15 Main Street, Hillsborough, County Down, BT26 6AE

15 Main Street, Hillsborough

A mid-terrace, single-bay, two-storey rendered house built around 1820 as part of a pair with No. 17, located on the west side of Main Street in Hillsborough. The building is rectangular on plan with a gable-ended two-storey brick extension abutting the rear elevation, constructed around 1980.

The pitched roof is natural slate with black clay ridge tiles and two chimneystacks—the south one is rebuilt in brown brick, the north one rendered, both fitted with terracotta pots. Cast-iron guttering is mounted on iron brackets. The walls are painted rendered brickwork with ruled and lined finish; modern redbrick walling forms the rear. Square-headed window openings contain replacement bipartite 6/6 timber sliding sash windows with exposed sash boxes and concrete sills; timber casement windows are fitted to the rear. The front east elevation has a pair of window openings at each level on shared concrete sills. The front entrance is a square-headed door opening with a replacement timber panelled door set on two concrete steps to the pavement. The south side elevation is abutted by No. 17, while the north side is abutted by No. 13. The west rear elevation is abutted by the gable-ended two-storey extension.

The building stands as part of a terrace of various dates and styles lining the west side of Main Street, with a gravel rear yard shared with Nos. 17 and 19.

Historical Background

The house appears on the first Ordnance Survey map of Hillsborough (1833) as a small building forming part of a terrace extending from No. 23 to the bottom of Main Street. An early map of around 1800 indicates that Nos. 13 to 19 Main Street were constructed between 1800 and 1833 on former wasteland. The Townland Valuation map of around the 1830s depicts No. 15 as a small square-shaped building with two office buildings to the rear of the house in its yard. Valuation records valued the house and offices at £6 14s., recorded as the residence of Mr. Thomas Scott. The second Ordnance Survey map of 1858 shows little alteration to the house but depicts the addition of a rear return stretching from the house to one of the large out offices in the yard.

Griffith's Valuation of 1861 records Thomas Scott as the lessor, with the house classified as a 1B-class dwelling measuring five yards by eight yards and two storeys high. The property was let to Mr. James Murray at £8 rent and was valued at £6. Over the subsequent 55 years, the property passed through numerous occupants. The house fell vacant in 1887 and remained unoccupied until 1904. Thomas Scott died in 1890; his will shows he was a retired merchant who left Nos. 15, 17, and 19 Main Street with effects totalling £339 15s. 6d. to Mr. Francis Scott, probably either his son or brother. Francis Scott, who resided in Manchester, sold the properties on Main Street to Mr. David Donaldson in 1916. Census records show that Mrs. Annie Murdock, a widowed dressmaker, resided at No. 15 in 1901 with her family. Building Return records from that period classify the house as a 2nd-class dwelling comprising at least three inhabited rooms. When Donaldson acquired the house in 1916, it was revalued at £4. In 1974, architectural historian Brett described Nos. 15 to 19 Main Street as two-storey houses, probably of stone underneath, with windows that had been recently unhappily altered. The house was listed in 1976.

Alterations

The building has been substantially altered both externally and internally throughout the twentieth century. In 1987, renovation work was carried out on the windows and door; further work was undertaken in 1997, resulting in the loss of few original interior features. A red brick extension was added to the rear in the 1980s. The old out offices were removed at some stage and replaced with a garage. Since the first survey of historic buildings in the 1970s, the house and its door have been repainted to match neighbouring Nos. 17 and 19 Main Street.

The building remains with its neighbour a significant contributor to Hillsborough Conservation Area but is not of special architectural or historical interest. The house was delisted on 4 May 2012. It is currently in private ownership.