Jameson Street Sign

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Freestanding street sign of c.1905 at the junction of Ormeau Road and Jameson Street, at the Southern end of Ormeau Road. The sign faces South South West and is located at back of public pavement between asphalt and block paving behind. A modern street lamp is immediately adjacent to the South East.

This sign is typical of those used throughout the then Belfast Corporation area in the early to mid 20th century, being composed white on black encaustic tiles sporting slightly elongated sans serif lettering. The glazed tiles themselves are roughly 12cm high and of slightly varying widths according to the nature of the character thereon, with most displaying a white letter on a black background, in this case spelling JAMESON STREET (one word above the other.) They are set on what seems to be a cement back plate with additional blank tiles used to fill the extra space on the lower row at both ends. Moulded tiling frames the sign and this is encased with a mild steel angle frame, mitred and welded, which is attached to a pair of wrought iron angle posts. Frame and posts are painted black.

The mild steel frame exhibits severe corrosion and delamination which has caused the tiled section to bow outwards, resulting in a vertical crack which runs through the sign centre. The tiled border exhibits loss of moulding to the left and bottom sides. Several letters have loss of infill which is seen to be 1/8" deep. Posts are clean with minor surface corrosion.

Historical information

It is difficult to date the introduction of the various iterations of Belfast street sign designs precisely. What evidence we do have suggests that prior to the early 1900s there was little uniformity, with developers or residents seemingly taking it upon themselves to install signs whose style may have varied from street to street.

The move towards the standardisation of signage by Belfast Corporation seems to have begun in late 1904 when that body’s Police Committee established a sub-committee for the purpose of looking into the matter. It would appear that this group decided upon a form of enamel signage, but in July 1907 this was rescinded with councillors agreeing that, ‘in future tile street signs be used in leading thoroughfares, and iron signs in other streets in accordance with the patterns now submitted’, and prohibited the ‘erection of hanging signs or projecting signs’ in the main arteries.

This effort towards uniformity was doubtless prompted by the rapid growth of the city itself at this time, and the need for legible markers through which new streets could be recognised. It may also have been given further impetus by the Corporation’s takeover (and electrification) of the city’s tram system in 1905, many passengers undoubtedly needing clear identifiers for the various roads along their journey. And so, it appears likely that the introduction - or at least the widespread adoption - of the freestanding white on black ceramic signs, and the similarly coloured ceramic or iron wall-mounted signs (in those locations where end properties were much closer to the thoroughfare itself), may be dated to around this time. The first of these signs could well have been erected along the tram routes, with other streets beyond the tramlines following. It is possible, of course, that some such 'tiled' signs already existed at this point; however, the regularity of those that have survived - distinctive sans serif lettering, fluted cast-iron column with ball finial - seems to indicate that all are Corporation installations of 1907 or later.

By tracking the dates when the various streets were developed, it would appear that the cast-iron columns holding up the freestanding signs began to be superseded by square section concrete posts around the early 1930s. This version was being used along newly developed streets in 1951, and tenders for the supply of 'glazed tile sign letters', were still being advertised by the Corporation up until late 1955, so presumably this combination remained current until that date at least.

Jameson Street - Jameson Street was laid out in 1896 along the northern boundary of what had been the garden of 'Retreat Lodge', a pre-1855 house formerly the home of the Spence family. Just beyond the north-western corner of this garden facing onto Ormeau Road, was a c.1840s public house that had been run by Hugh Black. An early photograph of the junction of the new street and Ormeau Road – possibly taken c.1910 - shows no evidence of a freestanding street sign at this location. In 1935 the old pub was demolished and the original section of the Errigle Inn public house was built on its site. A photo of perhaps the later 1930s shows a tile sign similar to the present attached to the south-facing gable of the new premises. By c.1950 a narrow railed-in space had been created next to this gable and a photo of this period shows the sign seemingly attached to the railings. At some point before c.1965 the railings appear to have been renewed and the sign was removed and placed on what would seem to be its present supports.

References - Primary sources
1 ‘Banner of Ulster’, p.3 – 23 October 1855
2 OS town plans of Belfast, sheet 55 – 1858, 1873, 1884, 1896, 1901-03
3 PRONI LA7/10/AB/1/12 Belfast Corporation Police Committee minutes, Oct 1904 - Nov 1907
4 ‘Belfast Telegraph’, 26 July 1907
5 'Belfast News-Letter', 31 December 1937, 28 November 1955
6 'Northern Whig', 13 June 1949

Secondary sources
7 “Word on the street”, lecture delivered by Liam McComish at ATypI conference, Dublin, Sept. 2010
8 The Errigle Inn website [https://errigle.com/about/]

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A tiled street sign of the traditional Belfast type supported on two wrought-iron uprights, at the junction of the Ormeau Road and Jameson Street, Belfast. Jameson Street was laid out in 1896, but map evidence suggests that the present sign may be of 1905 or slightly later. Photographic and map evidence as well as the sign's unprotected back/lack of casing suggest that it was originally mounted to a building before being moved to railings and then a freestanding position. As such, the sign is unlikley to be in it's original location; it has replacement square section steel uprights which are of a more recent date. Though of local interest and despite making a valuable contribution to the streetscape, the sign does not meet the criteria for listing.