70 COAST ROAD

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Detached two-bay two-storey rendered former coastguard station, built c.1832, with central two-storey entrance bay projection, one-and-half storey wing to south and single-storey extension to rear. T-shaped on plan facing west and set well back on the east side of Coast Road at a lower level than the road with rear garden extending to the coastline and two rubblestone structures.

Pitched natural slate roof with roll-mouled terracotta ridge tiles and rendered profiled chimneystacks with octagonal clay pots rising from either gable end. Replacement steel rainwater goods. Whitewashed lime rendered walling. Square-headed window openings with covered sills and replacement timber sliding sash windows with ogee horns.

Two-bay two-storey front elevation with asymmetrically-placed windows openings and a central gable-fronted two-storey entrance bay projection. The front elevation extends to the south as a one-and-half storey wing having a single wall-head dormer window. Windows are generally 6/3 with a 6/9 stairhall window. The entrance bay has a square-headed door opening with original six-panelled timber door having bolection mouldings and brass letterbox. Door opens onto a single stone step with timber-frame projecting trellised shelter.

Blind gabled north side elevation with central external chimney flue.

Two-bay two-storey rear elevation extended to the south by one-and-half storey wing, with a gable-fronted single-storey extension. To the south cheek of the extension is a replacement vertically-sheeted timber half door with glazed panel, opening onto a single granite step to paved rear area.

South side elevation has a single window opening to the left and abutted by a single-storey whitewashed rubblestone building having lean-to natural slate roof and vertically-sheeted timber doors to the east elevation.

Roof Natural slate
RWG Replacement steel
Walling Whitewashed lime render
Windows Replacement timber sliding sash windows

Setting:
Located on a generous site to the east of Coast Road, at a lower level than the road with its back garden extending to the coastline. Rubblestone boundary wall to the north with a single steel pedestrian gate and a further single-storey whitewashed stone outbuilding to the north having natural slate roof and early multi-pane fixed timber windows. The site is enclosed to the road by a low rubblestone wall with two squat sandstone ashlar piers having capstones and a modern polished granite plaque to the north commemorating Dr. Seamus Mac Donaill 1763-1845.

Historical information

No. 70 Coast Road, a two-storey three-bay house possessing a one-and-a-half-storey two-bay wing to its south gable, was constructed in the townland of Bellisk (or Waterford) prior to 1832. The building was originally constructed as a coastguard station charged with the protection of the shipping and passenger steamers which frequently sailed along Co. Antrim’s east coast. Wilson’s Shipwrecks of the Ulster Coast notes that there were a number of wrecks along the rocks between Cushendall and Red Bay in the early-19th century including the transatlantic barque New Zealand (1841), the Mediterranean-bound brig Scotia (1842) and the Helen (1849), a ferry which operated between Glenarm and Glasgow (Wilson, p. 117).

No. 70 Coast Road was first recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1832. The coastguard station may have still been under construction at that time as the contemporary Townland Valuations notes that the building remained unroofed and was deemed ‘not fit to live in’ in 1834. The valuer described the structure as a ‘Water Guard Station’ which was valued at £4 and was occupied by a Lieutenant McGillicuddy. The undetailed first edition Ordnance Survey map depicted the building along a simple rectangular layout, however the second edition map (1857) also depicted the coastguard station’s one-and-half-storey southern wing and the two-storey entrance porch. Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1859) described the site as a ‘coastguard’s station house, watch house and boat house’ and noted that the building was administered by the Admiralty and had been increased in value to £9 since the 1830s.

There was little change to the coastguard station until the late-19th century. In 1885 the Annual Revisions noted the building was utilised as living quarters for the Chief Coastguard Officer (new mess quarters for the other officers was built to the immediate south of the building in that year). In 1889 the valuer noted that the Chief Officers quarters was decreased in value to £7. The Census of Ireland records that the Chief Coastguard Office for the area was a Mr. Jeremiah Hennessy who resided at No. 70 Coast Road in 1911. The census building return described the building as a 2nd class dwelling which consisted of six rooms and possessed a number of minor out offices including a fowl house, turf house and a store. The building continued to be utilised as a coastguard station and dwelling until c. 1930. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) records that the building had been purchased outright by a Mr. Johnston Montgomery and was converted into a private dwelling by at least 1936; the valuer increased the total rateable value of the two-storey dwelling to £30. No. 70 Coast Road was occupied in 1949 by a Mr. Todd Martin who proceeded to purchase the building in 1967. Martin continued to reside at the former coastguard station until at least the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the value of the building stood at £37.

In 1972 the UAHS Guide for the Glens of Antrim described No. 70 Coast Road in the following simple terms: ‘A considerably older house, perhaps of c. 1830 or earlier, whitewashed and attractively kept, close to the rocky shore (UAHS Guide, p. 31). The former coastguard station was listed in 1992. The NIEA HB Records note that the single-storey kitchen extension located to the east elevation of the building was constructed in c. 1998 (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/20/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/20/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/20/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1903)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/20/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1921)
5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/20 – Townland Valuation Map (c. 1830)
6. PRONI VAL/1/B/148A-D – Townland Valuations (c. 1834)
7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/40A-B – Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1859)
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/7/19A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1923)
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/7/13A – Annual Revisions (1923-29)
10. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/4 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57)
11. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/10 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
12. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. First Survey Record – HB05/01/025 (No Date)
15. NIEA HB Record – HB05/01/025

Secondary Sources
1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972.
2. Wilson. J., ‘Shipwrecks of the Ulster coast: From Carlingford Lough to Inishowen Head’ Coleraine: Impact-Amergin, 1979.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Detached two-bay two-storey rendered former coastguard station, built c.1832 and charged with the protection of the shipping and passenger steamers which frequently sailed along Co. Antrim’s east coast. It was the living quarters for the Chief Coastguard Officer. Currently used as a dwelling, this building retains most of its original detailing and overall character of an important public building. It has a fine coastal setting which is enhanced by the sandstone entrance pillars, and It also has group value with the adjacent former coastguard officer's quarters at 80 - 84 Coast Road (HB05.01.034A,B and C) - also listed.