Shed belonging to 'Kilkeel Fishing Supplies'

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Plain, utilitarian, long single storey storey shop / store with Belfast Truss roof, built in two sections the larger front section dating from 1935, the rear possibly added a few years later. The building is situated on the SW quay of Kilkeel harbour, to the E of the town centre.

As stated above, this building has a plain utilitarian appearance. The extension to the rear (which is largely hidden from view) is slightly broader than that to front; the front section measures roughly 21m x 11, the rear section roughly 15m x 13.

The (curved gabled) front (NE) elevation is in roughcast render and has a large central flat-arched vehicle entrance with sliding timber double door. To the left and right of the doorway there is a square window, that to left with a modern timber frame, that to right boarded up. Above the doorway is the date ‘1935’ in moulded numerals. Various timber signboards to front. The long NW elevation is rendered and has at least three windows of various sizes to the left hand side, all with modern timber frames. Much of the right hand side could not be seen due the proximity of several large metal containers. The long SE and the rear elevations are hidden from view due to the closeness of neighbouring buildings.

The curved roof of the front section is covered in corrugated metal. The curved roof of the rear section has a similar covering.

Historical information

The larger front section of the building was constructed in 1935, the rear section may have been added a in the later 1930s, but this is not certain. During WWII the building was used as an army cook house.

References- Primary sources
1 Information supplied by the current occupant (December 2002)

The Belfast truss was developed in the mid-nineteenth century to meet the demand for efficient, lightweight and long span roofs brought about by the industrial revolution. A detailed description of the historical development of the Belfast truss is included in the record for HB18/08/139. In brief, the first known reference to a curved wooden felted roof structure supported by bowstring girders is in an advertisement in the Dublin Builder for 1866 by the Belfast firm of felt-makers, McTear & Co. McTear’s continued making trusses until they went out of business in 1908.

A second Belfast felt supplier, Anderson & Co., began to produce trusses, to a slightly different design, in 1886. In 1896, Anderson’s launched their Mk II version; promoted as maximising long spans whilst maintaining light weight. This model was subsequently used by other companies, and is referred to by historians as the Belfast truss, although this term is widely used to apply to all timber bowstring trusses where the internal bracing members meet not on the bottom of the truss as was the convention but on the top curved member.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Plain, utilitarian, long single storey storey shop / store with Belfast Truss roof, built in two sections the larger front section dating from 1935, the rear possibly added a few years later. This building is noteworthy in that it contains an unsual form of Belfast Truss with ‘N’-shaped bracings.

General comments

Surveyed as part of the Belfast Roof Truss survey.