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

11 Aberfoyle Terrace is a late-Victorian mid-terrace townhouse of two storeys with an attic level, built in 1892 to designs by the local architect and engineer William A. Barker (1851–1898). It forms part of a continuous row of seventeen similar red brick houses lining the west side of Strand Road, overlooking the River Foyle and situated close to the University of Ulster (formerly Magee College). The terrace was erected in stages over two decades between 1891 and 1911, though Barker died in 1898 before the row was complete. The building is a fine example of a late-Victorian terraced dwelling, notable for its polychromatic brickwork and the high degree of historic character retained on its principal façade.

Architectural Description

The house is rectangular on plan with a projecting rear return. It is built in red brick in Flemish bond with yellow brick dressings and sits behind a low painted cement-rendered wall with hedging above.

The principal elevation faces east onto Strand Road. At ground floor level on the right-hand side is a canted single-storey bay window with a deep projecting masonry cornice and a hipped roof. The segmental arch-headed window openings to this bay contain 1/1 timber sliding sashes. At first floor level, a continuous painted sill course spans the full width of the elevation, with segmental arch-headed openings containing 2/2 timber sliding sashes. Above, a round-headed opening lights a wall-headed gable dormer window fitted with a small 2/2 timber sliding sash and a painted apex fascia board. A projecting brick cornice runs at eaves level. The entrance doorway has a segmental arch-headed opening with a plain architrave surround, three steps up from the pavement, a painted four-panelled timber door, and a plain fanlight above.

The north and south sides of the house abut the adjoining properties at numbers 9 and 13 Aberfoyle Terrace respectively. The rear west elevation is three storeys in height, finished in painted cement render, and is abutted by a two-storey painted cement-rendered rear return built at half-landing height. There is no access to the rear yard.

The roof is pitched and slated in natural slate with terracotta clay ridge tiles to the main roof, the dormer, and the rear return. A large two-stage polychromatic brick chimney stack rises from the north side, centred on the ridge and fitted with circular clay pots. Rainwater goods are cast iron, with a circular downpipe to the front elevation.

Historical Context

The northward expansion of Londonderry began in the mid-19th century with the construction of 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.

Annual Revision records show that numbers 3–35 Aberfoyle Terrace were built on land belonging to John McFarland, a local magistrate and engineer who lived at Aberfoyle House on the hill above Strand Road. The terrace took its eventual name from this house; it was originally known as Templemore Terrace and renamed Aberfoyle around 1903.

William Barker was responsible for the standard design applied across the terrace. He was also the designer of Florence Terrace on Northland Road and a professor's house within the Magee campus, and was associated with the layout of Foyle College grounds for building purposes. Barker had completed only approximately half the terrace before his death in 1898.

Number 11 was completed in 1892 and was originally valued at £15. Annual Revision records note that the first occupant was a Ms Euston. By 1911 the house had passed to Robert Simpson, a local baker, and the census building return for that year described 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. Under the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) the rateable value was raised to £24, and by the close of the Second Revaluation (1956–72) it had risen further to £27.

A renovation carried out in 1986 included reslating of the roof, repointing of the red brick chimney stack, and the installation of a new entrance door. In 2006 the house was converted to a house of multiple occupancy.

The terrace as a whole was listed in 1979 and incorporated into the Magee Conservation Area in 2006. Numbers 3–35 Aberfoyle Terrace are considered to have group value, and their late-Victorian and Edwardian detailing and form are regarded as an enhancement to the conservation area. The 1970 Ulster Architectural Heritage Society guide described the terrace as "a pleasing terrace of two-storey houses with half dormers, each house with a ground floor half-hexagonal bay window in yellow brick. The whole terrace is in red brick with brick reveals, and dressings in yellow brick. The end houses (No. 3 and No. 35) are a little higher than the rest." The Magee Conservation Area Design Guide identified Aberfoyle Terrace as one of five zones of distinct character within the conservation area, while noting that the terrace had become somewhat disconnected from its surroundings, now fronting a four-lane road carrying heavy, fast-moving traffic — a significant change from its original residential setting.

Setting

Aberfoyle Terrace occupies the west side of Strand Road immediately north of Derry city centre, with the River Foyle to the east. Magee College (University of Ulster) is situated at higher ground directly to the rear (west) of the terrace. The house lies within the Magee Conservation Area.