BUILDINGS. 
every bay or building, or every lowest room, with what is about it, is to be esteemed an house, 
then there are in Derry, about 200 houses ; if the houses are to be esteemed according to the 
householders or families, then there are 135 houses; if according to the estimation of those 
whom we employed to view the houses, there are but 101, (that is to say) in Queen-street, Silver- 
street, and the market place, 77 houses and a half of 2 stories high, being in length from out 
to outside 36 feet, and 16 feet wide within the walls ; in Gracious-street, Shambles-street, and 
Pump-street, 33 and a half of one storie in height, in length some 28 feet, and some 24 feet 
from out to outside, in breadth 16 feet within the walls.” 
To the second, “ that although the houses he reckoned according to the first estimate, 
that is, a house for every bay , yet there is not room left for 300 more, because the school- 
house and the yard, and the new church begun with the intended church-yard, take up a good 
part of the room.” 
Another sequestration was the result of this commission, which, however, was shortly 
after taken off, and the corporation in 1629 entered into new articles with the Crown, to com¬ 
plete their original agreement to build 200 houses with the 300 more, at the rate of 50 a year, 
till all should be finished. The troubles, however, which succeeded, rendered this im¬ 
practicable, and the progress of the town advanced at but a slow rate, till very recent years, 
as will be seen from the annexed plan of the city in 1788. The rapid progress of the town 
during the last 30 years will be strikingly apparent from the following private document, 
written by the late Bishop of Derry in 1826, in which he contrasts its state at that time with 
that in which he found it in 1804 :— 
“ Provision for the poor—-none, but occasional contribution ; no relief for sick room- 
keepers. Dispensary— none. Repository— none. Mendicity fund— none. Charitable loan— 
none. Bible Society— none. Library— none. Court-house—no assize but in the Exchange, 
built in 1692, in which prisoners were tried—building unsafe from decay. Poultry-market— 
none. Fish-market near the walls, and in the open air. Flesh-market— none. Potato- 
market—in the open air in Bishop-street. Grain market— none. Coffee-room— none. Supply 
of water-— none —but from pumps inside, and a few wells outside the walls, from whence it 
was carried in cans. Gaol—small and had. Pathways with little or no flagging. Lamps— 
none. City walls in very had order.” 
In proceeding to detail the existing state of the city, in respect to its buildings and institu¬ 
tions, the reader may be thus addressed—“ Look on this picture and on that !” 
It is supposed to be about 60 years since the city began to spread beyond the hill. The 
most important additions, however, are of recent date. These lie on the N., and mostly along 
or near the river’s bank, which is a very eligible situation for buildings connected with the 
port. Several warehouses, stores, and merchants’ residences have been erected in this quarter, 
which contribute to the beauty of the city, and attest its prosperity. There are also a few 
houses in progress near the gaol. This extension of the city evinces the cessation of an old 
prejudice, that to reside without the walls was not respectable. 
The valley already mentioned, as existing on the W. of the city, forms a considerable 
suburb. It lies very low, being at low-water only about 24 feet above the sea. The name 
Bog side is given to one part of it, which is also called Fahan-street. The names of the Long- 
Bog and Cow-Bog likewise have reference to the original state of the district. Within the 
last fifteen years some new streets have been built in this suburb, some of which are intended 
for merchants’ stores and residences. 
The TPriterside, another important suburb, is on the eastern bank of the Foyle.—[See 
Parish of ClondermotT] 
A part of Edenballymore is also considered a suburb. 
The Cathedral , which is also the parish Church of St. Columb, stands on the summit of 
the hill of Derry. It consists of a nave, divided into a central and lateral aisles, which are se¬ 
parated by pointed arches, resting on stone pillars. On the eastern gable there is a cross, 
springing from the central battlement; and at the western end is the tower, or belfry, sur¬ 
mounted by a handsome spire. The length of the nave is 114 feet, or, with the tower 150. Its 
breadth is 66 feet, of which the nave measures 27. Its height is 46 feet. That of the spire is 
178 feet, 6 inches from the ground: of this, the tower measures 89 feet 6 inches, the battlements 
being omitted, as the spire rises from a platform on a level with the base. The cathedral con¬ 
tains accommodations for above 1000 persons. 
The style of this church was originally that known among architectural antiquaries, as 
the perpendicular or Tudor style; but, it has lost much of its original characteristic uniformity 
by the fantastic decorations which have been subsequently added. 
For nearly twenty years after the plantation Derry was without a place of worship cajjable 
of accommodating even its then scanty population—a part of the old ruined church of St. 
Augustins, which had been repaired, being the only building appropriated to the services of 
religion. After repeated complaints of the default of the London corporation in this as well as 
in other articles, which the king’s commissioners in 1628 were appointed to inquire into, the 
T 
