51 Market Square, Lisburn, County Antrim, Bt28 1AG

51 Market Square, Lisburn

A three-storey, three-bay end-terrace Georgian townhouse, dated 1709 and now used as commercial premises. The building holds particular significance as a rare survivor of early 18th-century construction in Lisburn's historic centre.

The rectangular plan form extends to the rear with various single and two-storey returns. The hipped roof is covered in artificial slate with clay ridge tiles and topped by a replacement red-brick chimney. Cast-iron rainwater goods feature ogee moulded gutters and circular downpipes.

The principal elevation faces north and is asymmetrically arranged. The ruled-and-lined rendered walling is finished with long-and-short quoins. The ground floor has been substantially altered and now comprises a modern shop front with non-illuminated signage. The first and second floors are uniformly arranged, each containing three windows. These are 1/1 timber sliding sash windows with horns and rectangular masonry cills. A date stone inscribed "WMM 1709" is located on the first floor adjacent to the adjoining building's quoins. Side-hung canvas signage is positioned on the first floor.

The rear elevation is asymmetrically arranged with various sliding sash and casement windows. The right side features a two-storey gable-ended subservient return with a single-storey cat slide roof to the left and various first-floor window openings. The ground floor is abutted by a red-brick flat-roof extension. The right elevation is blank roughcast with smooth plaster quoins.

The interior has been substantially altered, particularly at ground-floor level with considerable loss of historic fabric. However, the remaining portion of the staircase represents a rare example of early Georgian joinery work.

The building occupies a prominent position south of the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum, east of the junction between Market Place and Market Square. A small enclosed yard lies to the rear, adjoining a large car park serving the adjacent church. The front elevation is largely encompassed by Georgian terraces, partially modified, facing onto the former market square.

Historical context

The town of Lisnagarvey, as it was known until the 1660s, was first established in the early 17th century when James I granted Sir Fulke Conway the south Antrim manor of Killultagh. By 1640 the town had been laid out much as it exists today, with a central marketplace and radiating streets.

A disastrous fire in 1707 destroyed much of the town. Rebuilding was encouraged by Lord Conway, who granted forty-one year leases on waste holdings. Materials were improved in the reconstruction: brick replaced wood, and slates and tiles replaced shingles. There is a tradition that this building was among the few not destroyed in the fire, though the datestone suggests it was rebuilt in the immediate aftermath.

The two buildings at 49 and 51 Market Square are difficult to separate in historical records and may have been treated as a single structure at times. By 1819 the building was occupied by Samuel Musgrave, a surgeon. The house remained a doctor's residence for at least fifty years. By the mid-19th century, Michael McHarg occupied the building with his surgery, while James Silcock, a grocer, occupied the neighbouring property. A mid-19th-century valuation noted that a large portion of the house was occupied by a "large wide old-fashioned staircase". In the 1860s further doctors occupied the property: Ebenezer E Sloane (1873) and John S Ward (1877).

In 1900 James Silcock took over both buildings, which were then valued as one at £69 and described as a shop and dwelling. Census returns from 1901 and 1911 confirm the Silcock family's occupation, with the grocer's shop located at number 51 and the family residence at number 49. By the 1970s number 51 was in use as a bank, a function it retained until recently. It is now occupied as a charity shop.

The building's principal interests are the overall proportions of its front façade, its early construction date making it a rare survivor, and its group value alongside the two adjacent former houses from the same period at 49 and 50 Market Square.