23 Aberfoyle Terrace, Strand Road, Londonderry, County Londonderry, BT48 6SE

23 Aberfoyle Terrace is a mid-terrace two-storey red brick townhouse with attic level, completed in 1903 on the west side of Strand Road, Londonderry, overlooking the River Foyle and close to the University of Ulster. It was designed by the local architect and engineer William A. Barker (1851–1898) and forms part of a terrace row of seventeen similar houses built in stages over two decades between 1891 and 1911. The terrace sits within the Magee Conservation Area and shares group value with nos 3–35 Aberfoyle Terrace.

Architectural Description

The building is rectangular on plan with a projecting rear return. It is built in Flemish bond red brick with polychromatic yellow brick dressings throughout. The principal elevation faces east onto Strand Road and is set behind a red brick plinth wall with concrete capping and modern metal railings.

The natural slate pitched roof to the front carries terracotta clay ridge tiles to the main roof, dormer, and rear return. A two-stage polychromatic brick chimney stack rises from the north side, centred on the ridge with six circular clay pots.

The principal (east) elevation is two bays wide and features yellow brick dressings with a projecting brick cornice at eaves level. To the right side of the ground floor there is a canted single-storey bay window with a hipped roof. A continuous painted sill course runs across the full width of the elevation at first floor level. Window openings to the canted bay and first floor are segmental arch-headed, and there is a round-headed opening to the wall-headed gable dormer window, which has a painted apex fascia board. All windows to the principal elevation are 2/2 timber sliding sash: to the canted bay, the first floor, and the dormer. The entrance doorway has a segmental arch-headed opening with three steps up from the pavement, a painted four-panelled door, and a plain fanlight above.

The north and south sides are abutted by the adjoining nos 21 and 25 Aberfoyle Terrace. The rear (west) elevation is three storeys of cement-rendered painted finish, abutted by a three-storey cement-rendered and painted rear return built at half-landing height. The fenestration pattern to the rear is irregular and includes timber sliding sash windows to the rear elevation, a timber casement window to a pitched roof dormer, and timber casement and tilt-and-turn windows to the rear return. Artificial slate covers the rear slope and rear return. Cast-iron guttering and a circular downpipe are present to the front.

Historical Context

The northward expansion of Londonderry had begun in the mid-19th century with Georgian-style terraces on Great James Street, Queen Street, and Clarendon Street, followed by the residential terraces of Crawford Square and De Burgh Terrace. By the end of the 19th century this expansion had reached the campus of Magee University, which had been incorporated into the Royal University of Ireland in 1879. New red brick terraces followed at Clarence Avenue, College Terrace, and Aberfoyle Terrace itself.

The terrace was built on land belonging to John McFarland, a local magistrate and engineer who resided at Aberfoyle House on the hill overlooking Strand Road. It was originally known as Templemore Terrace, with the name changed to Aberfoyle in around 1903, derived from Aberfoyle House above. William A. Barker produced the standard design for all the houses on the terrace, but only half had been completed by the time of his death in 1898. Barker was also responsible for Florence Terrace on the Northland Road, a Professor's House within Magee Campus, and was associated with the layout of Foyle College grounds for building purposes.

No. 23 was completed in 1903 as part of the second phase of the terrace's development. It was originally valued at £16 10 shillings. The 1911 census building return described it as unoccupied at the time but recorded it as a second-class dwelling consisting of eight rooms. The McFarland estate retained ownership of the terrace until at least the 1970s, during which time the building remained in use as a private dwelling; between the 1930s and 1970s it was occupied by the Anderson family. By the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) the rateable value had risen to £23, and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956–72) it had increased further to £27. A rear extension was constructed in 1997–98. Nos 3–35 Aberfoyle Terrace were listed in 1979 and incorporated into the Magee Conservation Area in 2006.

Setting

Aberfoyle Terrace runs along the western side of Strand Road immediately north of Derry city centre. Magee College (University of Ulster) stands at a higher level directly to the rear (west) of the terrace. The River Foyle lies to the east. The Conservation Guide for the Magee Conservation Area identified the terrace as one of five zones of distinct character within the area, noting that it appears somewhat isolated on the Strand Road and that its surroundings have changed considerably from its original residential context, now fronting four lanes of fast-moving traffic.