32-34 Castle Street, Lisburn, County Antrim, BT27 4XE

A three-storey mid-terrace former rectory built around 1785, located on Castle Street east of Lisburn Market Square. The building is five windows wide with a rectangular plan form and a three to two-storey rear return.

The front elevation faces north and displays five equally spaced timber sliding sash windows with horns, masonry cills, and single-brick flat arched heads across the upper floors. The ground floor is asymmetrical, with a timber replacement front door positioned on the far left, a centrally placed pair of glazed shop fronts with individual doors, and on the far right an elliptical-arched coach entrance with long-and-short surrounds, a moulded cornice at impost level, and a projecting key-block decorated with an urn. The walling is red-brick in Flemish bond, and the pitched natural slate roof features clay ridge tiles with replacement red-brick and rendered chimneys. uPVC replacement rainwater goods are present.

The left gable is abutted by the adjoining building 38 Castle Street. The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged and largely abutted by various returns. A coach entrance sits on the left, with a flat-roofed two-storey extension to the right featuring external steps that access the principal building at the half landing between ground and first floor. A projected chimney rises over the flat-roofed extension, flanked by single first floor windows at varying levels and diminished second floor windows including a central 6/3 Georgian-style window. The right side is abutted by a single bay three-storey return with matching eaves level, further abutted by a subservient three-storey return, both with largely replaced casement windows including one Georgian 6/6 sliding sash. The return extends to adjoin a series of two-storey outbuildings enclosing the rear yard. The right gable is abutted by the neighbouring building 30 Castle Street, with blank walling to the upper portion.

Ground floor alterations circa 1950 replaced the original façade. A further major intervention occurred by March 2014, when the 1950s shopfront was removed and replaced with matching brickwork containing three window openings and a door opening aligned with the upper floor sash windows. The new timber window frames are recessed and floor-to-ceiling with no operating openings; granite sills and plinth were installed. The ground level was opened into a single large gallery space with a small rear office. The return roof structure was modified with replaced rafters and a new insulated slate roof. The external steps to the half landing were removed, and the associated landing opening and rear window were blocked and rendered. The 6/6 Georgian window above the landing door was replaced with a new timber sash window. A February 2016 inspection found no further external changes; however, remedial works to roof structure and party wall were ongoing following chimney collapse damage to the roof from the adjoining No. 38.

The immediate setting comprises the predominantly historic townscape of adjoining and opposite Georgian terraces, although some buildings have been replaced with modern structures. The rear opens to a yard encompassed by various two-storey outbuildings and converted offices.