5 Deramore (Derrymore) Terrace, Bessbrook, Co.Armagh

No. 5 Deramore Terrace is a modest two-storey, two-bay late-Victorian terraced house built in around 1892 to designs by an unknown architect. It is constructed of locally quarried Newry Granodiorite — a high-quality granite also used to build Manchester Town Hall and the great steps of St George's Hall in Liverpool — and forms one of a row of ten similar houses known both as Deramore Terrace and, from 1901 onwards, as Richardson's Terrace. The house is listed together with its railings and gate.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION

The house faces southwest and is of L-plan form, with a two-storey rear return added around 1995. The walling is generally random-coursed, rock-faced Newry Granodiorite with stepped red brick dressings to the jambs and square-headed gauged-brick door and window openings. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with angled black clay ridge tiles. There are two rectangular-section red brick chimneys — one to the northwest (rebuilt in rustic brick, with four buff clay pots) and one to the southeast — both of similar design. The eaves are flush, with separate red and buff brick eaves courses and an alternating red and buff brick corbel course above. Cast iron rainwater goods are fitted to the front, comprising half-round guttering discharging to a circular-section downpipe; uPVC rainwater goods have been fitted to the rear.

The principal southwest-facing front elevation is flush with the rest of the terrace and is near-symmetrical, with a regular fenestration pattern: two windows at first-floor level are positioned in line with the ground-floor openings. All windows are replacement double-hung 1/1 sliding timber sash with horns. At ground-floor level there is a window to the northwest side of the door. The entrance is a painted sheeted timber door with brass furniture and a square-headed fanlight above. A path of quarry tiles leads from the front gate to the door. The modest front yard is laid to lawn and enclosed by dwarf stone walling topped by vertical painted metal railings with pointed finials; a matching foot gate is hung on circular-section cast iron posts to the southeast.

To the northwest, the building is attached to No. 4 Deramore Terrace, and to the southeast it is attached to No. 6 Deramore Terrace.

The rear northeast elevation consists of stone walling with a top-opening timber casement window at ground-floor level and a similar window above at first-floor level, both facing into a narrow concrete yard. A two-storey rendered pitched-roof rear return projects to the northeast from the southeast end of this elevation, up to the boundary with a shared rear access route. The rear return has a three-part timber casement window at ground-floor level and a similar window in line at first-floor level. A set of concrete steps leads from the rear access route to a raised narrow concrete yard, orientated northeast–southwest. A uPVC door is positioned on the northwest side of the rear return, with a window beside it and a further matching window directly above at first-floor level.

SETTING

The house is part of a planned row of ten mill workers' dwellings set on the northeast side of Derrymore Road, a main approach road leading to Bessbrook village. Each house is set back from the footpath behind a modest front yard typically enclosed by dwarf stone walling topped by metal railings. To the rear, each dwelling's yard is typically enclosed by random-coursed rubble stone walling, with a square-headed door opening onto a wide shared rear access route running northwest–southeast and accessible from both ends of the terrace. The rear facades and rear yard boundary walls are now generally much altered. To the northeast of the shared access route, each dwelling has a rear garden, many of which contain later outbuildings; No. 5 has a rectangular-plan rendered garage in a back garden set to lawn. The terrace overlooks parkland associated with Derrymore House to the southwest, with stone walling to the roadside and mature trees. As one of ten similar houses in the row, No. 5 has group value with its neighbours. The terrace is also comparable in character to the historic buildings found in the Bessbrook Squares.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The origins of Bessbrook as a settlement date to 1761, when the first woollen mill and bleach green were opened by a Mr John Pollock. The site was originally known simply as "The Green" but was renamed Bessbrook after Pollock's wife Elizabeth (Bess) and the nearby Camlough River (Brook). By the 1830s, the first edition Ordnance Survey map recorded that few buildings had been erected at Bessbrook; the only significant structures shown were Mount Caulfield House (the residence of the Nicholson family) and a number of thread manufactories and bleach mills.

