7 Townhall Street, Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone, BT78 4AX

An attached three-bay two-storey rendered former town hall dated 1880, located on the east side of Townhall Street in Newtownstewart. The building is rectangular on plan, facing west. It is flanked by two similar structures (5 Townhall Street and 9 Townhall Street) which were contemporaneously built and share various design features, forming a distinct group in a prominent position adjacent to Newtownstewart Castle at the foot of Main Street.

The roof is hipped with artificial slate, red clay roll-top ridge tiles and angled blue and black hip tiles, with polychromatic brick chimneystacks and remains of half-round metal gutters. The walling is painted block-mark rendered over a plinth, with a stringcourse at ground floor lintel level and first floor sillcourse with panels between. Windows are round-headed painted timber sashes throughout.

The principal west elevation is symmetrical and gable-fronted. The ground floor has square-headed full-height uPVC casement windows flanked to either side by shoulder-headed raised-and-fielded six-panelled doors with plate-glass overlights. The first floor gable features a moulded cornice supported at the ends on pilasters. These frame a tripartite window comprising a central 2/2 sash with flanking diminished 1/1 sashes, all with continuous hoodmould sprung from the pilasters, moulded sills and panelled aprons. The centre apron is embossed TOWNHALL (with the 'A' missing). An embossed roundel date plaque at the apex reads "Erected by B Gillespie 1880".

The north elevation is abutted by the adjoining building; the exposed section at the right end mirrors the principal elevation detail, while the left end is pebbledashed with a single square-headed 1/1 sash window to each floor. The east elevation is pebbledashed with a variety of square-headed and slightly segmental arch-headed windows (all now missing or boarded) and a single square-headed replacement timber door with missing overlight at the left end. The south elevation is also abutted by the adjoining building, with the exposed section detailed as the north elevation.

The building sits on Townhall Street with a paved rear court.

Historical Development

Buildings occupied the site from at least the 1833 Ordnance Survey Map. The earliest town plan, dating from 1828–1840, has not survived and the building cannot be identified with certainty in the Townland Valuation records, though a building on the site may have been occupied by Jones Crawford Esq and valued at £28, as recorded in Pigot and Co's Provincial Directory of 1824.

By the time of Griffith's Valuation, the plot was listed as a public house and offices valued at £24 13s 1d, noted as a former gentleman's private residence. It was occupied by Patrick McGlenahan, who leased it from Daniel Baird. Between 1879 and 1880 the plot was redeveloped and divided into three separate buildings, numbered 1b, 1c and 1d (corresponding to 5, 7 and 9 Townhall Street respectively). Number 1c (this building) was valued at £12 5s in 1881. In 1891 the house, underpart, shop and garden were leased to Bernard Gillespie, while the remainder served as a Petty Sessions Court valued at £6. The datestone confirms it was erected by B Gillespie in 1880 as a Town Hall, a designation appearing on the Annual Revisions Town Plans of 1898 and 1908. A photograph dating from circa 1900 shows the building with the name "B Gillespie Ironmonger" displayed above the door.

By 1934, the building had been subdivided into three elements: a house at the rear valued at £9 10s (later reduced to £4 15s), ground floor premises occupied by the Bank of Ireland and leased from Michael Gallagher (valued at £6, open only on fair and market days), and the first floor hall occupied by Michael Gallagher in fee (valued at £6, later raised to £8 5s). The hall was used monthly by the Court of Petty Sessions, and approximately six nights annually for concerts and dances and twice yearly for dramatic performances, with oil lamps supplied by the landlord when hired.

The building retains its fine style, proportion and ornamentation despite the loss of original external features and interior spaces. It is recorded as derelict and situated within a conservation area. Despite alterations that detract from the original fabric, it retains considerable group value as part of the three contemporaneous structures on Townhall Street.