10-14 West Street, Carrickfergus, Co.Antrim, BT38 7AR

A plainly detailed but attractive four-bay three-storey Georgian terrace, built around 1810, located on the south side of West Street in Carrickfergus. The building is rectangular on plan and contains three ground-floor commercial units separated by a segmental-headed coach arch. Two pitched-roof two-storey returns extend to the rear, one on either side of the coach arch.

The roof is pitched natural slate with blue and black clay ridge tiles and corbelled eaves. Half-round cast-iron rainwater goods are supported on square cast-iron brackets. Three smooth rendered corbelled gable chimneystacks with terracotta pots sit atop the structure. The walls are ruled-and-lined rendered with raised stepped chamfered quoins.

Windows throughout are six-over-six timber sliding sashes with painted masonry cills, except for replacement timber casements to the rear. The principal elevation faces north and features an off-centre segmental-headed coach arch with a single shop front to the left and a double shop front to the right. Seven equally spaced windows occupy the first and second floors, with second-floor windows diminished in height. The coach arch has a straight quoin surround with keyblock detail and a cast-iron gate.

All traditional timber shop fronts follow a similar arrangement with leaded timber fascias, three glazed timber windows to the right and the principal entrance to the left, each with a transom light. The right shop entrance is recessed with a cast-iron gate to the street front. Both shop fronts to the right have tiled plinths below window level. The left gable is abutted by the adjacent number 8 West Street.

The rear elevation is smooth rendered. A two-storey return with pitched slated roof abuts to the right of the coach arch; another two-storey return with pitched slated roof abuts to the left. The exposed section has a single window at first floor directly above the coach arch and three windows at second floor, with a mid-level window to the left serving the stairs. The segmental-headed coach arch is smooth rendered with no surround detail. The right gable is abutted by number 16 West Street. The returns are smooth rendered and of no architectural interest, with replacement windows and doors throughout, many now boarded. The buildings open directly onto the street front and are enclosed to the rear by a further series of additions of little interest.

The original proportions of the street front façade have been largely retained with original material finishes and timber sliding sash windows. This is an important group representing the early commercial development of the town and contributes positively to the historic character of the Conservation Area. However, behind the front façade the buildings have been substantially altered, which detracts from their overall architectural interest.

Historical records show that buildings and an archway occupied this site by the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832. The town plan of Carrickfergus from 1860 also depicts the buildings and archway, though the layout of the yard spaces behind the street line differs from the current arrangement. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 records number 14 as a house, office and yard occupied by Fanny Allen and leased from James Stanus, valued at £8. Subsequent Valuation Revisions show occupiers William Adamson and James Logan, with no change to the property valuation. By the 1890s, James Logan was the occupier. Number 12 was recorded as a house, office and yard, vacant at the time of valuation, and valued at £10 10s. Valuation Revisions from the mid-1860s record Daniel McIntosh as occupier with James Stanus as lessor; Thomas Lockart is listed as occupier in the 1890s. Number 10 was recorded as a house, office and yard with John Thom as occupier, leased from Thomas Poag and valued at £9. Later Valuation Revisions show [?] Gillespie as occupier in 1869 and John Conway in the 1890s. Boyle's Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe West Street as one of the original streets but note that it appears to have been occupied by huts in 1550.