12 St Peter Street, Warrenpoint, Newry, Co Down, BT34 5AR

12 St Peter Street, Warrenpoint

This imposing house stands on a prominent corner site at the junction of St Peter Street and Great George's Street South, retaining much of its original architectural detailing. Built between 1840 and 1859, the three-storey building with semi-basement demonstrates considerable architectural quality through its symmetry, proportion, ornamentation, and distinctive plan form, which accommodates external balance while giving prominence to the raised ground floor.

The house is constructed with cement wet-dashed walls and unpainted render, with smooth rendered narrow architraves to all openings. It is roofed in natural slate with roll-top blue clay ridge tiles and a rendered concrete coped chimney at the centre of the ridge. Slightly advanced smooth rendered eaves course supports half-round plastic rainwater goods.

The front elevation, facing south-east onto Great George's Street South, is a single bay wide. At basement level is a large Georgian glazed modern casement window within a wide opening. The ground floor contains a tall 3/3 margin-paned sash window (vertically divided) flanked by similar but lower and narrower 1/1 margin-paned sashes. The first floor is distinguished by a pair of 6/6 Gothic-headed sliding sashes with Y-tracery to their heads. At second floor, just below eaves level, sits a small 4/4 sash window. A small paved area at this elevation is enclosed by a painted granite dwarf wall, with the right end retaining original railings featuring moulded bars and foliated finials; the queen post has a moulded base and large foliated finial.

The principal elevation facing north-east onto St Peter Street is symmetrical, with the front door at its centre. The entrance is accessed by a flight of granite block steps—eight to each side—set within a front wall that is smooth rendered and painted. The steps are enclosed by plain (square-section) railings rising to interlock in Y-tracery at a thin metal handrail; several are damaged or missing. The front door itself has a Gothic head set within a slightly splayed opening, with six raised and fielded lower panels and glazed top panes of modern obscure glass curving to match the Gothic head. Original brass letter box, knocker, and knob remain. To the left and right of the main entrance are tall 6/6 sliding sash windows without horns, with painted cills. The first floor contains three similar 6/6 windows aligned with the ground floor openings. A small 4/4 sash window sits at second floor centre, just below eaves level. There are no basement openings on this elevation. At ground floor right, the wall continues above cill level of the first floor windows, forming the left cheek of the rear return, dashed as the main elevation, with a single 6/6 sash window set left of centre.

The rear elevation fronts onto a small yard at true basement level and is abutted to basement and ground floor levels at the left by the rear return. The remaining wall is cement-dashed with smooth advanced eaves course and smooth architraves. At basement right is a smooth rendered and painted 8/2 sliding sash window with painted granite cill. The ground floor right contains a similar 8/8 sash window. First floor right has a 6/6 sash window, while first floor left (over the return) has a small modern casement window with concrete cill. At second floor centre is a 6/3 sash. The rear is abutted by a large plastic soil pipe with various drainage pipes.

The rear return has a mono-pitched natural slate roof sloping into the yard, with its end gable abutted by a garage. Its right cheek is smooth rendered to basement level with a 6/6 sliding sash window to the left and a broad tongue-and-groove sheeted door to the right; the glazed transom light is boarded over. The ground floor is dashed and blank.

The left elevation of the house is partially abutted by the adjacent building at 12 Great George's Street South. The remainder is dashed and blank.

The building does not appear on the 1834 Valuation town map but first appears on the 1861 Ordnance Survey town map. It is described in the 1863 Valuation book as measuring 11 yards by 6.75 yards by 3 storeys with basement and a 5-yard by 3-yard return, almost certainly referring to the house that stands on this site today.

The listing extends to the house, front wall and railings, and entrance steps and railings. The setting is of local interest, and while some alterations detract from the building and the interior quality and survival merit attention, the overall architectural value derives from its style, proportion, ornamentation, and distinctive plan form.