2 Old Coastguard Cottages

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Mid-terrace two-storey two-bay rendered coastguard cottage, built 1874 as one of a terrace of three with square watch tower to north. Located to the east side of the bay in Portballintrae. Rectangular plan with single-storey slated enclosed verandah to front and two-storey projection to rear.

Pitched natural slate roof with blue/black angled ridge tiles; hipped slate roof to rear projection. Rendered chimneystack with sandstone cap. Plastic rainwater goods on overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails. Walling is painted roughcast render. Windows are 1/1 timber-framed sash with horns; segmental-headed to first floor, square-headed to ground floor (unless otherwise stated), all with flush painted sills; those to rear projection in moulded architraves with painted sills; three-light timber casement windows to verandah.

The principal elevation faces northwest and is almost symmetrically arranged, with two windows at first floor over full-width lean-to verandah, having panelled-and-glazed timber door to left of centre accessed by a single red sandstone step.

The northeast elevation is abutted by adjoining building; HB03/05/005C.

The southeast (entrance) elevation has two-storey projection to centre, flanked by a square-headed window at ground and first floor to left and right bays. Projection has two windows to first floor over two diminutive 1/1 windows and three-panelled glazed timber door at right.

The southwest elevation is abutted by adjoining building; HB03/05/005A.

Setting:

Situated overlooking the bay of Portballintrae, between Beach Road and Lisanduff Avenue. Large lawned garden to front with gravel paths to entrance doors; garden bounded to road by roughcast cement rendered wall with saddleback coping; modern steel latch-gate leading to Beach Road. Enclosed to southwest by modern timber fence with timber gate. Gravel driveway entrance to southwest leads to rear yard, accessed via whitewashed wall with soldier coping and square rendered piers with undressed stone caps supporting original wrought-iron gate. Former toilet blocks of rock-faced blackstone to rear, with slated lean-to roofs, sandstone quoins and red-brick surrounds to timber-sheeted doors. Bounded to rear by undressed blackstone wall.

Roof: Natural slate
Walling: Painted roughcast render
Windows: Timber sash with horns
RWG: Plastic

Historical information

No. 2 Coastguards Cottages, a two-storey dwelling constituting one of a terrace of three buildings (the others are nos 1-3 Coastguard Cottages (HB03/05/005A-C)), was originally erected as part of Portballintrae’s Coastguard Station which was constructed in c. 1875. The Coastguard Station first appeared in the Annual Revisions in 1876 shortly after its completion; the valuer noted that the station was recorded as a single building valued at £40 and leased by Sir. Francis MacNaughten of Dunderave House, Bushmills. The Coastguard station cannot be seen on the Ordnance Survey maps until the 3rd edition in 1904 which depicted the row as an oblong-shaped building captioned ‘Coastguard Sta[tion];’ the map also noted that the blackstone toilet block outbuildings to the rear of the row had been constructed by at least 1904.

There was no discernible alteration to the site in the Annual Revisions until 1896 when the value of the Coastguard Station was slightly decreased to £39 10s. Originally the station consisted of the square watchtower and five small dwellings for the coastguards who resided in the area; the current Coastguard Cottages were created by the conversion of these smaller units in the late-20th century. The 1901 Census noted that the station was occupied by five coastguards and their families; in that year the station officer was a Mr. Henry C. Cross (50, Church of Ireland) who resided in the largest dwelling (now No. 3 Coastguard Cottages), whilst the boatmen resided in the equal sized smaller dwellings. No. 2 Coastguard Cottages was formed from the middle two dwellings on the row; in 1901 these were occupied by William Faro and James Summers who resided there with their families. The census building return described the Coastguard Station as a 1st class structure and noted that Faro and Summer’s dwellings each consisted of four inhabited rooms.

In 1912 the Coastguard Station was sold by the Admiralty and as a result was no longer exempt from taxation; the row was purchased by a Mr. James McNeill in 1914. The value of the row was subdivided in 1914 to take into account the five separate dwellings; the total value of the station remained at £39 10s., the watch tower was valued at £5, the station officers residence at £8 10s. whilst the four boatmen’s dwellings were each valued at £6 10s. One of the central dwellings (which later constituted No. 2 Coastguard Cottages) lay vacant in 1914, the other was occupied by a Major Montgomery; however after 1920 no occupants were noted and only the lessor Margaret McMullan was recorded (having come into ownership in 1919). There was no subsequent change to the value of the Coastguard Station by the end of the Annual Revisions which were cancelled in 1923.

A small fishing village situated along the North Coast, Portballintrae was identified as a strategically ideal location for the erection of a coastguard station due to the safety offered by its horseshoe-shaped bay and sheltered fishing harbour; a number of smaller rubble coastguard buildings predated the current station which was erected in c. 1875. Photographs of the coastguard station dating from the early-20th century show that the station’s enclosed verandah was a later addition, likely added after the terrace was sold by the Admiralty in 1912 (Parkhill & Pollock, p. 54).

In 1972 Girvan described the station in the following terms noting the : ‘A terrace of six [sic] coastguard houses … the eastern end houses a three-storey tower, capped by a steeply pitched roof; above the arrow-slit windows of the ground floor is an oriel-bartizan, complete with machicolations (for pouring oil on troubled waters?), a feature repeated on the west end. Each house has a lean-to verandah. The whole is harled.’ Girvan stated that the Coastguard Station had fallen derelict by 1972 and in 1975 the First Survey Image confirmed that the station lay vacant and in a state of disrepair; the windows broken and the verandah sealed with rusted shutters (Girvan, p. 23; First Survey Record). The coastguard station was listed in 1977 and in the late 20th century the derelict building underwent a renovation during which the former five boatmen’s dwellings were converted into three modern cottages. The interior of the cottages have been modernised, however the external façade has been sympathetically restored and, along with the retention and conversion of the blackstone toilet blocks into outbuildings, the original character of the Victorian Coastguard Station has been maintained.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/3/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1855
2. PRONI OS/6/1/3/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1904
3. PRONI OS/6/1/3/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1921
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/2A – Annual Revisions 1859-1864
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/2B – Annual Revisions 1864-1876
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/2C – Annual Revisions 1876-1884
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/2D – Annual Revisions 1885-1889
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/2E – Annual Revisions 1889-1895
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/21A – Annual Revisions 1896-1909
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/21B – Annual Revisions 1909-1921
11. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/13A – Annual Revisions 1923-1929
12. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
13. Ulster Town Directories (1877-1918)
14. First Survey Record – HB03/05/005 (1972)
15. Ordnance Survey Map – 6-8 (1965)

Secondary Sources

1. Girvan, W., ‘North Antrim: Historic buildings, groups of buildings, areas of architectural importance in North Antrim including towns of Portrush, Ballymoney and Bushmills’ Belfast, Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.
2. Parkhill, W; Pollock, T., ‘Coleraine & the causeway coast’ London: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
X. Local Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Mid-terrace two-storey two-bay rendered coastguard cottage, built 1874 as one of a terrace of three with square watch tower to north. Located to the east side of the bay in Portballintrae. Altered in the early twentieth-century to incorporate an enclosed verandah to front, the integrity of the terrace as a whole and much of its original character is nevertheless largely intact, making this an important and relatively rare surviving example of its type. Prominently sited, the coastguard cottages form a well-maintained and coherent group and are an important feature along this part of the coastline. Making a significant contribution to the architectural and maritime heritage of the wider area, they are of important local interest.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and T - Historic Importance also apply.