentilled band on a moulded sill-course runs at first floor level. The first floor windows have moulded stucco architrave surrounds with decorative console brackets on either side supporting a deep projecting cornice; second floor windows have lugged architrave surrounds. All windows on the ground, first, and second floors are square-headed: the basement and ground floor have replacement 2/2 timber top-hung casement windows, while the first and second floors retain 2/2 timber sliding sash windows. There is a uPVC entrance door to the left of the window bay at basement level, accessed by a flight of steps from ground floor level. The main entrance on the ground floor is a large round-arched opening with a moulded surround, reached by a flight of broad shared entrance steps over the basement well (shared with No. 20). This leads to a pair of raised-and-fielded timber doors — with pilasters now missing on either side — and a plain glazed fanlight above a dentilled cornice.

The roof is a pitched natural slate construction, continuous with No. 20, with two duo-pitched dormer windows featuring round-arched fascia boards, 2/2 square-headed timber sliding sash windows under leaded roofs, and slated cheeks. There is a large two-stage ashlar sandstone chimney stack to the front elevation, with a projecting string course, panelled upper stage, and a corbelled cap supporting four buff clay pots. The eaves have a timber fascia with paired modillion moulding to a deep timber soffit board, with half-round moulded uPVC guttering to the front.

The rear elevation faces north and is two bays wide, running three storeys over a basement with attic level. The rear and return walls are finished in smooth unpainted render. A two-and-a-half-storey gabled rear return, shared between Nos. 21 and 22, is built off the half-landing level on the right side. The rear elevation of the main building and the return have timber sliding sash windows, while two small dormers have uPVC casement windows with uPVC vertical boarding to their cheeks and fronts. The rear return has a pitched natural slate roof. Large sandstone chimney stacks rise from both the north and south sides, with octagonal or circular buff or terracotta clay pots; the stacks on the east side are shared with No. 22. uPVC guttering is fitted to the front, rear, and return elevations. A pair of dormer windows to the rear has pitched natural slate roofs with tile hanging to the sides and 2/2 timber sliding sash windows.

To the rear yard there is a two-storey stone outbuilding with red brick dressings, a pitched slated roof, and terracotta clay ridge tiles. A rock-faced, uncoursed schist stone retaining wall forms the boundary with Northland Crescent to the north.

The building is set behind a low stone boundary wall with painted cast-iron railings above, some of which have been replaced. The decorative cast-iron railings on stone walling to the front steps significantly enhance the setting. The rear yard is enclosed by a row of two-storey rubblestone outbuildings — a former stable block — with red brick dressings and slated roofs.

Notable occupants have included Arthur Charles Adair (c.1824–1903), County Surveyor for Londonderry between 1874 and 1900, who also designed alterations to the District Lunatic Asylum on the Strand Road and the Court House on Bishop Street. He lived at No. 21 until his death in 1903. He was followed by the Reverend James Thompson of Great James Street Presbyterian Church, who resided there until his death in 1938. By the 1930s ownership had passed to Robert McAdoo, who held the majority of property on the square, and a Mrs Jane McCullagh occupied the house from 1938 until the 1970s. The 1911 census described the building as a first-class dwelling with 17 rooms and a stable as its sole outbuilding.

In 1978 Crawford Square was included in the Clarendon Street Conservation Area. All houses on Nos. 1–23 Crawford Square were subsequently listed in 1979. In 1984 the building underwent renovation following storm damage, including reslating of the roof, repair of the chimney stack, and restoration of a dormer window. In the 1980s the house was converted into a guest house, and around 1995 it was used as a nursery.

Despite the replacement of original windows with uPVC casement units — which detract from the building's character — No. 21 remains a generously scaled and well-proportioned townhouse, and a very good example of its type. Its finely detailed stucco dressings, heavy eaves, and well-ordered fenestration all survive. The building is listed to include the house, walling, and railings.