Boat House

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An oblong-shaped rubble stone boathouse located on the shores of Belfast Laugh off the Craigdarragh Road in Helens Bay. Concrete barrel roof with bitumen covering. Rubble stone walling with raised parapet at east elevation. Segmental-arched opening to east with replacement steel doors. North and south elevations have single blocked-up openings (that to north retains its granite cill); west elevation blank.

Setting

The boat house is set on the shore of Belfast Lough and is accessed via a long private lane to the north west of the Craigdarragh Road, Helens Bay. The listed Coastguard Cottages (HB23/15/044A-J) are located a short distance away to the south-east. The North Down Coastal Path passes immediately to the south; concrete slipway and shingle bay to east; rock outcrop to north.

Roof: Bitumen covered concrete
Walling: Stone
Windows: Blocked-up
RWG: N/A

Historical information

This boathouse is thought to belong to Helen's Bay Coastguard station. The Coastguard cottages(HB23/15/004A-H) were built in 1856 by Lord Dufferin and Clandeboye under the supervision of his agent, Mortimer Thomson.

The buildings are first shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1858 captioned ‘Coast Guard Station’. A ‘Flag Staff’ and ‘Boat Ho[use]’ are also shown. Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64) lists a Coast Guard Station and land occupied by the Board of Admiralty and leased from Lord Dufferin. The buildings are valued at £34.10s.

The primary purpose of the Coastguard during the first half of the nineteenth century was to prevent smuggling and thereby protect government revenue. Lifesaving was not an official function until 1922 but many valiant rescues were nonetheless carried out by the coastguard. For example, in 1893 the Helen’s Bay coastguard were involved in rescuing the crew of the schooner ‘Clans’ of Chester which had become stranded in Helen’s Bay. (Mayne, p.14, Board of Trade Journal)

The Coast Guard in Ireland was established in 1822 and by 1824 there were stations along the entire coastline of Ireland, the main contraband at the time being unprocessed tobacco, which was heavily used by working people while being subject to heavy taxation. The coastguard force was usually unpopular with local people and although, initially, crews were given rented accommodation in the villages and towns near the stations, this was eventually deemed unsatisfactory and dwellings were built for them on stations themselves. Crews in Ireland were often seen as representatives of the Crown and attracted additional, political, hostility. At the same time it was thought inadvisable for them to fraternise too closely with local people. (Mayne, p.16)

In 1856 the coastguard was transferred to the Admiralty and its functions were redefined to include being a coastal defensive force and a naval reserve in case of war as well as the protection of revenue. Responsibility for building and maintenance of coastguard buildings was given to the Board of Public Works and a second phase of station building took place, most buildings being based on the designs of E Trevor Owens, brother-in-law of Charles Lanyon. It is not clear why the building of Clandeboye coastguard station was not entrusted to the Board of Public Works, but it is known that Lord Dufferin took an active interest in the aesthetic properties of the dwellings on his estate and he may have preferred to exert greater control over the process than would otherwise have been possible.

Lord Dufferin’s involvement with the Coastguard Station, called Clandeboye until at least 1890, at about which time the name was changed to Helen’s Bay Coastguard Station, continued for some years, and the crew of the station clearly considered themselves to be under his patronage.

There are no changes in Annual Revisions but the station is captioned ‘Helen’s Bay Coastguard Station’ on the third edition of 1900-2. The 1901 Belfast and Province of Ulster Street Directory lists the crew of Clandeboye Coastguard Station as: John Pring, chief boatman; boatmen, Palmer, Pinwell, Mackay, and Purdy Kerr; coastguards, McEwan, Telint, Robertson. The 1907 edition, now referring to the station as Helen's Bay, lists the crew as: Henry Brunsen, chief boatman; boatmen, T. Dickson, T. Dingley; coastguards, T. Seagrove, A. White, and M. Gunning.
The station master was James Thompson.

By 1925 the building was no longer in use as a Coastguard station and a letter from Mrs John Murry survives in which she appeals directly to the then Prime Minister James Craig for one of the houses, “I was told if I would speak to you a word from you would get one for no one would go against you”. The prime minister’s office referred her request to the Ministry of Finance for sympathetic consideration.

References:

Primary Sources

1 PRONI OS/6/3/1/2 – Second Edition OS map 1858
2 PRONI OS/6/3/1/3 – Third Edition OS Map 1900-02
3 PRONI OS/6/3/1/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1919-31
4 PRONI OS/6/3/1/5 – Fifth Edition OS Map 1938-41
5 PRONI VAL/2/B/3/1 – Griffith’s Valuation Map (1856-64)
6 PRONI VAL/2/B/3/1B – Griffith’s Valuation (1856-64)
7 PRONI VAL/12/B/23/7A-K – Annual Revisions (1866-99)
8 PRONI VAL/12/B/23/8A-C – Annual Revisions (1894-1923)
9 PRONI D1071/A/K/1B/5/1 - Dufferin Estate Papers (1856)
10 PRONI D1071/A/K/1B/18/1 - Dufferin Estate Papers (1856)
11 PRONI D1071/A/K/1F/1 - Dufferin Estate Papers (1898)
12 PRONI D1071/H/B/N/56/1 - Letter from Thomas Nester to Lord Dufferin (10 Sept 1879)
13 PRONI D1071/H/B/K/24/1-4 - Letters from Richard Keane to Lord Dufferin (1890-98)
14 PRONI PM/2/13/391 – Letter from Mrs John Murry to Sir James Craig PM (27th March 1925)
15 Board of Trade Journal, 1893, Vol 14, p.390
16 Belfast and Province of Ulster Street Directory, 1901
17 Belfast and Province of Ulster Street Directory, 1907

Secondary Sources

1 MacKnight, T “Ulster As It Is or Twenty-Eight Years’ Experience as an Irish Editor” London: Macmillan, 1896
2 Mayne, D “19th Century Coastguard Stations in Mourne” in 12 Miles of Mourne, Journal of Mourne Local Studies Group, Volume 7, 1996, p.13-28

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A rectangular rubble stone boathouse located on the shores of Belfast Lough off the Craigdarragh Road in Helens Bay. Not considered of special interest in the context of its type.

General comments

Partial Survey only