Hillside, 21-23 Main Street, Hillsborough, County Down, BT26 6AE

Hillside Public House, 21-23 Main Street, Hillsborough

This is an end-of-terrace, two-bay, two-storey rendered public house dating from the mid-18th century (constructed between 1740 and 1759), situated on the west side of Main Street, Hillsborough, on a sloping site. It was originally built as two separate dwellings and, although formally numbered as two addresses, the records suggest it has functioned as a single building for much of its history. It currently operates as a pub and restaurant, and despite extensive interior refurbishment and later extensions to the rear, it retains much of its early external character and contributes both to the streetscape of Main Street and to the social history of Hillsborough.

Exterior

The building is rectangular on plan, facing east. The roof is pitched natural slate with terracotta ridge tiles and a central red brick chimneystack fitted with terracotta pots. Cast-iron guttering on iron brackets runs along a rendered eaves course, with a cast-iron downpipe below. The external walling is painted in a ruled-and-lined render finish.

Window openings are square-headed with painted masonry sills and 6/6 timber sash windows with exposed sash boxes. The front elevation is four windows wide. To the northernmost bay, there is an enlarged fixed-pane display window alongside a square-headed door opening fitted with double-leaf timber panelled doors and a rectangular overlight. Both the window and door openings are surmounted by a timber fascia with console brackets carrying applied gilded lettering reading 'HILLSIDE'.

The south gable is blank and fronts onto a concrete-paved rear access lane. It features a 1930s iron gate on strap iron hinges. The north gable is abutted by the adjoining building at No. 19 Main Street.

To the rear, a single-bay two-storey rendered extension was added around 1975, with a pitched natural slate roof and timber casement windows. A further two-storey brick wing was built around 2000, abutting this extension.

Setting

The building forms part of a terrace of varied building types lining the west side of Main Street. The rear yard was largely built over around 2000, with the remainder used as a beer garden accessed through the gate in the south gable.

Interior

Although the interior has undergone extensive refurbishment, a number of original 18th century features survive, including raised-and-fielded panelling in several rooms and an early hearth located in the bar.

Historical Background

The site first appears on a map of Hillsborough dating from around 1800 as a single house owned by a Mr Moses Tate. By the 1830s, the Townland Valuation records the occupant as Mr James Cregan and describes the property as 'houses, office and yard', valued at £8 8s. The building is shown on both the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1833) and the Townland Valuations map of the 1830s as a single property incorporating what is now 23 Main Street, with a large rear return.

By Griffith's Valuation (1856–64), No. 21 was valued at £9 and occupied by Charlotte Cregan, widow of the previous occupant, who rented the property from Moses Tate. The valuer classified it as a first-class-plus dwelling measuring 11 yards by 7 yards, with several outbuildings including a scullery and a shed. Charlotte Cregan died on 29 May 1875, leaving effects of £200 to her son James Cregan, who continued to reside at No. 21 until 1890, when a Mr Richard Heenan took over the premises.

By 1891, the valuer formally recorded the property as a public house, though without any change in its assessed value. Richard Heenan died in April 1900, leaving £1,177 3s 4d to his widow Mary Jane Heenan, who then became the recorded occupant. The 1901 Census records Mary Jane (aged 41) living at No. 21 with her daughter, three sons, and her sister Ellen Walker (aged 46). The pub was recorded as a first-class dwelling with seven inhabited rooms and outbuildings including a cow house, a barn, and a shed in the rear yard. By 1911, Mary Jane was also recorded as the landholder, and the property then possessed a stable, two sheds, and a store.

Mary Jane's eldest son, James Heenan (born around 1892), was working as a hardware apprentice in 1911, but following his mother's death in 1915 he inherited the public house along with effects of £252 17s 0d.

A sign outside the pub states that it has been a public house since 1777, though no documentary evidence has been found to support this specific date. It is recorded as a public house from 1891, and it seems likely that a pub of this age and location would have obtained beer from the old brewery that formerly operated at the bottom of Main Street until its demolition in 1873. Historical sources note that in the early 19th century Hillsborough had no fewer than 19 public houses, and initiatives such as reading rooms and coffee houses were established in the village to provide alternatives to establishments such as the Hillside. Some commentators have suggested the building may originally have been designed for use as a public house, though no firm evidence exists for this.

In 1974, the architectural historian C. E. B. Brett described the Hillside Pub as "not very suitably painted, with unnecessarily obtrusive signs." The first survey record of 1975 noted that the building had recently been altered, and it was listed in December 1976. An extension was added in 1977 and again in 1985. Since the first survey, the windows have had Georgian glazing bars reinstated, the pub has been repainted, and a restaurant has been established on the upper floor. The Hillside Pub has in more recent years won a number of awards, including Pub of the Year.

The extent of the listing covers the public house and its gate.