9 Castle Street, Glenarm, Ballymena, Co Antrim, BT44 0AT

This is a relatively small, plain two-storey rendered terraced house of possible pre-1832 construction, situated on the north side of Castle Street in Glenarm, within a conservation area. It was formerly assessed for listing but does not meet the statutory criteria, and was delisted in March 2006. All period detail appears to have been lost to the interior and rear.

The front elevation faces south and is asymmetrical. To the right of centre at ground floor level is a plain sheeted timber front door, possibly modern, with a plain three-pane fanlight above it. To its right is a paired 6-over-6 / 6-over-6 sash window. At first floor level there are two widely spaced but narrow 6-over-6 sash windows. The roof is covered in natural slate, and to the left of the ridge is a plain rendered chimney stack that merges with a slightly lower chimney stack belonging to the neighbouring house. Cast iron rainwater goods are fitted to the front elevation, with PVC rainwater goods to the rear. The finish throughout is roughcast render.

On the north elevation, a door sits to the left and a large modern timber window to the right at ground floor level, with two modern timber windows at first floor. The rear yard is enclosed by a high rendered wall, the rear wall of the house itself, and the adjoining gable of No. 7 Castle Street.

Castle Street is the shortest of Glenarm's four main original streets, running westwards from the intersection of Toberwine and Altmore Streets to the bridge over the Glenarm River, with Lower Castle Street branching off southwards near the west end. The street formed part of the historic main road from Larne, a route of possible medieval origin that wound northwards through The Vennel, across the bridge, and on towards what is now the Straidkilly Road. The bridge at the west end was erected in 1682 — before which travellers forded the river — and largely rebuilt in 1713 following flood damage. The street was originally known as Bridge Street, a name that appears to have persisted until the mid-19th century.

The earliest leases in the Antrim Papers relating to plots and buildings along the street date from 1711. An old parish church was standing at the south-west end of the street as early as 1683, and the 13th-century Bisset castle — probably a tower house — is reputed to have stood at the north-east end. The still-extant former courthouse, believed to have been standing at least since the 1750s, is thought to incorporate part of its ruins. On John O'Hara's map of 1779, the earliest surviving plan of Glenarm, the street is shown fully developed on both sides, with rows of properties corresponding to those visible on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832. Based on evidence from the 1859 valuation, it is probable that most of the buildings indicated in 1832 are those standing today, with the short terrace on Lower Castle Street appearing around 1835 to 1840.

O'Hara's map clearly shows Castle Street's pre-eminence as part of the main northward route from Larne, with the road skirting the grounds of Glenarm Castle on the west side of the river. In the early 19th century this arrangement was radically altered when the old road was superseded by the new Coast Road and the new Glenarm Bridge, built in 1813 at the north end of the village, and the castle grounds were enclosed. This process, complete by the mid-1820s, appears to have brought about a gradual diminution in the street's status. It is perhaps telling that while a notable such as Lord Antrim's agent could be found living in Castle Street in the late 18th century, by the mid-1830s the agent had relocated to the south end of the newly widened and considerably grander Altmore Street.

No. 9 Castle Street is almost certainly the house of the same dimensions recorded in the 1859 valuation as a relatively old dwelling — possibly pre-1832 — occupied at that time by an Alistair G. Hewitt.