Belfast Royal Academy

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A High Victorian two-storey building with attic and basement in Gothic-Scottish Baronial style dating from 1878-1880 to designs by the architect Robert Young of Young & Mackenzie. This purpose-built school was constructed by the local firm Thomas Dixon & Sons. Rectangular plan with a four-stage tower to front and circular turrets at the end of both wings. The building is part of the Belfast Royal Academy school on a site that includes a number of modern two to four storey buildings, based at the north side of Cliftonville Road.

Pitched natural slate roof with roll-top red clay ridge tiles. Raised stone verges to gables with kneelers and cut-stone coping. Rectangular section chimney stacks with corbelled coping and clay chimney pots. Ogee cast iron guttering discharging to circular downpipes. Walling is laid in random-coursed tooled ashlar Scrabo Sandstone. Moulded string course between GF and FF.
Depressed three-centred arch windows to basement with multi-paned timber windows. Generally, two or three-part square-headed mullioned windows to GF with splayed cills and relieving arches above; two or three-part round-arched stone mullioned windows to FF with splayed cills. Stone transoms located two-thirds along the overall height of the windows. Pitched roof dormer windows built off the face of the wall to S with raised stone verges and cut stone kneelers having Tudor arch window openings and moulded hoods. Pitched roof dormer windows to N with projecting bracketed timber gablets above square-headed openings with casement windows. All windows have horizontally paned timber sash windows (unless noted otherwise).

Principal elevation:
The principal elevation is symmetrical and faces S. Square plan tower to centre flanked by four-bay wide wings, shallow projecting gables and turrets to corners. Square-plan four-stage tower to centre with four-stage diagonal buttresses topped by octagonal pinnacles. Tudor-arched door opening to first stage with deep moulded surround incorporating decorative carved foliate detail to both the architrave and the spandrels, with the latter inscribed with the dates 1786 and 1881 to the left and right respectively. Double-leaf timber panelled door opening onto a flight of polygonal-plan nosed steps. Three-sided canted oriel window to first-stage with round-arched sash windows having stone transoms and mullions; roundels above having coloured leaded panes. Two small round-arched windows to second-stage with flat-arched moulded hood above; two Tudor-arched traceried louvered openings to third stage to all four elevations of the tower. The tower is topped with castellations and octagonal pinnacles to corners, with intricate carved foliate details to raised stone coursing at joint between pinnacles and the supporting buttresses, and at cornice level.

Four-bay wide wings to each side of tower. The bays are separated by four-stage buttresses topped by engaged pinnacles. Corbelled cornice between FF and attic floor, with head and foliate carvings; dormer windows and castellations above. Shadow projecting gables to each end, both with attached round stair tower. Two windows to B to gables and two paired windows to GF. Large four-part traceried window to FF to E gable, four-part window to W gable. Three-part round-arched windows to attic, taller to centre with flat-arched moulded hood and relieving arch above. Stone apex to gables. Stair turrets to corners have small ogee arch openings, corbelled cornicing with stone carving foliate detail continued to match string course to gable; conical slated roofs and metal weather vanes.

West elevation:
The W elevation consists of the turret to S end, a projecting gabled bay and a recessed bay to N end. The gabled bay is flanked by three-stage diagonal buttresses and has paired square-headed mullioned windows to GF and FF and three-part round-arched windows to attic. Square-headed door openings to south face of projecting wall at GF and FF. Narrow metal bridge with railings connecting the gable with the turret at FF level; stone steps to door open at GF level. Square-headed door opening with chamfered dressed stone surround to GF to recessed bay with a timber panelled door opening onto a raised stone platform accessed by stone steps.

East elevation:
The E elevation is more or less a mirror image of the W elevation and consists of the turret to S end, a projecting gabled bay and a recessed bay to N end. The gabled bay is flanked by three-stage diagonal buttresses and has paired square-headed mullioned windows to GF and FF; three-part round-arched windows and a small square-headed window to attic. Square-headed door opening to south face of projecting wall at GF. Part glazed link corridor connecting the gable with the turret at attic level; stone steps to door open at ground floor level

North elevation:
The rear elevation is symmetrical and faces N having a central projecting gabled return flanked by four-bay wide wings, shallow projecting gabled bays and recessed bay to each side. The central return has a small square-headed window to B; four-part window to FF and four-part Tudor-arch traceried window to SF, both with stained leaded glazing. Square-headed door openings to GF facing E and W with a paired square-headed window above. Opening to E has a double-leaf timber panelled door opening onto six steps; single-leaf timber panelled door to W. Floor levels to return are at a lower level to those on main elevation.

