4 Deramore (Derrymore) Terrace, Bessbrook, Co.Armagh

4 Deramore (Derrymore) Terrace, Bessbrook, County Armagh

A modest two-storey, two-bay late Victorian terraced house built in approximately 1892, forming part of a planned row of ten similar dwellings known as Deramore Terrace — also referred to locally as Richardson's Terrace — on the northeast side of Derrymore Road, roughly half a mile southeast of Bessbrook village centre. The house was originally built as accommodation for workers of the nearby Bessbrook Mill, and the listing extends to the house itself, its railings and gate.

Historical Background

The development of industry at Bessbrook dates from 1761, when the first woollen mill and bleach green were opened by a Mr John Pollock. The settlement was originally known simply as "The Green" but was renamed Bessbrook in reference to Pollock's wife Elizabeth (Bess) and the nearby Camlough River (the "Brook"). By the 1830s, as recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map, very few buildings had been erected at Bessbrook; the only significant structures shown were Mount Caulfield House (the residence of the Nicholson family) and a number of thread manufactories and bleach mills.

The village of Bessbrook was effectively founded in 1845 when John Grubb Richardson (1813–1891), a linen merchant from Lambeg and a member of the Religious Society of Friends, purchased one of the derelict mills on the site and began building housing for his factory workers nearby. In his own words, Richardson "had a great aversion to be responsible for a factory population in a large town, so on looking around, fixed upon a place near Newry… with water power and a thick population around, and in a country district where flax was cultivated in considerable quantities." Richardson's layout of the village was influenced by the work of William Penn, the American Quaker responsible for the planning and development of Philadelphia in the late 17th century. Richardson's philanthropic approach led him to bring the poor, the unqualified and beggars from the surrounding countryside to work and live at Bessbrook, in the hope of improving their circumstances. He provided recreational and educational facilities at the Institute, well-stocked shops at nos 1–5 Charlemont Square East, and had milk, tea and cocoa distributed to his mill workers.

Bessbrook is widely known as a village without the "Three P's" — Richardson stipulated there would be no public house and no pawn shop in the settlement, and therefore no need for police to be stationed there. The majority of the population voted to preserve this ordinance in the 1870s, and to this day there remains no public house at Bessbrook. Police were not stationed at the village until the turn of the 20th century.

Development of the village was carried out in phases, beginning with the laying out of Fountain Street in the 1840s. Richardson became the sole owner of the Bessbrook Spinning Company in 1863 following the purchase of his brother's shares. The local linen industry experienced a significant boom during the American Civil War (1861–65), when access to American cotton was cut off, and Richardson greatly enlarged his factory and workforce to take advantage of this. Lord Charlemont sold the remainder of the Camlough Estate to Richardson in 1865, making Richardson both the principal employer and the main landowner at Bessbrook. Charlemont Square was laid out between 1862 and 1866 to house the influx of new workers; between 1861 and 1871 the population of Bessbrook rose from 637 to 2,215, and the number of houses rose from 73 to 296. By the turn of the 20th century the population stood at approximately 4,000.

The Annual Revisions record that nos 1–10 Deramore Terrace (Richardson's Terrace) were constructed in 1892 and leased out to tenants by the Richardson estate. A First Survey record from 1969 suggests that Deramore Terrace was constructed specifically for elderly residents, though Census of Ireland records from the turn of the 20th century show that the majority of early tenants were under the age of 50 or remained employed by the Bessbrook Spinning Company. No. 4 was initially leased to a Mr George Henning, described in the 1901 Census as a farm labourer aged 54. The census building return at that time described No. 4 as a second-class dwelling consisting of five rooms with a shed as its sole outbuilding, and the house was valued at £4 by the Annual Revisions. Ownership of the terrace passed from the Richardson estate to the Trustees of the neighbouring Friends Meeting House in 1900, with William Davies — a local magistrate and Richardson's land agent — acting as secretary. The terrace was renamed Richardson's Terrace in 1901 following this change in ownership.

