The Story of Carrickfergus Townscape Heritage Initiative p6
10 High Street
The current building at 10 High Street consists of the entrance to 2 newly created upper floor flats, a retail premises and a small flat called the Inglenook which occupies the old archway, the traditional entry to the rear of the premises.
Since 1950’s the building had grown to the rear to fill the entire footprint of the site and all of this was listed grade B2 by the Department for Communities, Historic Environment Division in late 2020 on account of its historical interest.
An extract from the list description states: “Although 10 High Street presents as an archetypal 19th century terrace, the historical assessment and investigations that have been carried out indicate the building, as an entity, is much older.
"Elements of the building are believed to be as early as the sixteenth century with strong evidence that the surviving staircase dates from the 17th century.
"The building is therefore of considerable archaeological and historical interest.”
The restoration of the building work included the replacement of inappropriate uPVC windows with traditionally detailed timber sliding-sash windows and contemporary shopfronts replaced with authentic shopfronts utilising information from historic photographs.
Two lost chimneys have been reinstated to a traditional pattern and located over existing chimney breasts.
Roofs to the rear of the property, which were prohibiting safe access for maintenance to the more historic part of the building have been simplified to ensure the building can be safely maintained going forward and also to provide roof garden space for the apartments.
Other parts of the project involved replacing cementitious plasters with lime renders to allow the building to breathe and avoid problems with dampness in old historic walls.
Old lathe and plaster ceilings and the few cornices remaining were preserved, and floorboards were reused as far as possible.
One quirky outcome of the project is that twists in the old oak frame were allowed to remain and so some of the upper floor’s slope from one room side to the other and this gives the residents a sense of the buildings structure, age and character.
Similarly, some stonework and timber beams have been left exposed within the interior to evidence the buildings past.
Many layers of paint on the historic staircase have been stripped back by a paint conservator, Ruth Bothwell to expose the many layers of history within this one and perhaps most unique feature of the building.
Ruth has also conserved a piece of historic wallpaper found on the second floor which dates back to the late 19th century.
Behind 10 High Street’s traditional Victorian style frontage, as work progressed the contractors and the professional team uncovered a considerably older building than its street front would suggest, with evidence pointing to a late medieval structure dating back to the 1600s.
Of particular significance is the presence of a rear stair tower containing part of a 17th century (possibly Jacobean) staircase as mentioned above, leading from the first to the second floors.
Experts on historic buildings from the Historical Environmental Division - Department for Communities believe this staircase to be unique within an urban setting in Northern Ireland and perhaps within the entire island.
Also, parts of an oak frame were discovered at first floor, second floor and roof levels.
These were dated through a process of Dendro - chronology by a leading authority in this field, David Brown of Queens University, Belfast.
This dated the timbers within this oak frame and other timber beams supporting walls around the historic stair as having felling dates as far back as 1542 but mostly from the early 1600’s.
At that time felled oak tended to be worked and used relatively quickly after felling so this points to them being also used in the construction of the building in the 1600’s.
This oak frame was effectively a kit of parts made elsewhere, or on the ground, disassembled and then put back together again.
Joints between different timber beams and joists bear carpenter marks to ensure the correct pieces were fitted in the right place.
Interestingly some of these junctions also unveil that at some point the building was a 2.5 storey building and then had the roof raised to provide a full 3 storey structure.
It is believed this happened in the late 1600s; early 1700s.
Further clues pointing to this scenario are found in brickwork patterns which were exposed during the build where the building connects with the Dobbins on one side and No.12 High Street on the other.
Thicker than usual walls like those found in the Dobbins Hotel point to parts of this structure being of a similar period.
Ciara McManus, of Farrimond McManus, Project Archaeologist has been on site, exploring all of the above.
She also examined two test pits carried out during the works to try to piece together the clues, fragments of animal bone and a couple of shards of pottery.
The pottery has been identified as being locally made and to date from the 16th to 17th Century.
Ciara has also prepared a full report on the archaeology of the building after carrying out a Level 4 Historic Building survey, (an analytical report appropriate for buildings of special importance).
Residents have now moved into the apartments, and one has commented that they: “Couldn’t have asked for better or a nicer home”.
Dr Paul Mullan, Director, Northern Ireland at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “We are delighted to see this rare survival of Carrickfergus’ built heritage being conserved and brought into sustainable use for future generations.“
Stephen Salley, 10 High Street Senior Architect, HBK Architects
Total Project Investment £704,145
3, 3c & 5 Market Place
Market Place is one of the most distinctive areas of the streetscape of Carrickfergus Conservation Area, framing views uphill towards St Nicholas’ Church and looking down towards Belfast Lough.
The following article has been written by Mike McNeill the owner of the building.
The refurbishment of the buildings presented many significant challenges to the developer and their contractor Hugh J O’Boyle, none the least the fact that the ground floor tenants comprising an office, Ollies coffee shop and Boots Chemist had to remain in operation throughout the 14-month contract period.
The first steps of the refurbishment involved stripping the internal fabric back to bare structure internally.
This gave many insights into how the internal layout may have been back in 1908, when the buildings were joined and used by the YMCA, revealing a brick archway between buildings, windows which had subsequently been covered up and from even earlier times evidence of arched carriageway entrance at the ground floor of 3 Market Place.
In addition, an original YMCA enamel sign dating back to the early 20th century was uncovered during this process and this has been donated to the town’s museum.
Following the stripping back of the internal fabric a 3D Matterport survey was carried out to record the internal fabric of the building creating a virtual image of the building.
The conservation architect carried out a survey of the roof trusses in the rear of the building and these were estimated to have originated in the 18th century.
Unfortunately, some of the original roof and floor timbers had succumbed to woodworm making them structurally unsound and these had to be replaced – in itself a significant challenge whilst the ground floor shops continued to trade.
However as much of the original structure as possible was retained and the 1908 sliding sash windows to the front elevation of the building were refurbished by Hugh J O’Boyle and reinstalled into the building.
Following replacement of the floors/roof timbers, all roofs were recovered with Bangor Blue slates.
The craftsmanship displayed by the roofers and the quality of the finished product is second to none and will ensure that the roof of the building lasts well into the next century.
Following removal of the scaffolding, heritage hardwood shopfronts were manufactured and installed into Ollies Coffee Shop and Boots Chemists.
In both cases the original external shutters were eliminated and in the case of Ollies a retractable heritage canopy was added to provide shelter at the front of the café to promote outdoor use.
In both cases the shop signage was hand painted by a local artist.
Finally, the developer renamed the building ‘Carlton House’ in recognition of its original use, and this can be seen acid etched in the fanlight above the entrance door to the apartments.
The completed project comprised the creation of 5 new apartments on the 1st and 2nd floors (1 x 1 bed and 4 x 2 bed) and these are now fully occupied.
Mike McNeill from developer Scrabo Property reflected that: “Without the financial assistance from the Carrickfergus THI scheme this project simply would not have been viable.
"The THI support allowed the project to proceed and has ensured that high quality materials have been used throughout.
"I would like to thank project managers Philippa Martin and Keith Hamilton along with conservation architect Alastair Coey for their support throughout this journey.”
Mike McNeill - Director Scrabo Properties
Total Project Investment £821,098