9 Charlemont Square East, Bessbrook, Co.Armagh

A two-storey, two-bay mid-Victorian terraced house built between 1862 and 1866 to designs by an unknown architect. It forms one of twenty-seven similar houses on the eastern terrace of Charlemont Square, a formally designed mid-Victorian square of 66 buildings arranged on three sides around a central green in Bessbrook, County Armagh.

The building is constructed of generally random-coursed rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite with painted red brick dressings. It has painted stone cills and stepped red brick surrounds to gauged-brick cambered door and window openings, though many door and window heads have been squared off with painted smooth cement render. The pitched roof is finished with fibre cement and angled black clay ridge tiles, with a rectangular-section red brick chimney to the northwest carrying two buff clay pots. Flush eaves feature a red brick corbel course, and metal rainwater goods with half-round guttering are fitted throughout.

The building is L-plan in form facing southwest, with a large two-storey rear return added around 1988. The principal elevation is near-symmetrical and faces southwest, flush with the main terrace. A modest-sized paved front yard is enclosed by smooth cement rendered dwarf walling topped by plain hooped painted metal railings, with a similar foot gate hung on slim metal posts to the southeast. A concrete path from the gate leads to the entrance, a six-panelled painted timber door to the southeast of the facade with a semi-circular glazed upper section and brass furniture.

The front elevation has a regular fenestration pattern with two windows to first-floor level in line with ground-floor openings. These are generally double-hung timber sliding sash windows with window horns and exposed sash boxes to the front northwest elevation, installed in 1999, whilst the rear southeast elevation has top-opening timber casement windows. The northeast rear elevation, facing northeast, has a single-bay two-storey pitched-roof rear return projecting to the rear boundary. A planked painted timber door leads from the rear access route to a narrow L-shaped yard covered at ground-floor level with corrugated Perspex roofing. The back door is located on the northwest side of the rear return. This rear section has generally smooth cement rendered finish with a mixture of uPVC and timber top-opening casement windows to the facade, and uPVC side-opening casement windows with smooth render to the rear return.

The building is attached on the northwest to No. 10 Charlemont Square East and on the southeast to No. 8 Charlemont Square East. No. 9 is part of the planned arrangement of mill workers' dwellings and shops comprising the formal square, with each house set back from the perimeter public road and footpath with a modest-sized front yard typically enclosed by dwarf walling topped by hooped metal railings. Terraces to the east and west are stepped in groups of two dwellings respecting the subtle relief of the site. Each dwelling has a larger rear yard enclosed by random-coursed rubble stone walling with a square-headed door opening onto a wide rear access route. Front facades are nearly uniform along the east and west terraces, whilst rear facades are much altered with various extensions of different sizes and shapes. The central area of the square is laid to lawn and enclosed by hooped galvanized metal railings with established trees at its boundary.