68 Bow Street, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, BT28 1AL

68 Bow Street is a substantial mid-nineteenth-century townhouse, built around 1850, with possible earlier elements incorporated into its fabric. This five-bay three-storey rendered mid-terrace property fronts the north side of Bow Street in Lisburn and is Grade B+ listed for its architectural interest and local historical significance.

The building is rectangular on plan, facing south, with a pitched natural slate roof carrying two large rendered profiled chimneystacks with clay pots. The roof sits behind a parapet wall with metal covering and metal or plastic cornice above the drip course of the original cornice. A replacement cast-iron downpipe with square-profile breaks through the parapet wall.

The rendered walling is painted in ruled-and-lined finish over a render plinth course, with decorative render quoins. The five-bay front elevation features square-headed window openings with architrave surrounds and keystones, with painted masonry sills. All windows are original 6/6 timber sash windows. The carriage arch is broken into the east bay with a moulded cornice above. The central focal point is a three-centred arched door opening with moulded architrave surround on plinth blocks and panelled archivolt. The painted masonry doorcase comprises a square-headed door opening with timber flat-panelled door, flanked by a pair of Ionic columns on blocks supporting a lintel cornice and inverted tear-drop fanlight above, opening onto a nosed sandstone step. An integral carriage arch lies to the west bay.

The west gable is abutted by an adjoining lower modern building, with an additional gable wall to the former building remaining and having slate covering. The rear elevation is five bays with a projecting bowed central stairhall bay and an additional storey to the two east bays. The rear is abutted by a flat-roofed prefabricated building. Round-headed window openings light the stairhall bay, with a fixed-pane timber window to the top floor featuring an integrated spoked fanlight. Single-pane timber sash windows with decorative leaded coloured glass are located to the other two floors. The remainder have 6/6 timber sash windows with cylinder glass, except for the top two east bays which have 6/3 windows and two windows below having horizontally-glazed 2/2 timber sash windows, one opening onto a steel fire escape. The rainwater goods are a mixture of cast-iron and plastic. The east side elevation is abutted by an adjoining twentieth-century building at a lower level.

The house retains its original sash windows, doorcase and general facade composition, which displays mid-nineteenth-century characteristics. The stylistic features suggest the building may incorporate elements of an earlier Georgian structure, though this cannot be confirmed with certainty from surviving historical records. Townland Valuation maps for Lisburn have not survived to allow definitive identification.

The property is recorded in Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64 as a house with offices, yard and garden valued at £55 for buildings, noted as being of stone construction. At that time it was occupied by Robert Stewart and was held from the Marquess of Hertford. The sheds to the rear were in use as a thread manufactory. Robert Stewart established a hand-twisting thread business in Lisburn in 1835, taking his sons Robert and James Andrew into partnership in 1845 to trade as Robert Stewart & Sons. After Robert Stewart senior died in 1858, his sons continued the business until 1882 when Robert Stewart junior died. The firm's growth necessitated a new spinning mill, completed in 1889 near the railway station, described in the 1918 Official Guide to Lisburn as 'a handsome structure, built on the most modern designs'. By around 1865, the Bow Street premises ceased to be used as a factory and were occupied by the Misses Stewart, who became owners in fee in 1896. In 1908, Francis Russell, a veterinary surgeon, took over the house and converted it into a veterinary establishment, making a gateway through to the rear of the property. A historic photograph dating from around 1900 shows the house before this gateway was created. In 1928, Francis Russell served as a member of the town council and town veterinary inspector. By 1934, the accommodation comprised on the ground floor a reception, surgery, kitchen, scullery and two pantries; on the first floor, a reception, four bedrooms, a bathroom and WC; on the second floor, five bedrooms (four vacant); and on the third floor a vacant bedroom. The house was provided with gas and hot and cold water. By 1949, John McClelland occupied the property and many outbuildings had been removed. By 1952, a washhouse and store had been added to the rear.

The building underwent extensive renovation in the early twentieth century, with much of the interior character dating from this period interspersed with earlier fabric including the continuous timber stair and some earlier door and window arrangements. The house now functions as offices and retains architectural interest in its style, proportion, ornamentation and plan form, though later alterations have detracted from some original character. It remains one of the last surviving historic houses on Bow Street, surrounded by undistinguished twentieth-century buildings, making it of considerable local historical importance. The listing extends to the house, steps and walling. The front of the property is delineated by a railed area, while the rear site is occupied by a large single-storey prefabricated industrial building.