35 Woodvale Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Attached asymmetrical three-bay two-storey red brick former house, built c.1865, with two-storey rendered extension to rear, built c.2000. Square on plan facing south and set back on the north side of Woodvale Road with bitmac paved front parking area.

Pitched artificial slate roof with roll-moulded clay ridge tiles, replacement timber box fascia and replacement metal rainwater goods. Red brick walling laid in Flemish bond and painted stone plinth course. Slender round-headed window openings formed in flush yellow brick toothed surrounds with painted masonry sills and original horizontally-glazed 2/2 timber sash windows without horns.

Three-bay front elevation comprises an advanced gabled bay to the left with paired windows to the first floor and group of three windows to the ground floor. Wall-head dormer window to the right with paired windows at ground floor level and shallow entrance porch projection to the central bay having lead-lined flat roof with dentilated cornice and round-headed door opening. Four-panelled timber door having bolection mouldings and etched glass fanlight. Door opens onto two concrete paved steps flanked by a stone plinth wall with partial cast-iron bootscraper.

Two-bay west side elevation has two wall-head dormers to the first floor and paired windows to the ground floor.

Cement rendered rear elevation abutted by single-storey red brick extension. UPVC windows to rear elevation with concrete sills.

East side elevation abutted by adjoining two-storey commercial building.

Roof : Artificial slate
RWG : Replacement metal
Walling: Red brick
Windows: Original timber sash

Setting:

Located on the north side of Woodvale with front parking area and driveway passing the west side elevation.

Historical information

No. 35 Woodvale Road, a two-storey red-brick house located on the north side of the Woodvale Road in the townland of Edenderry, was constructed in c. 1865. The house was constructed in the mid-19th century as part of the early development of housing in the area. In the early-19th century the Woodvale Road area was predominantly rural in character but the growth of the linen industry resulted in the urbanisation of the area. Clarke states that ‘there were bleachworks, beetling mills, bleach greens [and] at least ten bleaching complexes in the West Belfast area in the opening decades of the 19th century … the majority of these used the waters of the Farset and Forth’ (Clarke, p. viii-ix). The industrialisation of the area resulted in the construction of rows of worker’s houses by the 1850s. By the mid-Victorian period the area had become a thriving residential suburb with Woodvale Park laid out in 1887 (HB26/38/002).

No. 35 Woodvale Road was originally constructed as a semi-detached dwelling along with the adjoining No. 33 (now demolished) in c. 1865. The pair were originally known as ‘Woodville Terrace’ and were first recorded in the 1865 Belfast Street Directory which noted that the ‘two new Villas [were] not yet named.’ The Annual Revisions note that No. 35 Woodvale Road was originally valued at £17 and was initially leased by Thomas Murphy (lessor of both houses) to Samuel Atkinson, a law agent. In the 1880s the house was occupied by Charles Cotton who was proprietor of the Brookfield Foundry. The foundry, which was located in Sydney Street West, was established by Stephen Cotton in 1856 and continued to operate from its premises in West Belfast until 1962. By the turn of the 20th century No. 35 Woodvale Road had passed to a Ms. Martha Davis who derived her income from renting property. The 1901 census described her house as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of 10 rooms and possessed a fowl house and shed as its sole outbuildings (the census described the adjoining semi-detached property in similar terms).

In c. 1930 the house passed to a Ms. Jane McDowell who continued to reside at the address for the following 70 years. No. 35 Woodvale Road was severely damaged during the Luftwaffe attack on Belfast during the Blitz of 1941. Woodville Terrace suffered a direct hit by a bomb which destroyed the roof, ceilings and original windows of No. 35 Woodvale Road whilst the adjoining No. 33 was irrevocably damaged and was demolished following the attack. Following the attack No. 35 Woodvale Road was repaired and revalued at £26 by the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The two-storey red brick building located to the south-east side of No. 35 was constructed in 1956. The Murphy family retained ownership of No. 35 Woodvale Road until at least the 1970s and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total rateable value of the building stood at £30.

No. 35 Woodvale Road was listed in 1991. The NIEA HB Records note that the building underwent a renovation in c. 1992 when the roof was replaced to the rear of the dwelling. Following the death of Jane McDowell in c. 2006 a survey of the building was made and found it to have fallen into a poor state of repair. No. 35 Woodvale Road has since been converted into office premises. (NIEA HB Records).

References

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931
4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938
5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/16-31 – Annual Revisions (1882-1905)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/M/4-7 – Annual Revisions (1906-1930)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/22 – First General Revaluation of Property I Northern Ireland (1936-57)
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/35 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Belfast Street Directories (1865-1943)
10. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
11. First Survey Record – HB26/37/007 (No Date)
12. NIEA HB Records – HB26/37/007

Secondary Sources
1. Clarke, R. S. J., ‘Gravestone Inscriptions: Belfast Vol. 1’ Belfast: Ulster Historical Foundation, 1982.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
R. Age
S. Authenticity

Evaluation

Attached asymmetrical three-bay two-storey red brick former house, built c.1900, with two-storey rendered extension to rear, built c.2000. One of a pair, originally named 'Woodvale Terrace', the adjoining No.33 Woodvale Road was irrevocably damaged during the Blitz in 1941. This building also suffered damage as the roof, ceilings and original windows were destroyed. The interior has lost much of its original detailing. Nonetheless, the layout has been largely retained and the external appearance remains intact. The modest proportions and polychromatic brick façade are a good example of late Victorian domestic architecture and contribute historic value to the surrounding area.