County Boundary Stone, 11 Magherabuoy Road, Ballywillian, Portrush, Co Antrim BT56 8NU

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Boundary marker deliniating the County Antrim and County Derry boundary, of cast/ stamped concrete, set in rural location at N side of Magheraboy Road, 2km SSE Portrush.

Approximately 300x600x150mm, the marker is positioned in grass verge between field access and private house access, a mature tree and hedgerow are immediately behind.

Lettering approximately 25 to 35mm high is cast/ stamped into front face, reading "COUNTY BOUNDARY ANTRIM DERRY". The horizontal "ANTRIM" and "DERRY" are interlaced with the vertical 'Boundary' using the "A" and "Y".

The marker is weathered and exhibits severe damage/ surface loss to upper right sections of both front and back faces. The "COUNTY" lettering is severly weathered, the "Y" is missing. Most upper letters are partly missing..

The marker is tilted to both NE and SE, rendering the integral cast base visible. Integral cast base is approximately 100/ 150mm wide all round, depth is undetermined.

Historical information

This ‘stone' is one of six similar markers set along rural roadsides in the area north and west of Ballymoney and east and south of Coleraine, Portstewart and Portrush, all demarcating the land boundary between Counties Antrim and Londonderry - and in particular a change in the direction of the line of that boundary. Their age is not known, but the concrete construction and the styling of the inscription suggests that they date from the very late 19th or early 20th century; it is possible that they may be associated with the introduction of County Councils following the 1898 Local Government (Ireland) Act. Their origins would certainly appear to have been obscure by 1940, for a photograph of what seems to be the stone in nearby Glebe (Ballywillin) townland south of Portrush [see HB03/07/023] in the 21 May edition of the Belfast Telegraph of that year is captioned ‘A curious county boundary stone’.

This particular example, on Magherabuoy Road south of Portrush, is marked for the first time on the OS map of 1939, although it does not appear on any later editions.

Aside from the six known still-extant stones, there was at least one other, along Newbridge Road northwest of Ballymoney, but this was removed in c.2020.

References - Primary sources
1 OS maps 1:1250/2500 - 1939
2 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 21 May 1940, p.10

Secondary sources
3 Wilson, Dr. Peter, ‘Marking the boundaries” - Portrush Heritage Group Heritage Newsletter (Issue 36, 6 February 2021)
4 Information from Mr. Bill Wilsdon, March 2021

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Small, inscribed concrete boundary ‘stone‘, one of a set in their original settings and locations on various country roads in the area NW of Ballymoney and E and SE of Coleraine, Portrush and Portstewart, all marking the land boundary between the counties of Antrim and Londonderry. Their date is uncertain, their age is not known, but the concrete construction and the styling of the inscription suggests that they date from the very late 19th or early 20th century; it is possible that they may be associated with the introduction of County Councils following the 1898 Local Government (Ireland) Act. Though small in size and simple in detailing, these unusual boundary markers are of special interest, being of local and historical importance.