40-42 Main Street, Ballynahinch, Co Down, BT24 8DN

40-42 Main Street, Ballynahinch

A two-storey terrace block of c.1890 containing a pair of shops, situated on the north side of Main Street to the east of Ballynahinch town centre. The block is constructed with rubble facades and prominent polychrome brick dressings to openings.

No.40 occupies the western side of the block. Its south-facing front facade is asymmetrical, with a modern glazed door to the right fitted with a fanlight. To the left is a large shop window with a recent period-style three-light frame. To the right of the door is a large elliptical-headed carriage arch with red brick dressings to the arch head. The first floor has four unevenly spaced sash windows. The east gable wall contains a sash window to the right on the first floor, with a large mural painting attached to the left at ground level (part of a series relating to the events of 1798). To the rear on the ground floor, a plain sheeted door with fanlight stands to the left, with a modern window to the right that appears to replace two former smaller windows; cement render patches and remnants of the previous window dressings remain visible. The first floor rear has two windows with modern frames in red brick dressings, with another window to the left that appears to belong to No.42. The dressings suggest the upper floor windows have been reduced in size. The gabled roof is slated with two small skylights to the rear, a yellow brick chimney stack, and cast iron rainwater goods.

No.42 occupies the eastern side of the block. The front facade features a panelled door to the left on the ground floor and a recent period-style shop front to the right. The first floor has three segmental-headed sash windows with vertical glazing bars in a 2-over-2 arrangement, with polychrome brick dressings in a different arrangement from No.40; the shop front lacks dressings and appears enlarged. To the rear, the ground floor has a modern single-storey brick-built return with hipped roof to the left, and two windows of differing size with modern frames to the right. An intermediate-level sash window with coloured glass margins stands to the right. The first floor has two widely spaced windows with modern frames, most rear windows featuring brick headers. The first-floor windows appear to have been reduced in size. No.42 has a slated gabled roof, a brick chimney stack, a single skylight to the rear, and cast iron rainwater goods.

The carriage arch between the two properties has its eastern wall (belonging to No.42) in brick and its western wall in rubble. The coursing of the rubble on both front and rear facades suggests that the two properties were built at different times, despite the block dating broadly to c.1890. This section of Main Street (originally the road from Belfast and known as Railway Street during the later 1800s and first half of the 20th century) was developed in the latter decades of the 19th century. The shop fronts have undergone modern alteration, and many window openings to the rear have been replaced.