13 College Square West, Bessbrook, Co.Armagh

A two-storey, two-bay late-Victorian mill workers' terraced dwelling built of local Newry granodiorite around 1874. The architect is unknown, though the work may have been designed by civil engineer John Hardy. The building has an L-plan form facing northeast with a two-storey rear return.

The house is constructed of random-coursed rock-faced local stone with stepped red brick dressings to door and window jambs. Window and door openings are square-headed with gauged-brick arches. Stone cills are painted. The building forms part of a pair with its neighbour, the arrangement repeated along the entire terrace of 18 similar dwellings that make up the western side of College Square.

The principal northeast-facing elevation is near symmetrical. The ground floor contains a central panelled painted timber door with glazed upper half and fanlight above, flanked by single windows. The first floor has two windows in line with the ground floor openings, all being top-opening timber casements. The first-floor windows have stepped red brick surrounds with gauged brick arches and flush keystone details. Window details to the northwest side include flush red brick work beneath the cill.

The paired arrangement of dwellings is expressed externally through raised roof verges in red brick with clay tile coping, which rise to rectangular section chimneys at apex. Stepped red brick quoins flank each paired set, continued vertically down the front façade, with recessed downpipes running between them. The roof is pitched, covered with fibre cement tiles and roll-top black clay ridge tiles. The front chimney (to the northwest) is a rebuilt rectangular section of red brick with six buff clay pots. Eaves are flush with a double red brick course, single buff brick course, and alternating red and buff brick corbel course above.

Guttering is generally metal to the front northeast elevation and uPVC to the rear southwest; guttering is half-round, discharging to circular section downpipes. The front downpipe is recessed into the stepped red brick quoins.

The southwest elevation comprises a single reduced bay to the northwest with a top-opening timber casement window to the first floor and a similar window to the ground floor, both with stone cills. A two-storey flat-roofed return projects southeast into an enclosed L-shaped rear yard. This rear return has pebbledash rendered finish, a painted timber facia and felt-covered roof. Two timber casement windows are visible to the first floor on the northwest side with slim concrete cills; a wider opening is visible to ground level. Rear yard boundary walling is of random-coursed rock-faced local stone with a painted sheeted timber door to the southeast leading to the yard from a rear access route.

The building is attached to No. 12 College Square West to the southeast and to No. 14 College Square West to the northwest.

The house forms part of College Square, a formally designed late-Victorian square containing 53 dwellings in total, arranged on three sides around a central bowling green, playground and lawn. The eastern terrace comprises 23 similar dwellings, stepped in groups of six and terminating at its southeastern end with the village Town Hall (the old Institute building). The northern terrace is shorter, containing 12 larger two-storey buildings. The former school building is located at the southeast end of the western terrace.

Each dwelling has a modest front garden laid to lawn, enclosed by galvanized hooped metal railings with a similar foot gate on slim posts. A paved path leads from the gate to the front door. Rear yards are typically enclosed by random-coursed rubble stone walling with square-headed door openings onto wide rear access routes, though rear façades are generally much altered.

The central area of the square is divided into three sections of lawn. The northwest area has a bowling pavilion and green enclosed by painted hooped metal railings with established trees at its northwestern boundary. The southeast has a lawn similarly enclosed, and the centre contains an open children's playground with three granite monuments. One records the service of George Wright (Head Mason), John McClelland (Head Millwright), Michael Boyle (Flax Buyer) and others to Bessbrook firm for nearly 50 years. Another records a garden arranged by Mrs James N. Richardson in 1927 as a playground for Bessbrook children, with an inscription noting this was the last stone cut from Bessbrook quarry. A third monument, recently moved, details the mill's history from Pollock family ownership in 1760 to Bessbrook Spinning Co Ltd in 1878.