73 Hill Street, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1DG

73 Hill Street, Newry

A four-storey rendered building with attic, occupying the left portion of a larger classical composition on the east side of Hill Street. The building retains its elegant character and forms an impressive element within this section of the street.

The structure is five openings wide across its facade, housing two properties (numbers 71 and 73). The pitched natural slate roof is punctuated by large chimney stacks at each gable, with a parapet gutter and metal downpipes serving the facade. The upper floors are rendered and painted.

The ground floor features six fluted tapering Doric demi-columns resting on squared plinths, separating three doorways and two shop windows. A painted timber fascia board with moulded cornice, supported by the columns, runs the full length of this level. At the centre is a plaque reading: "Nos.71-73 Hill St / Site of the former Theatre Royal, / open 1783 / 1144-1994".

The right-hand doorway (leading to the upper floors of number 73) has two granite steps and a pair of two-panelled doors. The adjacent shop window to the left is two-paned with mullion division, infilled transoms, and a roller shutter box. To its right, accessed by two granite steps, is a four-panelled timber door with transom above, serving the upper floors. A projecting plastic sign is fixed over this transom. The left shop front (number 75) is similarly detailed. Its front door, which appears to have been lowered, is four-panelled with two plain glass transom lights; a single-pane window with roller shutter box is set below the fascia.

Above the ground floor, separating each opening are pilasters rising to parapet level. Each rests on a moulded plinth and terminates with a moulded abacus and ornate Grecian-style capital.

The first floor contains five equally spaced 6/6 sliding sash windows without horns, each with deeply moulded architraves, Greek-key frieze, and moulded cornice. Their cills sit on the plinth above the fascia.

The second floor has five window openings of diminishing height. The windows are 6/6 sliding sash (except the first and second from the left, which are 1/1), without horns, with deeply moulded architraves and plain render cills meeting the flanking pilasters. The pilasters terminate in Grecian capitals at second-floor window head level. Above these capitals rests a fascia of three broad smooth render bands, which step outward as they rise.

The third floor contains five equally spaced 3/3 sliding sash windows without horns, aligned with openings below. Between these, in line with the pilasters, are raised piers each with an instepped panel, rising to parapet level and topped with decorative semicircular antefixae with open anthemion to the centre. Between the window heads and the parapet is a series of raised render bands supporting a projecting overhanging cornice that projects over each pier.

The right elevation is abutted by a neighbouring property to second-floor level; the remaining wall is line-rendered with a banded chimney to the gable and a single 3/3 sliding sash window to the third floor (front side). The left elevation is similar but features two windows and has recent lined cement render.

Historical Context

This site was originally the Theatre Royal, erected in 1783 as Newry's first purpose-built theatre. The building continued in theatrical use until 1832. The 1835 Ordnance Survey map shows two houses at the location, valued at £54 and £58 in the 1838 valuation. The present interior layout suggests a complete rebuild rather than a simple refurbishment of the theatre structure. The current owner notes that this block is locally known as "The New Buildings" and claims it was the first in the town to be built entirely of brick—a detail that may better align the construction with the mid-19th century rather than the late 18th century. The 1853 town map portrayal shows the building in substantially its present form, though the ground-floor street frontage underwent subsequent modification. Both properties were recorded as four and one-third storeys in the 1863 valuation. Number 71 was converted to a shop around 1914.

The building sits within a conservation area.