350 Antrim Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Terraced three-bay two-storey with attic-storey red brick house, built c.1877, to the designs of Young and Mackenzie with full-height bay window and two-storey lean-to to rear. L-shaped on plan (possibly interlocking with No.348 HB26/44/028C) as one of a terrace of seven similar houses on the west side of Antrim Road with enclosed front garden and rear yard.

Pitched natural slate roof with roll moulded terracotta ridge tiles and exposed rafter tails. Lead valleys and cast-iron rainwater goods. Profiled and corbelled red brick chimney stack with clay pots to north party wall. Red brick walling laid in Flemish bond with original pointing, moulded red brick string courses and flush sandstone ashlar dressings. Rock-faced uncoursed squared sandstone plinth course with chamfered sandstone trim. Square-headed window openings with original single-pane timber sash windows having slender ogee horns, painted sandstone ashlar cills and flush lintels, with the latter having bowtel mouldings.

Three-bay east front elevation with canted bay window to the right rising to attic level as rectangular half-timbered gabled oriel window with tripartite timber sash window, decorative curved timber brackets to sheeted eaves and timber bargeboard. To the left is a wall-head dormer window with a hipped roof, terracotta finial, exposed rafter feet and paired square-headed window openings with 2/1 panes to timber sash windows. Central shouldered principal entrance with sandstone lintel having foliate and floral carvings. Original timber panelled door with six panels, bolection mouldings, original brass furniture and plain fanlight. Door opens onto three replacement nosed concrete steps and original flagstone paved footpath.

South side elevation abutted by adjoining house No.348 (HB26/44/028C).

West rear elevation is abutted on the right hand side by a two-storey red brick lean-to having natural slate roof and original timber sash windows, one of which contains Arts & Crafts style leaded coloured glass. The remainder of the W elevation is red brick, with one original sash window serving the attic level that is set between the lean-to and a row of exposed rafter tails at the eaves to the main roof. A small skylight is set in to the roof on the opposite side. Two further windows to the left hand side of the lean-to, at ground and first floor level, have a replacement timber casement windows, and a small original sliding sash is retained to the cheek of the return that overlooks the yard. Beyond the lean-to, a garage door in the replacement yard wall suggests that there is a single storey flat roofed extension to the rear; therefore the original outhouses are likely to be demolished.

North side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.352 (HB26/44/028E).

Roof Natural slate
RWG Cast-iron
Walling Red brick
Windows Original timber sash

Setting:
Part of a terrace of seven similar houses and set on the west side of Antrim Road, between Hopefield Avenue and Cedar Avenue, set back from the road with front lawn enclosed by ruled-and-lined concrete wall with a steel pedestrian gate hung on concrete posts. Rear yard enclosed by replacement red brick wall, having 'up-n-over' garage door.

Historical information

No's 344-354 Antrim Road, a terrace of six three-storey red-brick buildings located along the west side of the Antrim Road, were constructed in two phases with the first four buildings being constructed in 1877. The Antrim Road was originally laid out in 1830. The second edition Ordnance Survey map (1858) records that the land to the north of the Belfast Waterworks and the Limestone Road remained predominantly rural in character by the 1850s. With the increase in Belfast’s population and the development of the shipbuilding, rope-making and textiles industries in the town, by the mid-19th century a number of gentlemen’s mansions and wealthy merchant’s houses had been constructed in the townland of Skegoneill which swiftly became one of the most affluent areas in Belfast. No's 344-354 Antrim Road were constructed on the grounds of Hopefield House, a two-storey six-bay mansion that was occupied by the Sinclair family. The majority of the grounds were built over during the 1870s (no's 416-428 Antrim Road were also constructed on this parcel of land in 1872 – see HB26/44/029A-G).

No's 344-350 Antrim Road was known as ‘Clonsilla’. The four dwellings were constructed for Andrew Wright, a local pawn broker and clerk at the Belfast Loan Office (no's 49-51 Ann Street) who resided at No. 3 Cranston Place (UTD; PRONI Wills). The terrace was designed by Young & Mackenzie, an architectural partnership that had been formed between Robert Young and John Mackenzie in c. 1867. The Dictionary of Irish Architects noted that the firm were ‘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.’ The firm also designed a large number of contemporary terraces throughout Belfast during the Victorian period (DIA). No's 352-354 Antrim Road were erected in 1899 in a similar style to the adjoining earlier buildings. The terrace were depicted on the third edition Ordnance Survey map (1901-02) which shows that the entire area had been developed with terraced streets by the turn of the 20th century.

The Annual Revisions set the total rateable value of No. 350 Antrim Road at £44 in 1877. The building originally formed the end terrace in a row of four buildings but in 1899 nos 352-354 were constructed to its north side. The first recorded occupant of the building was Thomas Cunningham, a Clerk of the Peace for Co. Antrim, but by 1901 the house had passed to William Moreland, a local flour merchant. The 1911 census described No. 350 Antrim Road as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of 11 rooms and possessed a wash house and coal house as its sole out offices. The First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) records that the value of No. 350 Antrim Road had been slightly decreased to £43 whilst ownership of the entire terrace had passed to a Mr. Francis Curley by the 1930s. No. 350 Antrim Road was occupied by the McCance family between the 1930s and the 1970s. Ownership of the house passed to a Mr. H. Crawford by the 1950s and by the end of the Second Revaluation (1956-72) the total value of the building was lowered to £39.

Nos 344-354 Antrim Road were listed in 1987. The NIEA HB Records note that No. 350 Antrim Road underwent an extensive renovation in 1990 that included the reslating of its roof in second hand slate, the repointing of its brickwork and the replacement of its original entrance door (NIEA HB Records).

Resources

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/7-25B – Annual Revisions (1863-1905)
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/F/4-7 – Annual Revisions (1905-1930)
7. PRONI VAL/3/C/3/3- First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-56)
8. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/1 - Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72)
9. Ulster Town Directories (1877-1943)
10. PRONI Wills Catalogue (26 May 1884)
11. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
12. First Survey Record – HB26/44/028 (No Date)
13. NIEA HB Records – HB26/44/028D

Online Resources
1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
S. Authenticity
V. Authorship
V. Authorship
X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Mid terrace two-bay two-storey with attic red brick former house, built c.1877 to designs by renowned architects Young and Mackenzie. Half timbered gable rising from canted bay to front and original two-storey red brick return. The original outhouses to the rear of the property have most likely been demolished, however, the brick return to the rear, retained sandstone dressings and Tudoresque half-timbered gable to the front contribute to the eclectic character of the building. It is one of a terrace of four similar houses originally named Clonsilla, with which it has group value, (HB 26.44.028 A, B and D). Each of these houses having slight variations and along with a further two terraced dwellings attached at the North end (HB 26.44.028 E and F) collectively form a coherent and distinctive row on the Antrim Road.