The W wing has segmental arched openings to basement level having a window to first and fourth bay and door openings to remainder. Door openings have double-leaf glazed timber doors. The E wing has segmental arched openings at basement with a window to first bay and door openings to remainder bays with double-leaf glazed timber doors. Three-part square-headed mullioned windows to GF and FF with relieving arches above.

Two-bay wide gable to W with segmental arched openings at basement having a window to E bay and door opening to W with square-headed glazed timber door. Paired square-headed mullioned windows to each bay to GF and FF, and a three-part round-arched window to attic, taller to centre. Recessed two-bay wide elevation to W with square-headed windows and a square-headed door opening having a replacement glazed timber door to GF.

Two-bay wide gable to E with segmental arched openings to basement having a window to W bay door opening to E with square-headed glazed timber door to E bay to B. Paired square-headed mullioned windows to each bay to GF, four-part traceried window to FF, and a three-part round-arched window to attic, taller to centre. The recessed bay beyond mirrors same to the far W.

Setting:
Tarmaced parking to S and tarmaced yard to N. The building is part of the Belfast Royal Academy school on a site including a number of modern two to four storey buildings, based at the north side of Cliftonville Road. The main road frontage is defined by random-coursed tooled ashlar Scrabo sandstone topped by vertically stacked stone coping and tall metal fencing. The main gateway consists of two round-section pillars topped by conical stone coping and ball finials. SE gateway has two square-section pillars with cut-stone coping with gablets. The SW gateway has round-section pillars with rounded stone coping.

Materials:
Roof : Natural slate
RWG: Cast iron
Walling: Random-coursed tooled Scrabo sandstone, with cut stone dressings
Windows : Timber sash windows

Historical information

Belfast Royal Academy is the earliest surviving educational institution in Belfast having been established in the late-18th century. Stewart states that the Academy was founded by prominent members of Belfast’s Presbyterian community in the years prior to the 1798 Rebellion. The Rev. Dr James Crombie, minister of First Belfast Presbyterian, was responsible for the idea to found an institution in Belfast ‘and he hoped to win the support of the town’s well-to-do merchants by providing their sons with an education of high standard.’ The Academy was established during a period of increasing radicalism in Irish politics in the wake of the American Revolution. In 1778 the Volunteer movement had been established in Belfast to provide security after most British troops on the island were redeployed to America. The Oxford Companion to Irish History states that membership of the Volunteers was drawn mainly from the urban and rural middle classes and, although originally intended as a militia unit, ‘took on a wider political importance, both as the expression of an emerging middle class consciousness and as the basis of a new kind of organised extra-parliamentary support for popular causes’ (Oxford, p. 611). Many of the First Officers of Belfast 1st Volunteer Company were prominent local Presbyterians who were the first subscribers of Belfast Academy. Stewart states that ‘the intentions of the Academy’s founders were different from those which might inspire a similar institution today as they arose from the special circumstances of the Presbyterian community in Ulster at the end of the 18th century’ (Stewart). The founding of the Academy, along with the radicalisation of the Volunteer movement, displays how Belfast’s Presbyterian community attempted to alleviate their social condition through both educational and political means.

The Belfast Academy (as it was first known) was established at a site at the corner of Donegal Street and Academy Street (where the street name originates) and was located next to the contemporary St. Anne’s Parish Church which had been erected in 1776. Stewart states that the original Academy building possessed ‘little aesthetic appeal … it seems to have been a three-storey structure like an old warehouse. The classrooms were on the ground floor, a large room for each school [of which there were four] and smaller rooms for the masters. Proper dormitories were made on the upper floors.’ The original school was difficult to maintain and required near constant renovations over a century of occupation (Stewart). Belfast Academy opened to its first pupils on 1st May 1786. The school was established as a non-denominational institution and by 1802 possessed 250 pupils (of whom 50 were boarders). Griffith’s Valuation of property in Belfast records that the three-storey school building was leased by the Marquis of Donegal and was valued at £38 in 1859. The Academy was a success and was described in the 1852 Ulster Town Directory as ‘the first important seminary established in the town. It early gained a high reputation, from the ability with which it was conducted under its successive principals, and is still regarded as one of the best seminaries for classical and mercantile education in the kingdom. The success of this academy first suggested the plan of the Royal Academical Institution’ (UTD).

