6 Marcus Square, Newry, Co Down, BT34 1AY

6 Marcus Square, Newry

Number 6 Marcus Square is the right one of a pair of three-storey classical Georgian townhouses with basement and attic, fronting the west side of Marcus Square. It retains most of its original features and is Grade B2 listed.

The building has a pitched natural slate roof with a cement-rendered chimney to the right gable. The street façade is finished in painted lined render with projecting eaves and cast metal half-round rainwater goods. Green plastic letters advertising the current occupant are fixed to the wall above the ground floor openings.

The main entrance is at ground floor left, accessed by five granite steps (which have subsided to the left). The replacement front door is six-panelled painted timber, flanked by two fluted Doric demi columns supporting an entablature decorated with metopes and triglyphs. Above is a semicircular leaded fanlight with Greek key pattern border and leaf motif to the centre. The doorcase and fanlight sit within a semicircular-headed opening, now with additional plain glass in front of the fanlight. To the right of the door is a modern name plaque. A 1/1 double-glazed sliding sash timber window with metal security grille sits to the right of the door.

The basement area is infilled, with render marks indicating a window opening has been blocked. At first floor are two 1/1 sliding sash windows (identical to the ground floor example) offset to the right. At second floor are two 3/3 double-glazed sliding sashes, in line with those below but reduced in height. All windows to the façade have granite cills. Plain spiked original iron railings flank the right side entrance steps, with an urn-topped newel to the second step featuring a patera relief on its squared base. Two railings have been widened to incorporate a bootscraper. To the left, the shopfront of number 6 encloses the steps.

The right gable is rendered and contains four openings. Between basement and ground floor level is a 6/3 sliding sash half-landing window with some glazing bars missing to the top sash. Between ground and first floor is a 6/6 half-landing window, and between first and second floor is another 6/6 landing window, all centred in the gable. Above these is a 3/3 sliding sash window. The left gable forms a party wall with the adjoining property (number 7).

The rear elevation is not accessible, though internal inspection suggests a 3/3 sliding sash window and door to the basement, two sliding sash windows to the ground floor (one blocked from inside), two to the first floor, and two to the second floor.

The house is shown on the 1835 Ordnance Survey map and was valued at £32 in the 1838 valuation. It is described as 3½ storeys high plus basement in the 1863 valuation. Local tradition holds that these premises housed a private school for young ladies run by the Misses Bryden, where John Mitchel first met Jenny Verner.

Hill Street was laid out by the Downshire family in the mid-18th century as a formal extension to the town. The building now functions as an office and is situated within a conservation area. The listing extends to the house, steps, and railings.