The house was first recorded on the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1906, which depicted the building in its current layout but without the present rear return. By the time of the Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956–72), ownership had reverted to the Bessbrook Spinning Company; the rateable value was increased to £8 and 10 shillings, and the house was occupied by a Mrs Janet Hare. The mill continued to expand through the 20th century, gaining international recognition, and during the Second World War its workers were tasked with producing cloth for military uniforms. The Bessbrook Spinning Company retained ownership of housing in Bessbrook until the 1960s, when the post-war downturn in the local textile market led to the sale of properties to private individuals and firms, foreshadowing the closure of the mill in 1972. Deramore Terrace was listed in 1985. An extensive renovation of No. 4 was carried out in approximately 1994, which included the construction of the current two-storey rear return.

This terrace is contemporary with other English model villages, most notably Port Sunlight (begun 1888) and Bournville (begun 1895), settlements which subsequently went on to contribute to town and country planning all over the world.

Architecture

The architect of the terrace is unknown, though the majority of housing in Bessbrook was built by masons and joiners employed by the Bessbrook Spinning Company. The building is constructed of randomly coursed, rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite — a high-quality granite quarried locally on the former Charlemont Estate, which was also used in the construction of Manchester Town Hall and the great steps of St George's Hall in Liverpool. Dressings to door and window jambs are of stepped red brick, with square-headed gauged-brick openings throughout.

The roof is pitched and covered with natural slate, finished with angled black clay ridge tiles. Eaves are flush, with separate red and buff brick eaves courses and an alternating red and buff brick corbel course above. Two rectangular-section red brick chimneys rise from the roofline: the northwest chimney has been rebuilt in rustic brick and carries three buff clay pots; the southeast chimney retains one terracotta pot and three buff clay pots. Original cast iron half-round guttering is retained to the front elevation; uPVC rainwater goods serve the rear, with half-round guttering discharging to circular-section downpipes.

Principal (Southwest) Elevation

The front elevation faces southwest and is flush with the rest of the terrace. It is near-symmetrical, with a regular fenestration pattern: two windows at first floor level aligned above the ground floor openings. All windows are double-hung sliding timber sashes with horns and margin panes. At ground floor level there is a window to the northwest side of the door. The entrance is a painted sheeted timber door with black iron furniture and a square-headed fanlight above, reached by a path of quarry tiles from the street gate. The modest gravelled front yard is enclosed by dwarf stone walling topped by vertical painted metal railings with pointed finials. A matching foot gate is hung on circular-section cast iron posts to the southeast.

Northwest Elevation

The building is attached to No. 3 Deramore Terrace on this side.

Northeast (Rear) Elevation

The rear elevation faces northeast and consists of stone walling. At ground floor level to the northwest there is a top-opening casement window, with a smaller window above at first floor level. A two-storey pitched-roof rear return, added in approximately 1994, projects northeast from the southeast end of the elevation into an enclosed L-shaped concrete yard. The rear access door is a flush painted timber door with a glazed top half and a top-opening casement window to the northwest side. Steps of concrete, orientated northwest to southeast and located to the northeast of the rear return, lead up to this raised back door at the southeast end of the elevation. The rear return has a double top-opening timber casement window at first floor level, aligned above the door. The rear return is finished in smooth cement render throughout, with top-opening timber casement windows. The yard is a single reduced bay in width at its northwest extent. A painted smooth cement-rendered boundary wall encloses the rear, with a modern painted metal foot gate at the northwest leading to the shared rear access route.

Southeast Elevation

The building is attached to No. 5 Deramore Terrace on this side.

Setting

No. 4 forms part of a planned row of ten mill workers' dwellings set back from Derrymore Road, a main approach to Bessbrook village. Each house is set back from the footpath behind a modest front yard typically enclosed by dwarf stone walling topped by metal railings. Rear yards are typically enclosed by randomly coursed rubble stone walling with a square-headed door opening onto a wide shared rear access route running northwest to southeast, accessible from both ends of the terrace. To the northeast of this shared route, each dwelling has a rear garden, many of which now contain later outbuildings. No. 4 has a rectangular-plan painted corrugated metal outbuilding to the gravelled back garden to the northeast of the rear access route. Rear facades and rear yard boundary walls are now generally much altered across the terrace as a whole.

The terrace overlooks parkland associated with Derrymore House to the southwest, where stone walling lines the roadside and mature trees form the boundary. The row has group value with its nine neighbouring houses, and is significant as part of an early planned mill village, comparable in character to the historic buildings found in the Bessbrook Squares nearby.