6-8 Mill Street, Ballymena, Co Antrim, BT43 5AE

A three storey gabled terrace building of probable pre-1830 construction, located on the west side of Mill Street in Ballymena. The building contains a shop at ground floor level with offices above, and sits within a conservation area.

The front elevation, which faces east north-east, is asymmetrical in composition. At ground floor level, a modern timber-panelled door with a plain fanlight occupies the left side. To the right is a modern asymmetric shop front with the entrance door positioned left of centre, flanked by plain display windows that are chamfered inwards to create a recessed doorway; the right-hand window is larger than the left. The shop door is plain and almost fully glazed. Above the shop front is a horizontal box containing a retracted metal roller shutter, topped by a flat plastic signboard, with a small internally illuminated projecting plastic sign to the right. The first and second floor levels each contain three evenly spaced plain sash windows with moulded cement surrounds. An ogee cast iron gutter rests on an eaves course. The front façade is finished in plain render.

To the rear (west) façade, a large modern two storey gabled return almost entirely covers the ground and first floors. The return has two modern windows at ground floor and two at first floor level to its gable end. On the south face of the return is a doorway at ground floor with a large security shutter hood, and a single modern window at first floor. The second floor of the main building's rear façade has two small windows with modern frames and slim sills. Both the return and the main building's rear façade are finished in unpainted rough cast. The roofs are covered with asbestos slate. A large sandstone chimney stack to the north is presumably shared with adjoining properties.

Documentary evidence suggests the building may date from before 1830. The 1859 valuation plan shows a single property on the site containing a house and offices in the ownership of Archibald Taylor, though the discrepancy in first floor window sill levels between this building and its immediate southern neighbour indicates they were originally separate buildings brought under single ownership. Later maps show them as two distinct properties, a configuration confirmed by a photograph of around 1900 which shows both possessed shop fronts at that stage.

The property underwent major renovation in 1985, during which the façade was re-rendered, mouldings were added to the first and second floor windows, and the roof covering was renewed with asbestos slate. The modern return appears to have been added at this time, replacing an earlier return that had a substantially larger footprint.