The Academy made local headlines in 1792 as a result of a highly publicised schoolboy rebellion. When their Easter Holidays were cancelled that year, a number of boarders rose up against their masters and barricaded themselves in one of the classrooms armed with pistols and ‘a considerable quantity of ammunition.’ Besieged throughout the day, the pupils sent their masters terms demanding the reinstatement of their holidays and guarantees that they would not be beaten for their crime. That evening an unsuccessful attempt was made to break down the doors and rush the defenders. The Sovereign of Belfast, the Rev. William Bristow, was called to the scene where he endeavoured to negotiate the lifting of the siege. The pupils replied by firing at the Mayor. Any hope that the pupils would be treated leniently was lost and when the siege was finally broken that evening, the pupils were summarily beaten and expelled (Stewart; Patton, p. 2).

Belfast Academy remained at the corner of Donegal and Academy Streets for over a century before moving to the Cliftonville Road in 1880. The original school had been opened just as Belfast was about to enter a period of rapid expansion and industrial development. Despite the expansion of the city, the opening of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution in 1814 and the development of the National School System in the 1830s resulted in diminishing attendance at the Academy. The attendance of the school reached an all-time low of only 13 pupils in 1863 and the building, which one former pupil described as a ‘dingy edifice’ was no longer fit for purpose. McCamley states that ‘by the second half of the 20th century the fortunes of Belfast’s oldest school had declined almost to the point of despair. A fashionable new building in a prospering northern suburb of the city offered the possibility of restoring the reputation of the school, and with reputation would come, it was confidently expected, an increase in attendance’ (Stewart; McCamley)

The current building on the Cliftonville Road was constructed in 1878-80 at a cost of over £9,950. The governors of the Belfast Academy contracted Robert Young of Young & Mackenzie to design the new building. The Dictionary of Irish Architects described Young & Mackenzie as ‘the most successful architectural practice in Belfast [who] had become the leading architects for the Presbyterian church in the North-East and had also received some of the most important commercial commissions in the city.’ Robert Young had been a past pupil of the Academy and carried out the design of the new school in the emerging Scots Baronial style (the school was one of the first examples of the style in Ulster). The Natural Stone Database records that the school was constructed of locally-quarried Scrabo sandstone whilst the builder contracted to carry out the construction was the local firm of Thomas Dixon & Sons. McCamley described the new school as a three-storeyed building … with circular turrets at the ends of both wings. The main building and the central tower were completed by the addition of buttresses and crenellations. The front entrance was at the base of the central tower, echoing that of Queen’s University and more than hinting at the influence of the Tudor Revival.’ The ground floor of the building originally contained classes for three departments (Classical, English and Mathematics), the first floor held the Headmaster’s Office, a library, additional classrooms and the common room (which was used for examinations and awarding prizes – now used as school library). The second floor was utilised for dormitories but, due to the low number of boarders, the level was surplus to requirements in the 1880s (McCamley; DIA).

Belfast Academy was officially opened in August 1880. The new school was valued at £250 under the Annual revisions and, from 1880, the original school building on Academy Street was let out to other tenants. In 1887 Queen Victoria visited Belfast as part of her Golden Jubilee celebrations and was happy to consent to a petition requesting the renaming of the school in her honour. From 1888 the Belfast Academy has been known as Royal Belfast Academy. The relocation of the school resulted in the restoration of its fortunes. School attendance rose steadily. From 1900 girls were able to seek secondary education at the school and in the early decades of the 20th century the first extensions of the school were undertaken. In 1929 a new wing was added to the rear of the school to a design by Young & Mackenzie. The two-storey block was built by F. B. McKee & Co. and unsympathetic to the Scots Baronial style of the school. The extension resulted in an increase in the value of the school to £340 in 1930 (Stewart; McCamley; DIA).

