8 The Vennel, Glenarm, Ballymena, Co Antrim, BT44 0AN

8 The Vennel is a very small, plain two-storey stuccoed shop in Glenarm, Co Antrim, of possible pre-1859 construction. Evidence suggests it was once part of the larger house to the west (now number 6). The building does not meet statutory requirements for listing and is of very little architectural interest other than its streetscape value.

The property is set on the north side of The Vennel, with its front elevation facing roughly south in an asymmetrical arrangement. The ground floor features a relatively plain, recent-looking shop front with a large plate glass window and an adjacent partly glazed door to the left, with a recent painted signboard above. The first floor level has no openings. The front façade is finished in painted render. The rear elevation, viewed from a distance, appears to have a boarded up window at first floor level and is finished in recent-looking cement render with odd cracks carved into it, presumably to give the effect of 1970s random stone cladding. The gabled roof is slated, with a rendered chimneystack to the east and cast iron rainwater goods.

The Vennel was formerly the main road to Glenarm from Larne and the south before the Coast Road was built in the 1830s. Its name, derived from the archaic Scots word meaning 'a narrow winding lane', and its sloping topography reflect that it was the least attractive of the village's four main streets. Early leases from 1743 onwards refer to it as the 'Stinking Vennel' or 'Stinking Vennel Street' and mention 'waste tenements'. John O'Hara's map of 1779 shows many small densely packed dwellings along both sides of much of its length. During the following century and a half, most of this housing was replaced. The 1832 Ordnance Survey map shows a very large gap on the south side, annotations to the second valuation records show much rebuilding on the north side after 1859, and 1900s Ordnance Survey plans and photographic evidence show that most of the present south side appears to be early twentieth century.

This property and its neighbour to the west (number 6) may be the relatively old house with 'office' of similar dimensions recorded on this site in the 1859 valuation returns, occupied by Robert Dowey and James Brown. If so, they could be the only pre-1859 structures on this side of The Vennel. Both are shown on the 1903 Ordnance Survey town plan as separate properties. The building has housed a shop since at least the 1970s. The property is within a conservation area.