15 Chamberlain Street, Londonderry, County Londonderry, BT48 6LR

15 Chamberlain Street, Londonderry

A two-storey three-bay sandstone-fronted house with dormer attic, forming the end of a terrace and built circa 1884. The building is now vacant.

The house is rectangular on plan with a modern two-storey redbrick extension to the rear. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with projecting stone eaves and corbel brackets, and features half-round cast iron guttering with cast iron down pipes. Two slate-clad dormers are symmetrically positioned on the roof above eaves level.

The front (west) façade faces onto Chamberlain Street and is constructed of square uncoursed sandstone. It is well proportioned and distinguished by finely carved detailing. The original four-panel timber entrance door is topped with a square-headed fanlight above and a stone entablature supported by two carved sandstone corbels—an owl to one side and a phoenix to the other, each emerging from particularly finely articulated fern leaves. The square-headed timber 1/1 sliding sash windows with plate glass are positioned to ground and first floors, with ashlar chamfered dressings, stepped quoins, and a mid-window band.

The south gable is rendered with raised render quoins and features a single window to ground floor level, with small coupled windows to attic level. A large rendered chimney with six terracotta pots is centrally placed on the gable. The rear (east) elevation is rendered, with a large 2/2 timber sliding sash window to first floor level and a modern flush door at ground floor. The rear return is modern brick construction with uPVC windows and rainwater goods. The north elevation abuts the adjacent terrace (no. 13) and features a redbrick chimney with six terracotta pots to the party wall.

The house is situated as the end of terrace on the south side of Chamberlain Street, approximately 0.1 kilometres north-west of the City Walls, within a terrace of primarily brick dwellings with a large yard to the rear.

Historical context

Chamberlain Street, located immediately north-west of the city walls off William Street, was first depicted on the 1847 Plan of Londonderry as 'Chamberlain Place'. The current terrace of two-storey redbrick dwellings (nos 5–36 Chamberlain Street) was constructed in stages and are essentially identical to each other, with the sole exception of no. 15.

No. 15 Chamberlain Street was constructed in 1884, replacing a former office building and sheds previously occupied by Philip Doherty, a local stone mason who had utilised the premises for his business since the 1860s. By the 1880s these buildings had fallen into disrepair. In the early 1880s, Chamberlain Street underwent redevelopment which included construction of the current terraces on the southern side of the street. No. 15 was erected as part of this redevelopment. Doherty had formerly resided on Creggan Street in the 1850s but moved to Chamberlain Street in 1884. As a stone mason by trade, he was almost certainly responsible for either the design or construction of the sandstone-faced house. An original agreement dated 1882 between Doherty and The Honourable The Irish Society, held in the London archives, granted permission to build on the site.

Following completion of Doherty's house, the Annual Revisions valued no. 15 at £18, significantly higher than the adjoining terrace houses. The circa 1873 Annual Revisions Town Plan for Londonderry included the proposed layout of the new dwelling, depicting it along its current layout including the rear return (though the original has since been replaced with a modern two-storey brick return). Annual Revisions continued to record Doherty as occupant until 1929, though he had vacated the property by 1901.

The 1911 census noted the house had passed to the McGettigan family; Neil McGettigan was a cattle dealer who operated the cattle yard at the end of Chamberlain Street. The 1911 census building return described no. 15 as a first-class dwelling consisting of 10 rooms (every other building along the street was classified as second-class). The property's valuation increased to £26 under the First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland in 1935, and further increased to £32 by the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956–72).

No. 15 Chamberlain Street was listed in 1979. The NIEA Historic Buildings records note that conservation work was undertaken in 1984–86, when one of the chimneys was rebuilt, the roof was reslated in natural slate, the dormers repaired, and the lead valleys to the roof renewed.

The robust good quality of the stone detailing, including the finely carved cornice brackets and the distinctive carved corbels flanking the doorcase, sets this building apart as a significant structure in this area. Its construction in dressed stone with chamfered surrounds represents a marked departure from the brick terraces typical of the street.