179 South Promenade ('Widows' Row'), Newcastle, Ballaghbeg, Co Down, BT33 0HA

179 South Promenade, Newcastle

One of a terrace of 12 small, picturesque two-storey houses built in 1843, situated on the south-west side of South Promenade at the southern edge of Newcastle. The terrace, known as 'Widows' Row', was built for the families of local fishermen who perished in a fierce storm off the coast in January 1843. In that disaster, 46 Newcastle men drowned, leaving behind 27 widows, 118 orphans and 21 dependants. An appeal, together with a substantial donation from the trustees of the Annesley Estate, raised sufficient funds to build these 12 dwellings. No. 179 is positioned near the south-east end of the terrace.

The front (north-east facing) façade features a timber-sheeted door to the left on the ground floor, with a window to the right that has been fitted with a modern frame. The first floor displays a gabled half-dormer to the right containing a similar window. The front façade is finished in 'salt and pepper' pebbledash render. The gabled roof, which has an overhang facing the front, is covered with natural slate to the front elevation and asbestos 'slate' to the rear, with exposed rafter ends visible at the front. A single rendered chimney stack (shared with the neighbouring property to the north) rises from the roof. Cast iron rainwater goods are present. A low stone wall encloses a small garden to the front.

To the rear, the upper portion of the main façade is blank and rendered as the front. A small, dilapidated single-storey lean-to extension with corrugated asbestos roof, timber-sheeted door and modern windows adjoins the main building. Immediately adjacent to the north-west of this extension is a single-storey stone-built shed with a mono-pitched roof, now somewhat dilapidated with a large section of roof having fallen in; the remainder is covered in natural slate.

The terrace as a whole retains significant original character and detailing, including the gabled half-dormers to each dwelling, vernacular Georgian multi-paned windows and the low stone boundary walls enclosing individual front gardens. Although the terrace has been substantially altered to the rear, and this house has undergone minor inappropriate works to the front, its essential external character, particularly to the rear, is preserved. Each house originally consisted of two rooms, one to each floor, though most properties have been greatly enlarged in recent years with modern two-storey extensions to the rear.