1 Maytown Terrace, Fountain St., Bessbrook, Co.Armagh

1 Maytown Terrace, Fountain Street, Bessbrook, County Armagh

A two-storey, two-bay end terraced dwelling built around 1896 in the late-Victorian period, constructed of local stone to designs by an unknown architect. The house forms the north-eastern end of a terrace of seven similar mill workers' dwellings (HB16/22/018A–G) that front onto Main Street, Bessbrook, set back from the road by a wide tarmac public footpath. A single-storey L-plan rear return was added around 1994.

The front elevation faces north-west and is built of random-coursed rock-faced Newry Granodiorite with cement strap-pointing. Red brick dressings edge the jambs, with stone cills and square-headed gauged-brick door and window openings throughout. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with angled black clay ridge tiles. Two rectangular-section red brick chimneys rise from the building: one to the north-east with a single terracotta pot, and one to the south-west with two pots. The eaves are flush with separate red and buff brick eaves courses and an alternating red and buff brick corbel course above. Guttering is uPVC with half-round gutters discharging to circular section downpipes.

The principal elevation is near-symmetrical with regular fenestration. Two windows at first-floor level align with ground-floor openings, all fitted with top-opening uPVC casements. A uPVC door with a square-headed fanlight above opens onto the public footpath, with a window positioned to the north-east side of the door. A timber street sign at ground-floor level on the north-east end displays 'MAYTOWN TERRACE'.

The north-east elevation has rough-cast cement render with a red brick chimney rising to the gable apex and a single-storey block extending south-east into the enclosed rear yard. A single uPVC casement window at ground level serves the two-storey block.

The rear elevation faces south-east into an enclosed concrete yard and is finished in rough-cast cement render at first-floor level with a single uPVC casement window at centre. The single-storey rear return has smooth cement render and a pitched roof with a monopitched block at its north-eastern end, forming an L-plan arrangement. The rear return features a panelled painted timber door with two glazed sections to its upper half, opening onto three concrete steps, with a window to its south-west side and a single top-opening uPVC casement window at the south-east end of the monopitched block.

To the south-west, the building is attached to No. 2 Maytown Terrace (HB16/22/018B). The rear yard boundary is defined by rough cement render with exposed stone coping and a painted sheeted timber door providing access from the rear access route.

The terrace sits along Main Street within the planned mill workers' village of Bessbrook. Rear facades across the terrace have generally been much altered, with most dwellings having lost their original stone rear yard boundary walls. Rear boundaries are defined by a local access route and areas of rough grazing to the south-east.