26-28 The Vennel, Glenarm, Ballymena, Co Antrim, BT44 0AN

26-28 The Vennel is a two-storey terrace house and shop, possibly dating from around 1860, located at the east end of the terrace on the north side of The Vennel in Glenarm. The building was substantially renovated in the late 1990s and now features an unusual lumpy render to the front elevation. The shop has been internally integrated with the house, though sufficient original character remains to justify its listed status.

The front elevation faces roughly south and is asymmetrical in composition. At ground floor, a timber-sheeted door with a plain rectangular fanlight sits roughly at the centre. To the left is a large shopfront incorporating a timber-sheeted door on its right side (with a brick-pattern fanlight) and a large four-pane fixed shop window to the left. To the right of the central entrance door is a further door, now appearing blocked. At the far right is a 6/6 sash window. The first floor contains three evenly spaced sash windows of the same pattern as the ground floor far right window. The east gable is blank, with a narrow sloping laneway running alongside it. The rear north elevation is roughly symmetrical, featuring a timber-sheeted door to the centre flanked by a 6/6 sash window on either side. The first floor has three further similar windows. A large modern-looking single-storey outbuilding stands to the rear with a patio area to its flat roof.

The façade is finished in lumpy render, apparently intended to appear traditional in character. Most of the openings feature small crudely moulded keystones. The gabled roof is slated with plain rendered chimneystacks at the east and west ends of the ridges. Cast iron rainwater goods run to both front and rear.

The building replaced an earlier two-storey house that stood slightly further south, jutting beyond the line of the present terrace. Documentary evidence from 1859 shows the building was constructed after that date. Photographic evidence from the very early 1900s, approximately 1910, shows the shop was then in possession of Hugh McEvoy.

The Vennel itself has considerable historical significance. Prior to the building of the Coast Road in the 1830s, it served as the main road to Glenarm from Larne and the south. The name, derived from the archaic Scots word meaning a narrow winding lane, and its sloping topography reflect its character as 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, repeatedly mentioning waste tenements. John O'Hara's map of 1779 shows many small densely packed dwellings along both sides of much of its length. Most of this housing was subsequently replaced during the next century and a half. The 1832 Ordnance Survey map shows a very large gap on the south side, annotations to the second valuation records indicate much post-1859 rebuilding on the north side, and early 1900s Ordnance Survey plans and photographic evidence show that most of the present south side appears to be early twentieth century in date.

The building is located within a conservation area.