1 Arthur Street, Hillsborough, Co. Down, BT26 6AP

1 Arthur Street is a corner-sited single-storey roofless stone former pair of workers' houses built by the Downshire estate circa 1825. It stands at the entrance to Arthur Street in Hillsborough, with only the two external facades remaining after substantial demolition in the early 1980s. The north and west elevations survive; the east and south walls, roof and interior were demolished. Despite this loss, the building retains group value as part of the important workers' housing terrace that frames the entrance to Arthur Street within the Hillsborough Conservation Area.

The existing structure consists of rubble basalt walling with galleting and cement pointing. The head of the walls is finished with concrete coping, and squared granite quoins mark both corners. The north elevation is three windows wide with a central door opening formed in redbrick with granite sills and granite hood mouldings. The door is fitted with vertically-sheeted timber boarding. Several windows are rendered and blocked up. The west elevation is five windows wide with an off-centre door opening, rendered over. Window and door openings are square-headed with redbrick reveals. Cement render covers the inner side of the remaining walls, and a concrete paved yard now occupies the site of the original houses.

The terrace of which this house formed part represents three phases of construction. The earliest houses, including number 1, date from the late 1820s and are built of random rubble masonry with granite used for mouldings and arched alleyways. These early workers' cottages were constructed as low-cost housing for estate workers. The Townland Valuation of 1828–40 records this property as a house, offices and yard, valued at £5 12 shillings and occupied by John Hamilton, with a note that part was used as a smith's shop. By Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64, it was occupied by Abel Hamilton, leased from the Marquess of Downshire, and described as a house, forge and yard valued at £9. The building continued in use as a forge until 1965, as recorded in NIEA files. Original yards to the rear of all houses featured pits for household waste and dry toilets. Coal was stored in holes under the stairs adjacent to living rooms, and water was supplied from a tap at the top of Arthur Street or a pump at the end of Wapping Street.

The building was listed in 1974. Photographs from that period held in NIEA files show it already falling into disrepair. By 1983 the structure had reached an advanced state of dereliction, resulting in the substantial demolition that has left only the two external walls standing today. The listing extends to the external walls only.