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

A relatively small, plain two-storey rendered terraced house of possible pre-1832 construction, with a somewhat urban vernacular appearance, situated on the north side of Castle Street in Glenarm.

The front elevation faces south and is asymmetrical. It is distinctive in that the door and windows are all relatively small in scale. To the centre of the ground floor is a low, wide timber front door. To its left is a four-over-four sash window, while to the right is a larger eight-over-eight sash window. At first-floor level there are three roughly evenly spaced four-over-four sash windows. The façade is finished in roughcast render with crude smooth render surrounds to the front openings, and the front elevation is painted. Plain chimneystacks sit at each end of the ridge: that to the west is in brick, while that to the east is rendered; each merges with the chimneystacks of the neighbouring houses. The roof is covered in natural slate, with cast iron rainwater goods to the front and a mixture of cast iron and PVC rainwater goods to the rear.

The rear elevation is more varied in character. To the centre of the ground floor is a plain timber sheeted door with a small square glazed pane. To its left is a window with a modern frame, and immediately to the right is a six-over-six sash window set at a slightly higher level, positioned to light the stairway. Further to the right is a fixed-light timber window set at a lower level. The entire ground floor level at the rear is sheltered by an open lean-to roof. At first-floor level, to the left is a tall, narrow plain sash window; to the centre is a small fixed-pane window; and to the far right is a further narrow window with a modern frame. At second-floor level there are two fixed windows: that to the left is now boarded over, while that to the right has a four-pane frame. The rear yard is enclosed by a high rendered wall.

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 at the western end. The street formed part of the main road from Larne, a route of possible medieval origin that wound northwards through The Vennel and over the bridge before curving towards what is now the Straidkilly Road. The earliest leases within the Antrim Papers relating to plots and buildings along the street date from 1711, though at least one building — the 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 since at least the 1750s, is thought to incorporate part of its ruins. The bridge at the west end of the street was erected in 1682, prior to which travellers forded the river; it was 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.

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 to the same extent as those visible on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832. Evidence from the 1859 valuation suggests that most of the buildings shown in 1832 are those standing today. O'Hara's map clearly indicates Castle Street's pre-eminence as part of the main route northwards 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 grounds around the castle were enclosed. This process, complete by the mid-1820s, appears to have led to a gradual diminution of the street's status: whereas 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 moved to the south end of the newly widened and considerably grander Altmore Street.

This house is undoubtedly the same dwelling recorded in the 1859 valuation — described as a relatively old, possibly pre-1832 building — as the property occupied by one Alistair G. Hewitt. Sufficient internal and external period character remains to merit listing.