7 College Square East, Bessbrook, Co.Armagh

A two-storey, two-bay late-Victorian terraced house built around 1883, designed by an unknown architect, though possibly by civil engineer Mr John Hardy. The building has a rectangular plan facing southwest with a single-storey rear return.

The house is constructed of random-coursed, rock-faced local Newry Granodiorite with stepped red brick dressings to the jambs and square-headed gauged-brick door and window openings with stone cills. The pitched roof is covered in fibre cement tiles with roll-top black clay ridge tiles. A rectangular-section red brick chimney on the northwest side has half-round coping and one black and one terracotta clay pot. The eaves are flush with separate red and buff brick eaves courses and an alternating red and buff brick corbel course above. Modern uPVC rain-water goods and half-round guttering discharge to circular section downpipes.

The principal southwest-facing front elevation is nearly symmetrical and flush with the rest of the terrace. A modest front yard, set to lawn, is enclosed by painted timber fencing. A concrete path at the southeast end leads to a four-panelled painted timber door with a semi-circular glazed section at the top featuring radial glazing bars, black iron furniture, and a square-headed fanlight above. The fenestration pattern is regular: two windows at first-floor level in line with the main entrance and one window at ground-floor level on the northwest end. Windows are generally 1/1 double-hung sliding timber sash windows with window horns.

The northwest elevation is attached to No. 8 College Square East. The northeast elevation consists of a visible single-storey flat-roofed rear return with a timber sash window at first-floor level. Random-coursed rock-faced yard boundary walling features a painted planked timber door providing access to the rear yard. The southeast elevation is attached to No. 6 College Square East.

No. 7 forms part of College Square, a planned arrangement of 53 mill workers' dwellings arranged in a formal square with East, North and West terraces surrounding a central bowling green, playground and lawn. Each house is set back from the perimeter public road with a modest front yard typically enclosed by dwarf walling topped by hooped metal railings. The eastern terrace is stepped in groups of six dwellings to respect the subtle site relief. The western terrace comprises paired dwellings in similar style. Each dwelling has a rear yard enclosed by random-coursed rubble stone walling with a square-headed door opening onto a wide rear access route. Bessbrook Town Hall (the old Institute building) is located to the southeast. The central area of the square is now divided into three sections laid to lawn: the northwest area contains a bowling pavilion and green enclosed by painted hooped metal railings with established trees; a lawn enclosed by similar railings is located to the southeast; and an open children's playground with three granite monuments occupies the centre. One monument records those who served Bessbrook firm for nearly 50 years; another commemorates James N. Richardson and the playground created in his memory in November 1927, with an inscription noting this was the last stone cut from Bessbrook quarry; a third monument, recently moved from Bessbrook Mill grounds, details the mill's history from ownership by the Pollock family in 1760 to Bessbrook Spinning Company Limited in 1878.