Boundary Marker

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Free-standing cast-iron boundary marker of c.1900, relocated on a lawn within the grounds of 171 Rosevale House behind a low concrete wall to the south of Moira Road.

Circular plan cast-iron bollard approximately 3 feet tall with moulded plinth base, collar moulding and octagonal cap surmounted by diminutive dome. The shaft has raised lettering, intact and discernible; stating: 'Lisburn Town Boundary'.

Setting:
Located on a lawn within the grounds of 171 Rosevale House behind a low concrete wall to the south of Moira Road.

Material:
Cast-iron.

Historical information

This boundary post is of the type used to designate the limits of the former Urban District Councils, and is identical to that still extant post on Moore's Bridge (Hillsborough Road) which marked the southern extremity of Lisburn UDC. This jurisdiction (in common with others throughout Ireland) was established in 1899 under the Local Government (Ireland) Act of the previous year, and it is likely that such posts were put in place shortly afterwards as they are shown on the 1903 OS map. No post is marked in this particular location, however, as the western limit of the UD was originally further to the east, crossing the Moira Road at the junction of Ballinderry Road. At some point between 1939 and 1965 the edge of the designation was shifted to the immediate west of this property - Rosevale House, and the maps show that the post was relocated accordingly but placed on the opposite side of the road to where it now stands. With the abolition of all UDCs in 1973 the post became obsolete, and indeed it is not marked on any of the OS surveys after 1965. The plot on the northern side of the road was redeveloped c.1990s and it is likely that the post, uprooted during landscaping at this time, was salvaged and placed in its current position, in the lawn in front of Rosevale House.

References:
1 PRONI OS6/1/68/3 OS map, Antrim sheet 68, 1903
2 HED OS sheet 165-9, 1965
3 HED OS sheet 165-9, 1971
4 HED OS sheet 165-9, 1976

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

Free-standing cast-iron boundary marker, erected c.1900 and located on a lawn in the grounds of Rosevale House (HB19.10.003A), south of Moira Road. Although earlier and less decorated, it bears some resemblence to the boundary posts that were erected in Belfast to mark the 1918 electoral boundaries. A curious remnant of a late nineteenth or early twentieth-century effort to mark Lisburn's west boundary which remains as an interesting piece of street furniture. However, this post has been relocated twice and presently sits behind a wall within a private garden. In this context it is somewhat arbitrary as the historical significance of the original boundary line is lost; it is therefore not considered to be of special interest.

General comments

This record was previously included in the record for Rosevale House - HB19/10/003.