368 Beersbridge Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Semi-detached two-bay two-storey Scrabo sandstone cottage with half-hipped natural slate roof, dated 1880, most likely by architects Young & Mackenzie. Rectangular plan form facing south with entrance canopy to west side elevation, and single storey returns to rear. Forming part of a row of three pairs of semi-detached cottages to the north of Beersbridge Road, (HB26/10/002 A-F).

Half-hipped roof of natural slate, with projecting eaves, original redbrick chimneystacks to the west and shared redbrick chimneystack to east with corbelled coping and red-clay chimney pots. Front elevation of roof has exposed rafters, bracketed half round cast-iron guttering and circular cast-iron downpipes. West side of roof has exposed purlins and angled red-clay hip-tiles. Stone walling laid in un-coursed rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with cut stone plinth course, continuous cut stone sill to first floor and windows flanked by stone dressings on painted sills.

The front elevation has two asymmetrical bays each with a square-headed window to the ground floor and a flat-headed lucarne (dormer built off face of the wall) with a natural slate roof. The square-headed window openings at ground floor have a discharging arch over the lintels with original 1/1 double hung sash windows having ogee horns. Both ground and first floor openings to east bay consist of paired, double hung sash windows.

The west side elevation has decorative timber barge boards and has a projecting entrance canopy with a natural slate hipped roof supported by timber brackets with half-round cast-iron guttering and circular cast-iron downpipes. The replacement half-glazed timber panelled front door to the porch has brass door furniture and a small fanlight. The entrance is recessed and faces west, opening onto two tiled steps. There is a cast iron boot scraper built into a small arched recess, in the wall to the right of the entrance. The square-headed window openings have a discharging arch over the lintels, ground floor window and doorway to west have painted jambs to match painted sill. The west side elevation is abutted by a stone wall laid in un-coursed rock-faced Scrabo sandstone with cut stone plinth course, cut-stone capping and a square-headed door opening with a sheeted timber door.

The east side elevation is attached to adjoining house No 370 (HB26/10/002D).

No access to the rear was granted. However, it would appear that there is a single storey extension to the rear of the stone yard wall. Rear elevation also appears to have two rebuilt dormer windows, similar to those in adjoining buildings.

The front has a part paved, concrete and gravelled driveway and a lawned garden enclosed by a timber fence, accessed by a cast iron gate.

Materials:
Roof: natural slate
Walling: Scrabo sandstone
RWG: cast iron
Windows: timber sash

Historical information

No. 368 Beersbridge Road, a semi-detached two-storey stone cottage, was constructed in 1880. The cottage, along with the neighbouring nos 364-366 and 370-374 Beersbridge Road (HB26/10/002A-B and D-F), were constructed as part of the easterly expansion of the town of Belfast which occurred during the late-Victorian period. Having formerly been characterised by its Georgian townhouses, Belfast’s town centre was redeveloped into a predominantly commercial area by the mid-to-late-nineteenth century. With the continued expansion of the town and the subsequent increase in population, a surge in the construction of new residential streets and terraced dwellings was undertaken in areas outside the town’s former urban boundary.

Nos 364-374 Beersbridge Road were most likely designed by Young & Mackenzie, a local partnership that the Dictionary of Irish Architects describes as ‘the most successful architectural practise in Belfast … the leading architects for the Presbyterian Church in the North East [who also] received some of the most important commercial commissions in the city.’ Young & Mackenzie’s papers record that the firm designed five double cottages for the Bloomfield Land & Building Co. Ltd. along the Beersbridge Road (nos 382-400) in 1878; these ten redbrick dwellings were joined by the neighbouring nos 376-380 in 1880. Nos 364-374 Beersbridge Road were also constructed in 1880 for the Bloomfield Land & Building Co. Ltd. and are remarkably similar in design to the cottages designed by Young & Mackenzie, however nos 364-374 are more impressive, possessing additional dormer windows and employing Scrabo Sandstone in their facades.

No. 368 Beersbridge Road was first recorded in the valuation sources in 1880 when the Annual Revisions set its rateable value at £15. The building was leased by The Bloomfield Land & Building Co. Ltd., which was formed by the landowning Boyd family in 1874 to secure leases for building projects in the East Belfast townlands of Ballyhackamore and Ballycloughan. The valuations also note that No. 368 Beersbridge Road was also known as ‘Rose Hill Cottage’ and that the first recorded occupant was a Mr. James King. By 1911 Rose Hill Cottage was occupied by John Miller, a clerk in the local shipyards; in that year the census building return described King’s property as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of six rooms. By the cancellation of the Annual Revisions in 1930 the total rateable value of the cottage had been only slightly decreased to £14 10s. However, under the First Revaluation (1935) this was raised to £28 at which it remained by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72).

No. 368 Beersbridge Road was listed, along with the adjoining cottages, in 1984. In 1985-86 two replacement dormers windows were built to the rear of the dwelling.
References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/3/4/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map (1901)
2. PRONI D2194/2/2 – Young & Mackenzie Papers (1878)
3. PRONI VAL/12/B/17/2C-2G – Annual Revisions (1879-1897)
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/1-10 – Annual Revisions (1897-1930)
5. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/11 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1935)
6. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/25 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
7. Ulster Town Directories (1877-1943)
8. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
9. First Survey Record – HB26/10/002 (1984)
10. First Survey Image – HB26/10/002 (No Date)
11. NIEA HB Records – HB26/10/002C

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects website - http://www.dia.ie/
2. Natural Stone Database website - http://www.stonedatabase.com

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

Semi-detached stone house dating from 1880 and most likely to the designs of the prominent Belfast firm of architects - Young & Mackenzie. The building has a half-hipped slate roof and single-storey returns to rear. The majority of external original fabric and detailing survives intact and the exterior has retained its character, style and proportions. The building has group value with the adjacent row of semi-detached houses to the north of Beersbridge Road, all listed HB26/10/002 B & D-F.