25 Lower Island Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A two-storey, three-bay gabled block with single-storey wings, the one to the south containing a pair of coupled semi-circular headed windows, with the wing to the north blank; originally a railway station but now a private house. Asbestos slates to roof; PVC gutters and downpipes; walls rendered with dry dash of limestone chippings; windows in front face of main block are rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung with semi-circular heads, 2 over 2, with horns; windows to rear are PVC replacements.

Setting: The building is located in a rural area and stands adjacent to a contemporary bridge carrying the main road over the railway line. The former platform and yard areas of the station have been developed as gardens.

Historical information

Built in 1863 as a railway station to the designs of the architect Charles Lanyon, engineer to the Carrickfergus and Larne Railway company; originally built of stone and brick. Prior to its erection there was only a temporary platform when the line first opened in 1862.

References - Primary Sources

1. Old photograph in possession of owner in 1998 (shows station in original Condition).

Secondary Sources

1. J.R.L. Currie, The Northern Counties Railway, Vol I (Newton Abbot, 1973), pp 139 and 141.
2. W. A. McCutcheon, The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland (HMSO, Belfast, 1980), p 123, and p 207 note 138.
3. IHR 5585:17.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A building of some interest as originally a work by a distinguished architect and engineer but it has been drastically altered with the loss of original elements.