Coach Yard

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Situated immediately NW of Helen’s Bay Station on avenue between Helen’s Bay and Clandeboye House, this early 1860s coach yard is of octagonal plan, elongated along its N-S axis. It enabled horse-drawn vehicles to execute a U turn in Clandeboye Avenue, here running in a cutting, having dropped off or picked up their fares at Helen’s Bay Station (HB23/15/039A). Both the walls and floor of the yard are now heavily overgrown, making close inspection virtually impossible.

The yard is bounded to all but its N and S sides by a high wall of quarried random rubble blackstone. A parapet runs along the top of the wall, delineated along its base and top by an ashlar sandstone string course.

At ground level on the east wall is a doorway, now infilled with concrete blocks, which formerly gave access to a staircase up to the private waiting room in the station building (see station for details). The doorway arch is of segmental profile and has stepped ashlar sandstone jambs and sandstone voussoir with moulded intrados.

In the wall above the doorway is a recessed panel. Although now obscured by ivy, old photographs show it to contain a panel with the Dufferin family crest. The panel is trimmed in sandstone ashlar, with a two-centred head rising from single imposts. The parapet and its associated sandstone courses all rise over the panel. Although the staircase apparently had a glass roof, it was also lit by four slit openings in the east wall; only one of these slits is now not obscured by ivy.

Setting

Located in Helen's Bay on the Clandeboye Avenue to the north-west of the railway station (HB23/15/039A). To the east are the station platforms (HB23/15/039B) and to the north the associated road bridge (HB23/15/039F) with stone retaining walls beyond which extend some distance to the north on either side of Clandeboye Avenue. At the south end of the yard, the avenue continues towards Clandeboye under a railway bridge (HB23/15/039D). At the north end, the avenue continues in the Helen’s Bay direction.

Walling: stone

Historical information

This yard was designed at the behest of the Marquis of Dufferin & Ava by Benjamin Ferrey as part of his overall design for Helen’s Bay Station which opened in 1865.

References – Primary Sources:

1. PRONI T3020/145/1 – Architectural drawings of Helen’s Bay Station by Benjamin Ferrey. These are copies of ones in the Clandeboye Estate Archive which are dated 1862.

References – Secondary Sources:
1. McCutcheon, W.A. The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, p.178 (Belfast: HMSO)

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity
V. Authorship

Evaluation

This coach yard dates from the early 1860s and was designed by Benjamin Ferrey for the 1st Marquis of Dufferin & Ava as an adjunct to Helen's Bay Railway Station. It forms an integral part of the station complex, being the means of accessing the Dufferin family’s private waiting room therein via a flight of stairs. It forms an interesting feature of Clandeboye Avenue and has group value with the station complex (HB23/15/039A-F). In the context of Northern Ireland, it is an unusual and rare feature.

General comments

Included in Helen's Bay Area of Village Character. Now heavily overgrown with trees and ivy. This was formerly recorded as HB23/15/037. This record was then incorporated in the record HB23/15/039.

HB23/15/039 formerly incorporated the station building, platforms, railway bridge and coach yard. These are now recorded as HB23/15/039A, HB23/15/039B HB23/15/039D and HB23/15/039 E respectively.