6 College Square West, Bessbrook, Co.Armagh

A two-storey, two-bay late-Victorian mill workers' terraced dwelling built around 1874 in local stone to the designs of an unknown architect, though possibly by civil engineer John Hardy. The building is constructed in an L-plan form facing northeast, with a two-storey rear return added around 1987.

The house forms part of a terrace of 18 similar dwellings that comprise the western side of College Square, a formally designed late-Victorian square of 53 dwellings total arranged on three sides around a central bowling green and playground. The square is primarily accessed from Fountain Street to the southeast.

Construction and Materials

The building is constructed of randomly coursed, rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite with stepped red brick dressings to jambs and painted stone cills. Door and window openings are square-headed with gauged brick surrounds. The roof is pitched with fibre cement tiles and roll-top black clay ridge tiles. Dwellings are grouped into pairs along the terrace, each pair symmetrical with doors grouped to the centre flanked by single windows at ground floor level, all set between raised roof verges in red brick with clay tile coping that rise to rectangular section chimneys at apex level. The verge line continues vertically down each front northeast facade with stepped red brick quoins and recessed downpipes flanking each paired set of dwellings.

The chimney to the southeast is rectangular-section red and buff brick with recessed panels of buff brick, a raised corbel course of red and buff brick below a decorative chimney cap, and six pots. Flush eaves feature a double red brick course, a single buff brick course, and an alternating red and buff brick corbel course above. Metal rainwater goods front northeast with half-round guttering discharging to a circular section cast iron downpipe recessed into the stepped red brick quoins.

Principal Elevation

The front elevation faces northeast and is flush with the rest of the terrace. It displays near-symmetrical fenestration with two windows to first floor level in line with ground floor openings; all windows have top-opening uPVC casements. The ground floor features a stepped red brick surround and gauged brick arches with flush keystone detail to the head of the door. The window to the southeast side of the door has flush red brick detailing beneath the cill. A modest front garden is set to lawn and enclosed by hooped painted metal railings, with a similar foot gate hung on slim posts to the northwest. A paved path from the gate leads to a uPVC door with a square-headed fanlight above.

Rear and Side Elevations

The southeast elevation is attached to No. 5 College Square West. The rear elevation faces southwest and has a two-storey return to its northwest end projecting into an enclosed L-shaped concrete rear yard. The yard boundary walling is of randomly coursed rock-faced stone with a painted sheeted timber door leading from the rear access route. The southwest elevation retains original stone walling with a single uPVC top-opening casement window at first floor level in line with a similar window at ground floor level. The southeast end of the elevation is abutted by a monopitched outbuilding projecting to the southwest. The two-storey return has a smooth cement render finish and two uPVC casement windows to first floor facing southeast above a single three-part uPVC casement at ground floor. The only opening to the southwest side of the rear return is the uPVC back door at ground floor opening into the rear yard, with no openings visible to the northeast. The outbuilding, ground floor of the rear return, and internal face of the yard boundary walling all have painted smooth render finish. Generally uPVC rainwater goods to the rear return feature ogee guttering discharging to square section downpipes. To the northwest, the building is attached to No. 7 College Square West.

Setting

The building forms part of College Square, a planned arrangement of 53 mill workers' dwellings comprising a formal square composed of east, north, and west terraces arranged around a central bowling green, playground, and lawn. Each house is set back from the perimeter public road and footpath with a modest front yard typically enclosed by dwarf walling topped by hooped metal railings. Rear yards are typically enclosed by randomly coursed rubble stone walling with square-headed door openings onto a wide rear access route. The terrace to the east comprises 23 dwellings in similar style with some significant differences in detailing, stepped in groups of six respecting subtle site relief and terminating at its southeastern end with the village Town Hall (the old Institute building). The northern terrace is the shortest, only 12 houses wide, though composed of distinctly larger two-storey buildings similar in style to other terrace dwellings. The former school building is located at the southeast end of the western terrace.

The central area of the square is now divided into three sections each laid to lawn. The area to the northwest has a bowling pavilion and green enclosed by painted hooped metal railings with established trees at its northwest boundary. A lawn enclosed by hooped metal railings is located to the southeast, and an open children's playground containing three granite monuments is located in the centre of the square. One monument records: "Erected A.D. 1911 in respectful memory of George Wright, Head Mason. John McClelland, Head Millwright. Michael Boyle, Flax Buyer. Who each faithfully served the Bessbrook firm for nearly 50 years. Also Robert Ross, Mill Manager. Austin Kennedy, Rougher". Another records "The garden in memory of James N. Richardson is arranged by his wife as a playground for the children of Bessbrook whom he loved November 1927", with an inscription on the opposite side noting this was the last stone cut from Bessbrook quarry. A third monument, recently moved from the grounds of Bessbrook Mill, details the mill's history from its ownership by the Pollock family in 1760 to Bessbrook Spinning Company Limited in 1878.