Following the Second World War a second project of expansion was undertaken. The first addition was the two-storey block (located at the north-west corner of the site) which was erected in 1955 and was named the Jackson Building. In the 1960s the two-storey extension to the rear of the school was demolished making way for new developments. The Derbyshire Building (located at the south-west corner of the grounds) was opened in 1968 and was named for a former Headmaster whilst the four-storey Bruce Building (to the north side of the original school) was officially opened in 1971 and named after Dr William Bruce, the most illustrious Headmaster of the Academy. The value of the Academy was increased to £1,378 by the end of the Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern in 1972.

McCamley states that the original Scots Baronial building underwent an extensive renovation in 1973 to include the creation of seven new classrooms, the conversion of the Common Hall into the school library and the creation of a new lecture room and sixth form centre. Following the renovation the building was renamed the James Crombie Building in memory of the 18th century founder of the Academy. In the same year as this renovation the gate pillars of the school were relocated to their current position. The Ordnance Survey maps record that the entrance gates were originally located to the north-west of the current entrance.

Belfast Royal Academy was listed in 1982. Further extensions to the school complex were added during the 1980s including a new Art Block (the ‘Pollin Building’) which was opened in the year of the school's listing. By 1985 a kindergarten block, sports hall, a new sixth form centre and a technology suite had also been added to the site. McCamley states that the school celebrated its Bicentennial on 24th February 1985 at a religious ceremony held in St. Anne’s Cathedral, not far from the original site of the school. Stewart concludes his own history of the institution as follows: ‘As its oldest educational institution, Belfast Royal Academy has provided a continuous tradition of service and distinction, surviving many crises to prove that learning can subsist even where resources are slender and uncertain’ (McCamley; Stewart).

Resources

Primary Sources
1. PRONI OS/6/1/60/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1857)
2. PRONI OS/6/1/60/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1901)
3. PRONI OS/6/1/60/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-31)
4. PRONI OS/6/1/60/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1920-38)
5. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/38 – Griffith’s Valuation (1859)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/1-25 – Annual Revisions (1863-1905)
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/F/4-7 – Annual Revisions (1905-1930)
8. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/2- First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-72)
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/5 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
10. PRONI D2194/39/3 – The Belfast Royal Academy Scheme (1888)
11. Ulster Town Directories (1843-1943)
12. First Survey Record – HB26/42/001 (No Date)
13. NIEA HB Records – HB26/42/001 (Missing)

Secondary Sources
1. Connolly, S. J., ‘Oxford Companion to Irish History’ Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985.
3. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987.
4. McCamley, E., ‘Belfast Royal Academy: The second century 1885-1985’ Antrim: Greystone Press, 1996.
5. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993
6. Stewart, A. T. Q., ‘Belfast Royal Academical: The first century 1785-1885’ Antrim: Greystone Press, 1985.

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

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
X. Local Interest
V. Authorship
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

An impressive Gothic-Scottish Baronial three-storey with basement school building dating from 1878-1880 to designs by the architect Robert Young of Young & Mackenzie, who was a past pupil of the school. It was constructed in Scrabo Sandstone by the local firm Thomas Dixon & Sons. The building is named after James Crombie, founder of the Belfast Academy that was original based on the corner of Donegal St and Academy St, which first opened its doors to pupils in 1786. B.R.A. is the earliest surviving educational institution in Belfast and the Crombie building Is one of the best examples of the Tudor collegiate style in the city. Largely symmetrical, the building is rectangular on plan with a four-stage tower to front and circular turrets at the end of both wings; the entrance tower bears a resemblance to that at Queens University. Inside, some historic features survive including the double return principle staircase. The building is part of the Belfast Royal Academy school campus that encompasses a number of modern two to four storey buildings, all set behind a random rubble stone walling with entrances demarked by both circular and square pillars, two pairs of which have fine dressed sandstone copings. These pillars and the walling add character to the Crombie building on the main Cliftonville Road frontage and signify its importance. The wall continues past the school to join the dressed sandstone pillars that define the boundary to the adjacent St James' Church of Ireland (HB 26.42.002). Two of Thomas Jacksons villas sit directly opposite the Crombie building, on the S side of the Cliftonville Road (HB 26.43.002A & B); unlike the church, these are very different in style but contribute to the quality of the overall setting.