9 The Square, Rostrevor, Co.Down

This is a Grade B listed building of early 19th-century origin, now in mixed commercial and residential use.

The building appears to date from around 1800–10, based on details of its doorway and tripartite window. By 1835, when it first appears in valuation records, it was already established as a substantial house in single occupation, belonging to Matthew Wright, agent to Mr. Ross. The original building comprised a front room over a gate (10 x 14 x 9½ feet), main residential spaces (27 x 28 x 19½ feet), offices of 24 x 7½ x 10½ feet and 31 x 17½ x 12 feet, and a writing office (21 x 13 x 16 feet) used as a dwelling.

In 1835 the building featured an open carriage access where the shop window now stands to the right (west). This arrangement persisted through the mid-19th century, recorded in 1861 as a vacant private dwelling. The lease was acquired by Robert A. Jones in 1867, passing to Sarah Jane Jones in 1891 and then to Sarah J. Gilcriest. By 1901, Mrs. Gilcriest, a 60-year-old widow, was living here with four unmarried shop workers employed in the 'Fancy Bizarre' establishment. Whether this shop operated from the premises at that time remains uncertain, but the residence of all workers here suggests it may have.

The building was first formally recorded as containing a shop in 1906, when the lease passed to Jane Armstrong and the rateable value rose from £22 to £30. The carriage access was likely infilled around this date to provide additional retail space. By 1911, Miss Armstrong, an unmarried 40-year-old merchant, occupied the building as a second-class shop and private dwelling with seven rooms in use, supported by a shop assistant, apprentice, and domestic servant.

Between 1929 and 1936, the retail area was divided into two units. Edith Flanagan and Ellen Funston (the 1911 shop assistant) operated one unit, James F. Sherwood the other, with Sarah Logan residing in the upper floor quarters. From 1952 onwards, Mr. Sherwood occupied both retail areas until at least 1975, while Miss Logan remained in the living quarters until 1967. Thereafter the upper floor was listed as vacant in valuations.

Sometime after 1967 but before 2008, the shop was subdivided into two separate units again, with the former living quarters converted to office space.

The building stands within The Square, a street established in the 1760s as part of the development of Rostrevor under Wills Hill (later 1st Marquis of Downshire). The broad thoroughfare was designed partly as a marketplace; in April 1769, Robert Ross, Rostrevor's landlord, obtained a patent to hold weekly markets and quarterly fairs here. The street achieved its present form by 1834, with the parish church (completed 1821) closing the vista at its north-east end. The building is located within a conservation area.