The village was effectively founded in 1845 when John Grubb Richardson (1813–1891), a linen merchant from Lambeg and a member of the Religious Society of Friends, purchased one of the derelict mills on the site and began building housing for his factory workers nearby. Richardson described how he had "a great aversion to be responsible for a factory population in a large town" and deliberately chose a country district where flax was cultivated. The layout of the village was influenced by the work of William Penn, the American Quaker responsible for planning and developing Philadelphia in the late 17th century. Richardson's philanthropic approach led him to bring the poor, the unqualified and beggars from the surrounding countryside to work and live at Bessbrook, in the hope of encouraging them to improve their circumstances. Bessbrook is often referred to as a village without the "Three P's," reflecting Richardson's stipulation that there would be no public house or pawnshop in the settlement and therefore no need for a police presence. In exchange, Richardson provided recreational and educational facilities at the Institute, a number of well-stocked shops, and had milk, tea and cocoa distributed to his mill workers. The strategy proved effective: the majority of the population voted to preserve this ordinance in the 1870s, and to this day there remains no public house at Bessbrook. Police were not stationed in the village until the turn of the 20th century.

In 1863, Richardson became the sole owner of the Bessbrook Spinning Company after purchasing his brother's shares. The local linen industry experienced a boom during the American Civil War (1861–65) as access to American cotton was cut off; Richardson took advantage of this by greatly enlarging his factory and increasing his workforce. Lord Charlemont sold the remainder of the Camlough Estate to Richardson in 1865, making Richardson both the main employer and principal landowner at Bessbrook by the mid-1860s. Charlemont Square was laid out between 1862 and 1866 to house the influx of new workers; between 1861 and 1871 the population of Bessbrook rose from 637 to 2,215 and the number of houses rose from 73 to 296. By the turn of the 20th century the population stood at approximately 4,000.

The Annual Revisions record that nos 1–10 Deramore Terrace was constructed in 1892 and leased out to tenants by the Richardson estate. The First Survey of 1969 suggests the terrace was constructed specifically for elderly residents, although the Census of Ireland records that at the turn of the 20th century the majority of tenants were under the age of 50 or remained employed by the Bessbrook Spinning Company. The architect of the terrace is unknown; most housing in Bessbrook was built by masons and joiners employed by the Bessbrook Spinning Company, using stone from a quarry opened on the former Charlemont Estate. Unlike the majority of housing in Bessbrook, Deramore Terrace was laid out in the countryside approximately half a mile to the southeast of Richardson's mill, on a plot of land near Woodhouse, Derry House and the Friends' Meeting House. Bessbrook is contemporary with the English model villages of Port Sunlight (begun 1888) and Bourneville (begun 1895), and has been noted as contributing to town and country planning all over the world.

No. 5 was initially leased by Richardson to a Mr James Gurly and was valued at £4 by the Annual Revisions. In 1900, ownership of the terrace passed from the Richardson estate to the Trustees of the neighbouring Friends' Meeting House, with William Davies — a local magistrate and Richardson's land agent — acting as secretary; the row was subsequently renamed Richardson's Terrace in 1901. By the time of the 1901 Census, No. 5 had passed to Margaret Thompson (aged 45), who was employed as a flax winder in Richardson's mill. The census building return described it as a second-class dwelling consisting of five rooms with a shed as its sole outbuilding.

During the 20th century, the mill at Bessbrook continued to expand, gaining the Bessbrook Spinning Company international recognition. During the Second World War, mill workers were tasked with supplying cloth for uniforms. The Bessbrook Spinning Company retained ownership of housing in Bessbrook until the 1960s, when the majority of dwellings were sold to private individuals and firms, necessitated by the post-war downturn in the local textile market. The mill closed in 1972 and was subsequently occupied by the British Army. By the time of the Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956–72), ownership of Deramore Terrace had reverted to the Bessbrook Spinning Company; the rateable value of No. 5 was increased to £7 and 15 shillings, and the valuer noted that a Mrs Rhoda Black occupied the house during this period.

Deramore Terrace was listed in 1985. In 1995, No. 5 underwent an extensive renovation that included reslating of the roof in natural slate, installation of cast iron rainwater goods, repointing of the stonework, installation of new sliding sash windows, and construction of the two-storey rear return.