2 Crawford Square, Londonderry, Co.Londonderry, BT48 7HR

2 Crawford Square, Londonderry

A Victorian semi-detached townhouse of two bays and three storeys over a basement, built in 1865 to designs by John Guy Ferguson. It forms one of a pair with the adjoining No. 1 Crawford Square, and together these are the earliest known domestic buildings designed by Ferguson — one of Londonderry's most prominent architects, later responsible for St. Augustine's Church, the Apprentice Boys' Memorial Hall, and the expansion of St. Columb's Cathedral. Ferguson was a partner in the practice of Frazer, Ferguson & Frazer in 1861 and was appointed architect to the Church of Ireland diocese of Derry and Raphoe in 1868.

Crawford Square itself was laid out in 1861 by civil engineer and architect Fitzgibbon Louch (1826–1911), who established an independent practice in Londonderry in 1859 and was also responsible for the Magazine Gate entrance to the city walls. The square was named after Samuel Law Crawford, a local solicitor who owned the land, and was positioned off Northland Road on a hill overlooking the River Foyle, set at an angle to the road. At the time of the first tenders for new dwellings in the 1860s, Northland Road was still a country road leading out of the city toward Donegal. Nos. 1 and 2 Crawford Square were erected in 1865 for Samuel Knox, a building contractor, and were the first houses built within the square. The pair share the square with an adjoining terrace — the majority of which was built for John McAdoo, a local seed merchant and landowner. Crawford Square, along with Templemore and Victoria Parks, represents the city's delayed response to Dublin's garden squares, creating a green oasis near the city centre for its wealthy residents.

The open pedimented gable and deep overhanging eaves suggest an Italianate influence, bearing a strong resemblance to Nos. 22 and 23 Crawford Square — located diagonally opposite and built in 1862 — though it cannot be confirmed with certainty that Ferguson designed those earlier buildings. Nos. 1 and 2 form a bookend to a stepped row of similar three-storey houses with canted bay windows and well-ordered fenestration, creating a unique and distinctive setting within the Clarendon Street Conservation Area.

Exterior

The building is rectangular on plan with a two-storey rear return built at half-landing height. The principal elevation faces northeast onto Crawford Square and is of rendered painted finish, with rustication to the ground floor set on a raised plinth, and rendered dressings throughout — some painted in a contrasting colour. A continuous moulded string course runs above the ground and first floor windows across the full width of both front elevations.

The projecting right-hand bay has an open pedimented gable end with vermiculated corner quoins rising from first floor level, and a two-storey canted bay window with a further string course and panelled frieze above the ground and first floor bay windows. The canted bay also features a roundel and a plain low parapet. Windows to the centre of the canted bay are two-over-two timber sliding sashes, with one-over-one timber sliding sashes to the sides. Above the canted bay at second floor level is a round-arched window with a hood mould and small vermiculated keystone, fitted with a uPVC casement window. A sill course runs across the ground and first floor windows.

To the left of the principal elevation, the entrance is set within a segmental-arched opening with a moulded surround at ground floor level, fitted with a raised-and-fielded timber panelled door flanked by large Corinthian columns supporting a moulded cornice and plain overlight. Above the door at first floor level is a narrow round-arched window with a moulded rendered architrave; at second floor level there is a segmental-arched window above this, both with shoulder courses and one-over-one timber sliding sash windows.

The southeast elevation of the main building is adjoined to No. 1 Crawford Square. The northwest elevation is smooth rendered, ruled and lined and painted, set on a low plinth. The moulded string course between each floor level, the paired modillions below the eaves, and the vermiculated quoins all continue from the principal elevation and are picked out in a contrasting colour. A large two-stage rendered chimneystack, centred on this elevation, rises from above eaves level to the main roof with seven buff clay pots.

The roof is hipped and covered in natural slate with terracotta clay ridge tiles, running continuously with the roof of No. 1 Crawford Square. Timber fascia boards and decorative paired modillions support deep timber soffit boards at the eaves. Cast-iron rainwater goods are used throughout where seen.

The northwest elevation of the rear return is of rendered painted finish with a pitched natural slate roof, terracotta clay ridge tiles, and a newly reconstructed blockwork chimney stack with five terracotta clay pots rising from the southwest gable end. A two-over-two timber sliding sash window survives at first floor level on the return; the remaining windows on this elevation are a mix of timber and uPVC casements. The southwest rear elevation is three storeys of smooth rendered painted finish with uPVC casement windows made to resemble two-over-two timber sliding sashes, and a wallhead dormer with a round-arched uPVC casement window to match. The rear elevation is abutted by a two-storey gabled rear return shared with No. 1 Crawford Square, built off half-landing level, and interlocked in section with the adjoining property No. 1A Academy Road to the rear southwest — a junction that results in some loss of character.

Interior

The plan form and interior detailing are largely intact, and the interior is considered to match the quality of the exterior. The 1911 Census Building Return described the house as a first-class dwelling consisting of twelve rooms with a coach house as its sole outbuilding. The facade was replastered in 1984. A renovation in 2009 included reslating of the roof, installation of new rear windows, and replacement of the original chimney pots.

Setting

The house is located on the southwest side of Crawford Square, set back from the pavement behind hedging on low rendered painted walls. The paired entrances to Nos. 1 and 2 are approached by a broad flight of steps. The square has an enclosed central garden bounded on three sides. Crawford Square was included in the Clarendon Street Conservation Area in 1978, designated as an area of special architectural or historic interest the character of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance. The house shares group value with No. 1 Crawford Square and with the adjoining terrace row of generously scaled townhouses of similar type lining the southwest side of the square.

Upon completion, the total rateable value of No. 2 Crawford Square was set at £31 by the Annual Revisions. By the end of the Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956–72), this had risen to £34. In 1911 the house was occupied by Elizabeth MacDonald, a professional musician and piano dealer. Nos. 1 and 2 Crawford Square continued to be owned by the Knox family until at least the 1970s. Nos. 1 to 23 Crawford Square were listed in 1979.