1 Antrim Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

An asymmetrical three-storey red-brick former bank building, constructed c.1894. Three openings wide, square on plan, the building terminates a row of two storey shops and is located at the corner of Antrim Road and Carlisle Circus in Belfast.

Flat roof concealed behind red-brick parapet; a brick chimney to side and rear elevations and a fourth on the roof, those to the sides having scrolled and profiled brackets. Projecting and moulded sandstone cornice with rainwater goods concealed behind parapet; cast-iron down pipe remains; similar cill course to first floor windows on principal elevations. Walling is red-brick laid to English Garden wall bond; dressings and ground floor are executed in smooth ashlar sandstone over a projecting plinth. Square-headed window openings in plain surrounds and generally linked by projecting continuous sandstone cill course, except for second floor. Windows are modern 1/1 treated metal frames; symmetrically arranged across each floor (except where stated otherwise). Windows to upper floors separated by plain brick pilasters rising from first floor cill course to carry string course over second floor; window openings on the ground floor are recessed and have curved upper corners.

Asymmetrical principal elevation faces west and contains three openings to each floor. Pair of windows to centre of first floor having sandstone surrounds with swathed and foliated carved motif over. First and second floors separated by deep continuous sandstone string course; projecting keystone to second floor centre. Externally mounted metal roller shutters to ground floor openings.

North elevation has stepped parapet; remaining elevation is blank and is abutted by two storey brick terrace of parapetted commercial units.

East (rear) elevation is plain brick with irregular plain window openings to centre and right-side of upper floors; view of ground floor obstructed by a series of abutments and perimeter wall; all executed in brickwork matching main building over projecting brick plinth (some evidence of rebuild or extension to north). Flat roofed two-storey abutment to far right with two windows in cheeks; similar single-storey block abuts to left-side with metal door to east; three 2/2 windows to left cheek, similar to main building and in plain surrounds but with reinforced concrete cills.

South elevation is symmetrical with a window on each floor, either side of centre; ground floor contains a pair of narrow windows to centre.

Setting

Situated on a prominent corner site at the junction on Carlisle Circus, the building terminates a row of two storey, red-brick and parapetted commercial units which extend northward. The principal elevation fronts directly onto the Antrim Road with the original stone walls and cast-iron gates of St Enoch's Presbyterian Church abutting to the south-west corner, through which a vehicular access route leads to a car park to the south-east of the building. The rear blocks are abutted by a single-storey red-brick wall which encloses a small yard to the north-east corner. The historic burying ground (HB26/49/001C) of Clifton House is located directly to the north-east with the old rubblestone stone wall bounding the yard to the rear of the site.

Roof Undetermined
Walling Red brick and sandstone
Windows Replacement metal
RWG Cast-iron and uPVC

Historical information

The present building was constructed as a branch of the Ulster Bank in 1893-4 to designs by Vincent Craig by contractors H & J Martin and is first shown on the fourth edition OS map dating from 1901-2. The building was severely damaged in the Belfast Blitz in 1941 and the upper floors were rebuilt in 1947.

The Carlisle Circus branch of the Ulster Bank opened for business on 4th October 1894, having been constructed on the site of two boot shops at 1-3 Duncairn Street (now Antrim Road)(Knox). The building was constructed of red Dumfries sandstone to the level of the first-floor windows while upper storeys were of local brick. The bricks were treated to give them a uniform dark-red colour and were pointed with white joints.

The building was entered through a spacious porch and mahogany doors which gave onto a banking hall whose ceiling was panelled in white plaster work. The fittings were mahogany and the floor was laid with small black and white tiles ‘of a chaste design’. The upper portion of the bank was the manager’s dwelling apartments with a kitchen and pantries at the back fitted with a dinner-lift in order to carry meals to the dining room on the first floor. There were seven bedrooms on the upper floors and the strong room could be locked from the manager’s bedroom , a mechanism that was used in several bank premises at the period. The staircase windows were glazed with lead lights displaying the bank arms and the Belfast City arms (Belfast Newsletter 4th October 1894).

The building is listed in the Belfast Revaluation of 1900 at £120 and was leased from the Trustees of St Enoch’s Presbyterian Church. The cost of construction was £2,100.

The first manager was David Strain, who is recorded in the 1901 census as resident on the premises with his County Derry wife. The couple employed a live-in domestic servant. According to the bank’s historian an early (1905) account holder was James Ramsay McDonald, who later went on to be the first Labour Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Knox; 1901 census).

The manager J W Shannon was living in the building on the night of 15th April 1941 when it sustained severe damage during an air raid. Shannon was asked by Mr Hunt, the manager of the Belfast Savings Bank on the opposite side of the road to join him in the bank’s safe. Unfortunately, Mr Hunt tripped over some wreckage and broke his arm and Mr Shannon had to take him to the Royal Victoria Hospital. While they were there, the Savings Bank was also hit by a bomb and the managers returned only to save their wives from the ruins (Knox).

The upper part of the building was badly damaged and, as it was bulging, the authorities decided to have it demolished. The safe and its contents were intact and were taken down to the Head Office in Waring Street where a temporary branch office was opened. The first attempt by the Royal Engineers to demolish the building ended only in the collapse of a building across the road. At the second attempt the upper part of the bank completely collapsed and a tarpaulin cover was put over the office which served as a temporary bank until the end of the war. During rebuilding after the war a Nissen hut was erected adjoining the bank where the staff worked for 12 months. The bank re-opened in 1947 (Knox).

The building remained a bank for some years but currently lies vacant.

References:

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition OS Map 1901-2
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/6 – Sixth Edition OS Map 1931
3. PRONI VAL/7/B/4/1 Belfast Revaluation 1900
4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/B/1-45 (1863-1930)
5. Street Directories 1895-1995
6. 1901 Census online
7. Belfast Newsletter 4th October 1894

Secondary Sources

1. Knox, W “Decades of the Ulster Bank 1836-1964” Ulster Bank Ltd, 1965
2. www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A square plan, moderately grand three storey former bank, constructed in a simple palazzo-style c.1894 to designs by Vincent Craig. The building is defined by balanced proportioning and the use of sandstone and red-brick in restrained classical detailing. However, it is somewhat two-dimensional in appearance and the interior had been substantially altered. It is not among the best examples of the type or of the work of Craig.