4 Mary St., Rostrevor, Co.Down

4 Mary Street, Rostrevor

A house of mixed dates, shown on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map. The building was recorded in the 1835 valuation as a 'new' house (grade 'A') belonging to Joseph White, a surgeon, with dimensions of 23½ feet by 30 by 20 feet, with a return of 10 by 7 by 11 feet, and a basement of 23½ by 30 by 7½ feet. The valuation makes no mention of a carriage arch to the west end of the building, which valuers typically recorded in order to subtract the space; it is therefore likely that this end is a subsequent addition. The original portion of the house may be part of the development shown along this part of Mary Street on James Williamson's 1810 county map.

The western end was added prior to 1861, as it is shown on the 1861 valuation town plan with the building recorded as measuring 13 yards by 10 by 2 storeys, with the gateway space amounting to 3 by 10 by 1, and outbuildings to the rear consisting of three sections of 6½ by 6 by 2, 4 by 6 by 1, and 8 by 5 by 1.

By 1861 the property was in the hands of Thomas Emerson and contained the local post office. An annotation in the 1835 valuation suggests the property may have contained a shop around 1839. The building is marked as a post office on the 1860 Ordnance Survey map, with Mr Emerson listed as a postmaster in an 1861 village directory. A photograph of circa 1870 shows that the post office was entered via a relatively narrow arched doorway just to the right of the carriage arch, suggesting the whole western section may have been purpose-built to accommodate the post office.

Mary Emerson is recorded as leaseholder and occupant in 1892. In the 1901 census, the 59-year-old Miss Emerson is recorded as occupying the house with her unmarried younger brother Robert James Emerson and a domestic servant, with the building noted as a 'first class' dwelling with 10 rooms in use. By this stage the property appears to have ceased to contain the local post office.

Subsequent occupants were Lucy Porter (1923), Peter Murphy (1928), J. Conolly (1956), Brigit Connolly (1958), and George Mahood from 1961 until at least 1972. During Mahood's tenancy the property is recorded as containing a shop, and the local post office once again prior to 1969. A projecting shop front was added sometime between 1950 and 1969, covering the access formerly used for the post office.

The building stands within a conservation area.