'The Harbour Inn' Public House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Large two storey public house of c.1905 with distinctive outsized Jacobean style gables to front. The property is situated on the E side of the S end of South Promenade, overlooking the shore to the S of Newcastle town centre.

The front façade faces roughly W and is asymmetrical. It consists of two large, over-sized Jacobean style gables. The gable to the left (N) has a central timber panelled door to the ground floor with blocked ‘fanlight’ recess with segmental arched head. To the right of this are a pair of openings with similar arch heads. These used to be a pair of windows but that to the right has been made into a doorway, with door as before. That to the right still retains its sash window. To the right of the central doorway are a pair of windows as previous. To the right of these, positioned between the gables, is a single similar sash window, then, to the right gable, a broad, flat headed, doorway with double doors and a group of three sash windows with flat heads. The ground floor openings are all ‘linked’ by a moulded string course, which continues around the heads of most of the openings, with moulded keystones to those with segmental heads.

To the first floor of the left gable are three evenly spaced windows each with semicircular heads, the centre taller. That to the centre has a sash frame, the outer windows have modern frames. To the first floor of the right gable are two flat headed windows with modern frames. The front façade is finished in plain render and painted.

The N façade has a doorway, as centre of left front gable, but with more recent partly glazed door to the left. To the left of this, two windows with segmental heads, as front left. These openings are linked by a string course as front. Large internally illuminated sign between windows to right. Steps and low wall to doorway. This façade is finished as front.

To the S side of the building there is a single storey gable section, which appears to have once been a store but has now been converted to a small restaurant. This obscures the ground floor of the main building. The exposed upper floor has a large modern window to the left and two smaller windows, with modern frames, to the centre and right. This portion of the façade appears to be finished in pebbledash.

The rear façade comprises two gables, linked by a single storey flat roofed section. Both gables have a mixture of window and door openings, most of them modern. The gable to the left (S) has a much shallower pitch than that to the right. The rear façade is finished in rough cast and painted.

Both main sections of the roof were originally gabled but that to the S is actually hipped to the W side. Both appear to be mainly covered in natural slate, though the N side of the section to the N has asbestos slate’. This side also has three large gabled dormers, which were added recently. The other side of this section of the roof has at least three modern rooflights and a tall rendered chimney stack. PVC rw goods. Modern low rendered wall to front.

Historical information

This building appears to have been built c.1905 and originally contained a house to the north and a shop to the south. It has been a public house since the mid 1970s at least. The openings to the front gable have been much altered over the years; originally there were large roundel windows to the first floor of each gable and a shop front to that to the south.

References- Primary sources
1 PRONI OS/8/136/1-4 OS plans of Newcastle, 1901.

Secondary sources
1 P.J. Rankin, 'Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in the Mourne Area of South Down', (Belfast UAHS 1975), p.74.
2 Grenfell Morton ‘Victorian and Edwardian Newcastle’ (Belfast 1988).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Large and unusual two storey public house of c.1905 with distinctive outsized Jacobean style gables to front. This building appears to have begun life as a house and shop. Its openings have been much altered over the years and the north face of the roof has three large modern dormers.