165 South Promenade ('Widows' Row'), Newcastle, Ballaghbeg, Co Down, BT33 0HA

165 South Promenade ('Widows' Row'), Newcastle

A small, picturesque two-storey house forming part of a terrace of 12 dwellings built in 1843. The terrace, situated on the south-west side of South Promenade at the southern extremity of Newcastle, was erected for the families of local fishermen who perished in a fierce storm off the coast in January 1843. In all, 46 Newcastle men were drowned, leaving behind 27 widows, 118 orphans and 21 dependants. An appeal, supplemented by a substantial donation from the trustees of the Annesley Estate, raised sufficient funds to construct these 12 small houses, subsequently known as 'Widows' Row'.

Number 165 is positioned near the north-west end of the terrace. The front, north-east facing façade features a modern flat-roofed porch with PVC glazing on the ground floor to the right. To the left stands a multi-paned 'vernacular Georgian' window, its top-hung opening suggesting modern replacement. The first floor left contains a similar window set within a gabled half-dormer. The front façade is finished in rough-cast render and painted. A modern two-storey flat-roofed extension obscures the original rear wall, rising above eaves level. The gabled roof, with overhang and natural slate covering, displays exposed rafter ends. A single rendered chimney stack, shared with the neighbouring property to the south, rises from the roof. Rainwater goods comprise a mixture of cast iron and PVC elements. A low rough-cast rendered wall encloses a small garden to the front.

Although substantially altered to the rear, the terrace as a whole retains significant original character and detailing, including the gabled half-dormers to each dwelling, vernacular Georgian multi-paned windows, and the low stone boundary walls enclosing individual front gardens. Each house originally consisted of two rooms, one to each floor, but in recent years most properties have been greatly enlarged with modern two-storey extensions added to the rear. The extent of listing includes the house and boundary wall to the front.