Boundary Post near Shaws Bridge

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A cast iron administrative marker showing the outer extent of the jurisdiction of Belfast Corporation (as Belfast City Council was then known), and of a District Electoral Division and Ward within it. These are likely to have both been Cromac but the usual affixed plaque, detailing this, has been removed. See a more typical boundary post along this section of the Lagan where it meets Newforge Lane – HB26 17 128.
Embedded in the grass on the West bank of the River Lagan about 50m North of Shaws Bridge.
Of slightly tapered cylindrical profile, the post measures 3 feet high by 1ft diameter. It has a banded octagonal base, oversailing octagonal collar, supported on a splayed dentil casting and a slightly smaller spoked cap. The front bears the shield of Belfast Corporation’s coat of arms and the lettering LIAMENTA BOUNDARY OF BOROUGH – there is evidence of some further lettering below but it has been removed, presumably when the usual plaque, detailing the Parliamentary Division and Ward, also removed, was affixed.

Historical information

This boundary post is undated, but is first marked on the OS map of 1920, suggesting it was probably placed here in 1918 following the passing of the Representation of the People Act in that year (see below). Unlike most of Belfast’s Parliamentary boundary posts this particular example has completely lost the bolted-on plaque relating to its particular constituency boundary. The loss of this has revealed an original legend, part of which was deliberately ground away (see main description); this could suggest, perhaps, that this is in fact a pre-1918 post that was relocated from elsewhere. Interestingly, the 1894 and 1901 OS maps both mark a boundary post on the nearby original Shaw’s Bridge itself. In fact, the design of all of Belfast's existing posts is very similar to a post dated 1858 which survives on the west side of High Street, Holywood, Co. Down, suggesting - at very least - continuity in terms of local design, and, as appears to be the case here, the reuse of earlier posts.

The County of the Borough of Belfast was created under the Local Government Act 1898 and enacted the following year. The new borough was divided into four constituencies for the purposes of parliamentary elections to the Westminster House of Commons (this was pre-Partition and creation of Stormont) – North, East, West and South. Each division had its own Member of Parliament.

Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, the existing four constituencies were abolished and their number increased to nine - Cromac, Duncairn, Falls, Ormeau, Pottinger, St Anne’s, Shankill, Victoria, and Woodvale. Each new parliamentary division had its own MP and encompassed one or several municipal wards; the latter were used for elections to Belfast Corporation.

These new constituencies were first used in the General Election of 14 December 1918, just over a month after the cessation of the First World War. This particular election took place under the Representation of the People Act 1918 (also known as the Fourth Reform Act). It is of special significance in that, for the first time, all men over 21 years of age and all women over 30 could vote; it was also the first election to be completed within the one day. Previously, only male property owners but no women could vote, and the election was spread out over several weeks.

With the inception of the devolved parliament for Northern Ireland in 1922, the number of Westminster MPs was greatly reduced. The parliamentary constituencies, created only four years before, were abolished and the previous Belfast seats restored. The municipal wards, however, continued to be used for local elections for some time thereafter

Belfast Corporation was superseded by Belfast City Council in 1973 and its jurisdiction extended beyond its former borough boundary.

References – Primary Sources
1. Local Government Act 1898.
2 OS maps, 1894, 1901, 1920-21, 1931, 1955-56

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
Z. Rarity
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A cast iron marker dated 1918, in its original location, near Shaw's Bridge, displaying an ornamental capping and a partially removed inscribing. It marks the outer extent of the administrative jurisdiction of Belfast Corporation (as Belfast City Council was then known), and of a District Electoral Division. It is of historic importance as a remnant of the first election in Britain and Ireland when nearly everyone (bar women under 30) had the right to vote. It also marks the short-lived period in the province’s political development up to the formation of Northern Ireland and the Stormont administration in 1922. It is relatively rare as many of these posts have succumbed to road widening and removal. It has group value with the three other similar boundary posts along the Lagan HB26 17 128, 129 and 130.