The Cheshire Cat, 1 The Square, Hillsborough, Co.Down, BT26 6AG

The Cheshire Cat is a modest mid-terrace, three-storey former house with an attic storey, built around 1780. It stands on a prominent site in a historic terrace on The Square in Hillsborough, facing west towards the former Market House and Hillsborough Castle. The building has been in continuous commercial use, with its ground floor housing a well-known family toy shop business.

The house displays eighteenth-century style and proportions. It is rectangular on plan with rendered walling in ruled-and-lined cement, and is two bays wide. A stair return was added around 2000 to the rear. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with black clay ridge tiles, and features a rebuilt large redbrick chimneystack (shared with the adjoining building at No. 2). Cast-iron guttering on iron brackets runs to a convex eaves course with a cast-iron downpipe.

The west-facing front elevation has two bays across three storeys. Window openings are square-headed with concrete sills and contain replacement 6/6 timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes. The ground floor retains its diminutive timber shopfront, comprising a fixed-pane display window on a painted masonry sill with timber architrave surround, small timber fascia, and a square-headed door opening to the right. The door itself is a timber four-panelled door with raised and fielded panels and brass furniture, opening onto a concrete step.

The north side elevation is abutted by the adjoining building, whose roof line rises to a higher level. The adjoining building incorporates a carriage arch providing access to the rear. The east rear elevation is cement pebble-dash rendered and abutted by a two-storey stair return with a lean-to natural slate roof. This rear elevation has replacement timber casement windows and French doors at ground floor, while the stair return has modern 6/6 timber sash windows. The south side elevation is abutted by No. 2 The Square.

The building benefits from a substantial enclosed rear garden with mature trees to the east, bordered by rubblestone walling.

Historical Development

Field inspection indicates a late eighteenth-century date of construction. A building on the site first appears on an estate map of 1788, following a period when the east side of The Square was vacant (as shown on a map of 1771). A more detailed estate map of around 1800 shows the house occupying the same footprint as today, with a large return to the rear. This map records the occupant as Davis.

The Townland Valuation (1828–40) lists the occupier as John Christy, with the house valued at £4 14 shillings. Griffith's Valuation (1856–64) records occupancy by John Knox and Edward Hale, who leased the property from the Marquess of Downshire. The valuation had risen to £7 10 shillings, later reduced to £7, suggesting a remodelling or rebuilding may have occurred.

By 1868 the house was the residence of Serjeants Derry and Hall, possibly connected with the South Down Militia then based at number 7 The Square. The house appears vacant by 1870, coinciding with the Militia's removal to Downpatrick. A succession of tenants followed: David McGee in 1878, Joseph Beatty in 1881 (caretaker of the neighbouring reading room), William McClughan in 1887, and Samuel Walker in 1897.

The Canadian media theorist and English professor Marshall McLuhan (1911–80), who coined the phrases "the medium is the message" and "global village", was descended from the McLughans of Hillsborough; his grandfather William McClughan emigrated in 1846.

The building was listed in 1976. Renovations took place in 1985 and 1995. It is currently in use as the Cheshire Cat shop.

Modern Alterations

Although refurbishments during the late twentieth century resulted in the replacement of some original building fabric, the former house retains its ground floor shopfront and enclosed rear garden, which contribute significantly to its heritage value. The building occupies a prominent position within the conservation area and contributes to the heritage character of the surrounding area.