104 Main St., Moira, Co. Down

Three attached two-storey Georgian town houses with attics, built in the 18th century as part of the early development of Moira. Now operating as a single large premises, the building is located at the northern end of Main Street at the foot of the hill, adjoining number 100 on the left-hand side. The buildings are rectangular in plan with small rear returns.

The principal elevation faces south and is asymmetrically arranged with three adjoining facades. The centre and right facades form a three-bay and four-bay terrace of townhouses, distinguished by a continuous reeded sandstone frieze with moulded cornice running the full length at eaves level. The left-hand building comprises three ground and first floor windows with an infilled door opening at ground floor centre right, and does not share the decorative sandstone dressings of the adjacent facades. The two front doors are significant features: the left-hand door is a six-panelled timber door flanked by pilasters with moulded capitals, with a half-circle fanlight above set into an arch opening with moulded stucco surrounds and a central keyblock. The right-hand door is a six-panelled timber door flanked by moulded Doric columns supporting a broken pediment with an enclosed half-circle fanlight.

The windows are replacement single-glazed timber sliding sash, painted white, with large sandstone cills and one-and-a-half red brick surrounds with flat arches over. The right-hand building has small timber-framed basement windows with sandstone lintels and relieving elliptical brick arches. The left gable abuts number 100 Main Street, which incorporates an elliptical arched coach entrance.

The walling is random rubble basalt with sandstone quoins and string courses. The roofing is pitched natural slate with clay ridge tiles and coping stones over the right gable end. Rendered chimney stacks serve the principal bays, without pots.

The rear elevation comprises a mixture of random basalt stone and natural finished cement render, with various hipped and lean-to roofed additions serving as cellular single-storey extensions. A two-storey return on the left-hand side serves as the stairwell to number 106. The right gable is rendered in cement with a door opening to the basement and a small window. The attic level has two high-level squared two-over-two sliding sash windows, with one one-over-one sliding sash to the right-hand side of the first floor level.

Various modern alterations have occurred, including the blocking up of original windows, large cement-finished surrounds to new openings, the introduction of timber casement windows, altered window openings, and a modern galvanised steel fire escape stair to the rear of 102.

The building forms part of the two-storey Georgian terraces that largely make up the lower part of the town. A long raised terrace with railings fronts the elevation, accessed by steps at either end. A yard to the rear of 102 is accessed from the coach entrance, with car parking to the rear of 106.