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

21 Arthur Street, Hillsborough

A Victorian end-terrace, single-storey with attic workers' cottage built around 1850 to house workers and tenants of the Downshire Estate. The building retains important historical significance as part of the development of Arthur Street, which was constructed in phases throughout the first half of the 19th century. Documentary evidence shows that the earliest houses on the street, dating from the 1820s, appear on the 1833 Ordnance Survey map, while the second edition of 1858 shows the street largely as it appears today. Number 21 belongs to the later phase of construction, built around 1850 using more regular coursed masonry of cut stone.

The building is rectangular in plan form, with coursed rubble masonry walling and sandstone quoins. It displays stone hood mouldings characteristic of its period, retaining its original modest style and proportions. The pitched natural slate roof is fitted with clay ridge tiles and features a centrally located dormer window. Cast-iron rainwater goods are present. A shared brick chimneystack with the adjoining building carries two clay pots.

The front elevation, facing east, is asymmetrically arranged with a ground floor window positioned to the right of the front door. Red brick surrounds the window and door openings. The left gable end contains no openings, with quoins visible on the left-hand side. Modern top-hung, double-glazed uPVC casement windows with lattice lead applied to the face have replaced the original windows, each fitted with a sandstone cill and topped by a single-brick flat arch bearing a robust half-circle cement-rendered label moulding. The replacement timber front door is of modern manufacture. The rear elevation is abutted by a two-storey modern extension.

According to Griffith's Valuation of 1862, the owner was John Smith, who valued the house and yard at £2 15 shillings. The property included ownership of a passageway and an additional bedroom located above, accounting for its slightly higher valuation than the neighbouring house. The valuer noted that rents were 'moderate'. All houses on Arthur Street were originally provided with a yard to the rear, containing a pit for household waste and a dry toilet. Coal was typically stored in a hole under the stairs adjacent to the living room, whilst water was supplied from either a tap at the top of Arthur Street or a pump at the end of Wapping Street.

Despite losing its original doors and windows and having had many original materials replaced during recent renovations, including replacement dormers in 1990 and the installation of skylights in 1999, the building constitutes an important part of the overall character of Arthur Street. It was listed in 1974. The street forms part of a pair of matching terraces and is accessed via a single entrance from Ballynahinch Street, with the other end closed by a large rubble masonry wall punctuated by an archway that has since been infilled.