22 Bridge St., Rostrevor, Co.Down

22 Bridge Street, Rostrevor, County Down

This is a two-storey, three-bay mid-terrace building combining a ground-floor shop with a dwelling above, constructed around 1850. The architect is unknown. It stands on the north-east side of Bridge Street and forms one of three buildings of similar height that make up a continuous terrace of shops with dwellings over. Despite the loss of its original shopfront and the addition of a later flat-roofed rear extension, the building retains considerable character in its front elevation, which is well-proportioned and modestly detailed in a manner typical of mid-Victorian commercial buildings of this type. The building carries strong group value alongside its immediate neighbours and the terrace as a whole is considered among the most significant in the Rostrevor Conservation Area.

Plan and Roof

The building has a rectangular plan facing south-west. To the rear (north-east), a two-storey pitched-roof return projects from the right-hand (north-west) side, with a later two-storey flat-roofed return attached to the left (south-east) side of it. Both rear returns project into a yard enclosed by modern blockwork walling. The main roof is covered in natural slate with angled black clay ridge tiles and a projecting eaves cornice. Cast iron rainwater goods serve the front elevation and the pitched-roof rear return, with half-round guttering discharging to circular-section downpipes. The flat-roofed rear return is served by uPVC ogee guttering discharging to square-section downpipes. Two modern skylights are visible to the rear of the main pitched roof. A rendered rectangular chimney stack to the north-west, shared with the neighbouring No. 20, carries three terracotta clay pots.

Principal (South-West) Elevation

The front elevation faces the public footpath along Bridge Street. At ground-floor level, the shopfront consists of a square-headed large rectangular painted timber window of three lights in width, with a depressed pointed arch spanning over two painted timber mullions. To the south-east of the shop window is a painted four-panelled timber door with brass furniture, opening onto a tiled step and fitted with a square-headed fanlight containing seven small panes. A further similar door to the north-west, which provides access to the flat above, also has a seven-pane fanlight and a long semi-circular headed sidelight to its south-east side. Above the shop door and window, a painted timber signboard projects narrowly with lead flashing, lighting beneath, and a dentilated cornice; it currently carries the painted lettering 'WOK WAY CHINESE CARRY OUT'. At first-floor level, three double-hung 6-over-6 sliding timber sash windows with slim painted concrete cills align with the openings below; two of these windows are grouped towards the north-west. The elevation is finished in a generally painted, lined smooth render with a modern brown-tiled plinth at the base.

Rear (North-East) Elevation

Access to the rear was limited at the time of survey. Where visible, the pitched-roof rear return has a two-part casement window at first-floor level and a modern circular-section galvanised metal extraction flue at ground-floor level, discharging above the gable. The flat-roofed rear return has vertically sheeted painted timber cladding with two uPVC casement windows at first-floor level, smooth cement render at ground-floor level, and a sheeted timber door. The general wall finish to the rear elevation and both returns is smooth cement render unless otherwise noted.

Adjoining Buildings

The building is attached to No. 20 Bridge Street on the north-west and to No. 24 Bridge Street on the south-east.

Interior

The interior arrangement of Nos. 18–22 Bridge Street was significantly altered in 1989 when the buildings were converted into three self-contained flats, with retail units occupying the ground floors of Nos. 18 and 22.

Setting

No. 22 Bridge Street sits within the Rostrevor Conservation Area as part of a terrace of three similar-height buildings fronting the north-east side of Bridge Street. The street runs from Rostrevor's Square at its north-west end to a triple-span bridge over the Rostrevor River at its south-east end.

Historical Background

The Rostrevor Conservation Area Guide records that in 1752 the village consisted of only a few cottages, but that by the early 19th century it had developed its present general form, with a tree-lined Square and a quay half a mile distant. Bridge Street, originally known as Post Office Street, was fully developed by the turn of the 19th century. Steady population growth through the century coincided with the arrival of the tramway from Warrenpoint in 1875 and the construction of the Rostrevor Hotel the following year.

A pair of buildings on the site of Nos. 18–22 Bridge Street was recorded on the Townland Valuation Town Plan of around 1834, though it is not certain whether these correspond to the present buildings, as the layouts do not precisely match. The accompanying Townland Valuation of 1838 records the two buildings as occupied by John Dornan and Christopher Ainsworth. Ainsworth's building was described by the valuer as a Class 1B structure — a building of medium age, slightly decayed but still in good repair — measuring 35 feet by 21 feet and standing 15 feet in height. The two original buildings on the site were together valued at £15.

Nos. 18–22 Bridge Street were first recorded with certainty on Griffith's Valuation and its accompanying town plan of 1861. It appears that Nos. 18 and 20 were originally built as a single composition, though the building had been subdivided by at least 1861, when the valuation plan depicted Nos. 20 and 22 as a combined property. Griffith's Valuation set the total rateable value of Nos. 20–22 at £25 and recorded that the building was leased by Robert Martin of Kilbroney House to William Calvert, a local grocer. Calvert occupied the property until around 1880, when it was taken over by David Sinton, who was also employed as a grocer. The Annual Revisions record that Sinton installed a shopfront at the ground floor of No. 22, resulting in an increase in the site's value to £28.

The 1901 Census of Ireland recorded Nos. 18–22 Bridge Street as a single property — a first-class private dwelling and shop with ten rooms — and noted extensive outbuildings to the rear including a stable, coach house, cow house, piggery, barn, five stores, and a slaughterhouse. The Annual Revisions continued to describe Nos. 20–22 as a single property, with Sinton recorded as occupant until the 1930s. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936–57) slightly reduced the building's value to £27. In 1966, Nos. 20–22 were subdivided into two separate properties: the Sinton family continued to operate a shop at No. 22 (revalued at £22), while a Ms. Rose Greer resided at No. 20 and operated a hairdressing salon there (valued at £16). No. 22 Bridge Street was listed in 1981.

Materials

Roof: natural slate. Rainwater goods: cast iron (front and pitched-roof return) and uPVC (flat-roofed return). Walls: rendered throughout, painted on the south-west elevation only. Windows: timber sliding sash to the south-west elevation; timber and uPVC casement elsewhere.