7 Arthur Street, Hillsborough, County Down, BT26 6AP

7 Arthur Street, Hillsborough

A mid-terrace single-storey stone house with attic, built around 1830 as part of a terrace of 23 similar dwellings. The building faces west and is rectangular on plan.

The house is constructed of rubble basalt walling with a pitched natural slate roof featuring clay ridge tiles, two gabled dormers and a single shared redbrick chimneystack with terracotta pots. Cast-iron guttering sits on iron brackets. The east front elevation displays a dressed stone archway and stone hood mouldings in its original style, though these are now cement rendered. A single window opening and door opening break the elevation, with replacement redbrick surrounds. The windows are replacement fixed-pane bipartite timber with applied lead, fitted to both front elevation and dormer windows. The door opening retains timber sheeting. Window and door sills are concrete. The south side elevation adjoins No. 9, while the north elevation adjoins No. 5 with a shared passageway between them providing rear access. This passageway is fronted by a voussoured granite and sandstone arch to the street, with part of the sandstone moulding surviving. The passageway itself is concrete paved with a rendered brick north wall to the house. The rear west elevation is abutted by an extension.

The terrace forms a cul-de-sac on the east side of Ballynahinch Street. Historical evidence suggests these houses were built in at least three phases. The earliest houses, including No. 7, date from the late 1820s and are of random rubble masonry with granite used for mouldings and arched alleyways. The remainder were added before 1858. All houses were originally built with rear yards, pits for household waste and dry toilets. Coal was stored in holes under stairs adjacent to living rooms, while water came from a tap at the top of Arthur Street or a pump at Wapping Street.

No. 7 appears in Griffith's Valuation (1856-64) as a house and yard occupied by Richard Duncan, leased from the Marquess of Downshire, valued at £2 15 shillings with weekly rent of one shilling and fourpence plus taxes. The property was valued slightly higher than its neighbour due to ownership of the passageway. The house was listed for heritage protection in 1974. Renovations were carried out in 1982, including replacement of the dormer window, and a Velux roof light was added to the rear in 1989.

Despite replacement of many original materials during recent renovations, the building retains its original modest style and proportions and forms an important part of the overall character of Arthur Street. It is of architectural and historic interest as low-cost worker housing on the Downshire estate and contributes significantly to the heritage of the area.