BEERAGE BOTTLERS LTD.

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A five-storey former shirt factory with two-storey wing, both now refurbished as offices.

1. Five-storey building
Pitched natural slate roof and ogee plastic rainwater goods. Walls of red brick embellished with yellow-brick double platband above third floor, and moulded brick cill course to fourth floor, and corbelled brick eaves course (which continues across gables and along gable verges). The frontage is cement-rendered along its base.
Principal elevation faces N to street, with seven symmetrically-arranged round-headed recessed panels across façade. Except for the ground floor of the middle panel, all contain a pair of windows to ground, first, second and third floors. The ground floor of the middle panel formerly contained an archway through to back yard, but is now infilled and rendered, and with single window inserted. All but the middle panel terminate just below the top floor, but the former continues up to eaves level, with a gabled dormer above. There are small single windows to the top floor, in line with the panels below. Windows to this and all other elevations are modern one-over-one bottom-opening timber replacements with double-glazed panes and all-round margins. Except for the top floor and ground floor window of the middle panel, all have flush-mounted cast-iron cills. Painted across the brickwork between the ground and third floors is the legend: “The/ Coleraine/ Shirt and Collar Factory” (as at July 2018 it appears that the brickwork has been cleaned and the writing is now very faint).
The E gable is three opes wide, and detailed as street elevation, but with no recessed panels. At ground floor right is a doorway, with two brick-infilled window opes to left and also three to first floor. Former windows at left end of second and third floors now infilled and rendered over, but otherwise two windows to each of these floors. Top floor is blank except for oculus to apex of gable.
Rear (S) elevation is of plain red brick with shallow brick pilasters forming full-height vertical bays of similar width to recessed panels on frontage. Middle section of elevation is abutted by full-height double-pile modern stairwell. Exposed sections of wall are cement-rendered at ground floor level. Exposed section at left of stairwell is one bay wide and contains pairs of windows to all but top floor. Exposed section to right of stairwell is three bays wide. All their ground floor opes are now rendered over and some have modern insertions. Paired windows to first, second and third floors to all divisions except for right-hand end, where opes are infilled with brick.
West gable is abutted by two-storey annex. Brickwork of exposed section above is detailed as E gable. Three windows to second and third floors, small windows to top floor, and oculus to gable apex.
The double-pile rear stairwell has pitched artificial slate roofs, plain bargeboards, boxed eaves, plastic gutters, roughcast rendered walls, and square double-glazed windows (with concrete cills) to all elevations. Abutted to ground floor by full-width entrance porch with monopitched artificial slate roof and gable over entrance door.

2. Two-storey wing
Flat concrete roof with concrete-coped brick parapet around. N elevation (to street) has three flat-headed recessed bays, with single window to ground and to first floor (detailed as main block). West elevation is plain, three windows to each floor (middle one on ground floor infilled). Rear (S) elevation is also plain, and is cement-rendered to ground floor. Two windows and modern door to ground floor, and three windows to first floor.

Setting
This factory is located in an urban environment, at the corner of Beresford Road and Beresford Avenue to N and E respectively. It is adjoined at W by Rocola Lodge, and behind it is a tarmaced car park.

Roof: Pitched natural slate
Rainwater goods: Ogee plastic
Walls: Brick
Windows: 1x1 margined timber casements

Historical information

This is a purpose-built shirt factory opened in 1894 by a London-based manufacturer, R.H. & S. Rogers. This firm, formerly known as Thomas Rogers & Co, and before that as Henry Rogers, had previously operated from nearby New Row since the mid-1860s (at HB03/18/037).
The building is described in the Valuation book of that year as measuring 96ft by 31ft in plan, and standing 54ft to the eaves (with four floors and an attic). There was also a return measuring 16ft x 17ft in plan. It cost £3300 to construct and its machinery (presumably sewing machines) was powered by a 7hp gas engine (undoubtedly using town’s gas). This building and its rear return are captioned on the 1904 OS map as ‘Shirt & Collar Factory’.
A two-storey wing was added c.1907. The Valuation book of that year notes a brick building with Vulcanite-covered roof (i.e. flat) measuring 22ft long x 31ft deep x 25ft high. There was a small open-sided corrugated-metal at the back of it. This wing is described as a new engine shed housing a 30hp gas engine. The main building and wing are both shown on the 1922 OS map with the same caption as before.
A manager’s house – Rocola Lodge – was built on an adjacent plot to the west of the factory in 1929. Messrs Rogers continued to make shirts here until 1958.
In the early 1960s, Seven-Up Bottlers, described in the Street Directories as ‘wholesale bottlers and mineral water manufacturers’, occupied the block. In 1965, they were joined by another firm of soft-drinks bottlers, Peerage Bottlers Ltd. The site is captioned as ‘Works’ on the 1968 OS map’. From 1971 to 1977, Peerage Bottlers were the sole occupants. The bottling plant closed in 1977 and the building was refurbished as office space in 2002-05.

References – Primary Sources:
1. Belfast & Ulster Street Directory 1865, p.730.
2. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9J, p.316. Valuation Revision Book (1893-99).
3. PRONI OS/8/6/2/4. Large-scale town map 1:500 scale (1904).
4. PRONI VAL/12/A/5/12. Valuation note book, p.55 (1907).
5. PRONI OS/10/5/7/2/2. Second edition OS 25-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 7-02 (1922).
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/30/9P, p.266. Valuation Revision Book (1913-31).
7. PRONI OS/10/5/7/2/3. Third edition OS 25-inch map, Co Londonderry sheet 7-02 (1949).
8. Belfast & Ulster Street Directories 1958-80.
9. PRONI OS/11/13/13/1. First edition IG 25-inch map, sheet 13-13 (1967-68).

References – Secondary Sources:
1. W.D. Girvan, Historic Buildings in Coleraine and Portstewart (Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972).
2. Information panel on 4th floor hallway of building.
3. Coleraine Times, 2 April 2013.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

A five-storey red-brick shirt factory of 1894 built for R.H. & S. Rogers, with a two-storey wing of 1907, all now converted to offices.
Architecturally, a very distinctive red-brick building with a prominent location directly on the street, with the horizontality of its five floors being counteracted by the verticality of its window bays. Also subtle use of brick embellishment in the pilasters, platbands, cill- and eaves courses. However, the replacement windows differ somewhat to the originals. Of local historical interest as a purpose-built shirt factory which gave employment to women throughout the area, and representative of one of the town’s principal industries from the later 1800s to mid-1900s.

General comments

Listing Criteria R - Age and S - Authenticity also apply.