36 Bridge St., Rostrevor, Co.Down

36 Bridge Street, Rostrevor

This Grade B2 listed building is a two-storey terraced house located within Rostrevor conservation area in County Down. The property is privately owned and currently used as a residential dwelling.

The site was developed by 1834, as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of that year. The 1835-36 valuation book suggests the original building was "not new" at that time and was split into two separate properties, one occupying each floor. The ground level was occupied by Thomas Gribbon, while the upper storey belonged to the neighbouring house to the southeast (number 38), which was in the hands of Alexander Donaldson. Both sections measured 12½ by 21 by 6 feet.

Around 1839, the neighbouring house appears to have been rebuilt, and this building became a single dwelling, likely returning to its original configuration. By 1861, it was occupied by William Colgan, who leased it from Bernard Feran, with a rateable value of £3-10-0. The valuation book recorded dimensions of 4½ yards by 7 by 2 feet.

In 1874, the property underwent either substantial refurbishment or complete rebuilding. The rateable value rose from £3-10-0 to £5-15-0, a rise reflected across this building and three similar neighbouring dwellings to the immediate northwest (numbers 30-34). The overall uniformity of these properties, including details such as bevelled window reveals, suggests the latter—that all four were rebuilt at this time.

Subsequent occupants included John Mahon from 1879, Walter Hannon from 1881, Philip Coalter from 1898, Minnie Doyle from 1900, Ellen Murphy from 1902, Stephen Woods from 1909, Bessie Fearon from 1911, George Fearon from 1919, and Mary Sloan from 1936 onwards, who remained resident into 1972.

Bridge Street itself originated as part of the road from Kilkeel, connecting to the original roads to Rathfriland and Newry. Oliver Sloane's 1739 County Down map shows Rostrevor's settlement comprised solely of buildings along the northeastern side of the road, suggesting this side of Bridge Street marks the village's earliest development. Two-sided development appears by an estate map of 1767 and Williamson's 1810 county map, reaching its present extent by 1834. The street was known as "Post Office Street" in the 1830s, became "Old Post Office Street" by 1861, and acquired the name "Bridge Street" around 1894. The 1836 Ordnance Survey Memoirs describe it as leading from the centre of the main street in a southeasterly direction to Rostrevor's bridge, measuring 155 yards long, 95 feet broad at its widest northern and western end and 25 feet at its narrowest section near the bridge. The houses are noted as two-storey, well-maintained structures used as shops with furnished lodgings for visitors.