The Drapers Arms, 2/4 High Street, Moneymore, Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, BT45 7PD

The Drapers Arms, 2/4 High Street

This is an early 19th-century inn in Georgian style, designed by Jesse Gibson as part of an architectural terrace composition fronting onto High Street in Moneymore. The building forms part of a fine group that includes the old market house and the doctor's residence and dispensary, maintaining a strong and unified building line.

The main façade to High Street is four bays wide and rises two storeys, with a distinctive projecting porch featuring two Tuscan-style columns resting on low side walls and supported by respond plain pilasters that carry an entablature with cornice. The steps ascending to the landing allow the columns to sit at an elevated height. Access to the porch is flanked by a small shopfront to the north (comprising a six-pane display window with plastered and painted panel beneath the sill, a four-panelled entrance door with glazed upper panes and a plain fanlight) and two twelve-pane double-hung sliding sash windows to the south. The first floor contains four twelve-pane double-hung sliding sash windows centred above the ground-floor openings, with a plain stringcourse running between the storeys. Between these windows are square moulded advertising panels bearing painted symbols. The wall is smooth rendered and painted, with a stepped plinth, a half-round metal gutter, and a natural slated roof with two chimney stacks, one placed off-centre on the gable.

To the north of the porch, a gateway provides access to the former market yard, stables and stalls. The gateway structure is topped by a first-floor element set slightly back, which contains a single twelve-pane double-hung sliding sash window.

The south elevation to Stonard Street is rendered and unpainted, with three windows arranged off-centre and vertically overlapping. The back return extends to three storeys (due to a fall in ground level) and displays an irregular arrangement of windows. The rear elevation of the main block, partially obscured by the return fronting Stonard Street, exposes three bays with twelve-pane double-hung sliding sash windows (two at ground floor, three at first floor), a back door with external steps, and steel external fire escape stairs with windows converted to doors providing access to them. All rendered walls on this side are unpainted and slated.

The basement extends beneath the ground floor. A former market yard is enclosed to the rear by the back return, lean-to sheds and stores on the other two sides, with a lower yard also enclosed by stores and accessed via a gateway to Stonard Street. Part of the extended back return serves as a dwelling house. The rear outbuildings, whilst not contributing to the architectural merit of the main building, preserve the character of an old market yard.

The Drapers Arms was commissioned by the Drapers Company's Deputation in 1818, with Jesse Gibson appointed as architect. The joinery was executed in London to serve as a model for local craftsmen. George Bridger served as the builder. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe it as "a pretty stone-finished building" with good accommodation and comfortable interior arrangement. The building underwent renovation in the 1870s under surveyor W.J. Booth, with new fireplaces and upgraded outbuildings. The property eventually ceased operating as a hotel when the Company decided to sell its estate, subsequently becoming a public house. The shopfront was formerly a petrol station.

The building's architectural and historical interest lies in its proportions, Georgian styling, design authorship, and significant group value within the terrace. Its social and cultural importance reflects its role in providing hospitality as part of the Drapers' enterprise. However, the interior has lost all its original features, and the façade has been disfigured by a brash colour scheme and signage. The building is situated within a conservation area.