18-22 Stream Street, Downpatrick, Co Down, BT30 6DD

18-22 Stream Street, Downpatrick

A three-storey stone-faced terrace block dating from approximately 1790-1800, originally containing three separate dwelling houses. The block has been internally amalgamated and converted in 1990 to serve as a church hall with offices for the neighbouring Non-subscribing Presbyterian church. It is sited on the sloping east side of Stream Street and has group value with adjacent buildings.

The front façade faces west. Each of the three former houses retains identically arranged openings. At ground floor level, each doorway is constructed of timber with a four-pane rectangular fanlight above and brick dressings. To the right of each doorway is a sash window with Georgian panes (6/6). The first floor has two similar sash windows per unit, while the second floor has two shorter windows (3/6). Stone steps lead up to the central and southern doorways. The southern gable end of the block is blank. All front openings are dressed with brick.

The rear elevation has been substantially altered in recent years. The ground floor to the rear is almost basement-like, as the graveyard surrounding the adjacent church creates a rising ground level. The rear façade is rendered, with timber-sheeted doors and small modern-framed windows serving what were the central and southernmost houses. Both these former dwellings have small four-pane fixed-light windows at first and second floor levels. The northernmost former dwelling's ground floor is now obscured by two modern metal walkways spanning across its enclosed yard. These provide access to doorways inserted at first and second floor level, flanked by a small fixed-light window at second floor.

The façade is largely finished in rubble with sandstone quoins. Each former property retains its enclosed yard, bounded to north and south by high rubble walls with retaining walls to the east. The gabled roof is slated with two brick chimney stacks and metal rainwater goods.

The building's history is documented from the town plans of the early 18th century. Following construction of the Non-subscribing Presbyterian church to the south around 1710-11, this stretch of Stream Street was developed. Dwelling plots are marked on the 1720 plan, with houses recorded as erected by 1729. The present terrace appears on the 1838 valuation map, where the properties are recorded as exempt. All three dwellings remained occupied until the 1980s, before conversion to its current use in 1990.