8-14 Castlefinn Road, Churchtown, Castlederg, Co Tyrone, BT81 7BT

A terrace of four street-fronted stone houses at 8–14 Castlefinn Road, Churchtown, Castlederg, built around 1850 as a weaving factory and converted to dwellings around 1860. The building was sensitively restored around 1990 by Hearth Housing Association following bomb damage in March 1990.

The terrace is constructed of uncoursed rubblestone walling to the front elevation with dressed quoins to the north corner only, and cement rendered to the rear elevation and north gable. The pitched natural slate roof features black clay ridge tiles and shared rendered chimneytstacks to the party walls with terracotta pots. Cast-iron rainwater goods are mounted on drive-through iron brackets.

The front elevation displays square-headed window openings formed in redbrick with cut stone sills and replacement multi-pane iron swivel windows. Square-headed door openings are formed in redbrick with double-leaf vertically-sheeted timber doors. Each of the four current units is two windows wide with a central door opening and a rear yard. Nos. 8, 10 and 12 formed the factory with smaller window openings, which were enlarged during conversion using brick.

The northernmost house, No. 14, was the manager's house. It is distinguished by rough-hewn squared stone walling and window openings formed in voussoired stone. It originally incorporated an elliptical-headed carriage arch formed in voussoired ashlar, which now gives rear access to all units and has vertically-sheeted timber doors. A tall rubblestone wall encloses the rear gardens along the lane, each having a rear gate of vertically-sheeted timber. The rear elevation shows more clearly the former window sizes, with each house having an identical arrangement of two windows and a central door opening, with smaller window openings except to No. 14.

Historically, the site contained buildings recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833. By 1855 these were replaced by a long, narrow building captioned "Weaving Factory". Griffith's Valuation (1856–64) lists a weaving factory, offices and yard valued at £30 and 10 shillings for the yard, operated by Messrs Leadbetter & Company, who leased it from Sir Robert A. Ferguson, Baronet. Revisions beginning in 1860 show the factory converted to a series of six houses with separate tenants, numbered 20a to f (the present-day Nos. 8, 10, 12 and 14 correspond to 20c, d, e and f). At this time the houses were unoccupied and leased from John G. Smyly. Nos. 20c, d and e were valued at £5 10 shillings, while the larger house at the north end was valued at £6. By 1864 all houses were occupied with two tenants each. In 1879 the houses were renamed "Factory Row" with various changes of occupier. The Smyly family remained the lessor throughout the revision period until 1929. The Ordnance Survey town plan of 1905 shows walled yards behind each house.

The original conversion created an unusual plan whereby each front door led to a common staircase shared by a pair of houses, with each pair having only two ground-floor rooms and two small bedrooms. Following the 1990 restoration by Hearth Housing Association, the pairs of houses were combined so that each front door now leads to a single house. Exposed first-floor joists were retained showing below the plaster, with some joists retaining nails where items had been hung from the ceiling. The original cast-iron windows with pivoted top-lights, which were largely damaged in the bomb blast, were reproduced in new castings. Many of the original staircases and doors were salvaged and re-used after extensive repairs.

The building displays variation in window openings: the northernmost house (No. 14) has all window openings formed in stone, while the remainder of the terrace has openings formed in redbrick. The smaller window openings on the rear view from the carriage arch southwards confirm the former factory configuration. The distinction between No. 14 and the remaining houses is further evident in the stonework quality, which is roughly coursed from the carriage arch northwards, with squared quoins to the north end, while the remaining houses are built in rubble.

The terrace, together with St. Patrick's Church directly to the north, makes a positive contribution to the heritage of the town. The extent of listing includes the houses, yard walling and gates. The building is of industrial archaeological interest and is of rare historical value for its survival as an early converted factory-to-housing scheme.