418 Antrim Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Terraced two-bay three-storey with attic red brick and stucco former house, built in 1872, to the designs of R. Kelly, as one of seven similar houses (HB26/44/029A-G). Rectangular on plan facing east with full-height four-storey gable-ended rear return. Set back on the west side of Antrim Road with a shared bitmac driveway behind a low rendered wall and screened by a row of mature trees. Small enclosed front area and enclosed rear yard. Now subdivided into flats.

Pitched natural slate roof with full-span flat-roofed dormer window set behind stucco parapet wall with deep moulded cornice and plain frieze. Chimney appears to have been removed. No visible rainwater goods to front, uPVC downpipes to rear. Red brick walling laid in Flemish bond with cement pointing, continuous moulded string courses at first and second floor sill levels. Cement rendered walling to the rear elevation and return. Square-headed window openings with decorative stucco surrounds, moulded sills and original single-pane timber sash windows with ogee horns (unless otherwise stated).

Two-bay three-storey east front elevation has rendered three-sided canted bay window to the ground floor with continuous masonry sill, plat band and shallow cornice to parapet. Decorative painted lugged architrave surrounds to the second floor with bracketed sills. First floor windows are framed by scrolled foliate console brackets supporting hood cornice and moulded sill supported on stepped brackets. Gauged brick to form round-arched opening to the left bay. Replacement hardwood panelled door flanked by fluted Ionic columns supporting dentilated lintel cornice with plain glazed fanlight and deep moulded surround. Door opens onto concrete paved platform and three concrete steps flanked by original low plinth walls having carved anthemion panels. A further concrete platform and three concrete steps are enclosed by replacement steel railings and pedestrian gates.

South elevation abutted by adjoining house No.416 (HB26/44/029A).

Rear elevation has been raised by a further floor forming a wall-head dormer. Original return has also been raised to four stories and rendered in cement with square-headed window openings having precast concrete sills, replacement hardwood casement windows and hardwood glazed doors opening onto a steel fire escape.

North side elevation abutted by adjoining house No.420 (HB26/44/029C).

Roof Natural slate
RWG uPVC
Walling Redbrick / Stucco
Windows Original timber sash

Historical information

Nos 416-428 Antrim Road, a terrace of seven three-storey red-brick buildings located along the west side of the Antrim Road, were constructed 1872. 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. Nos 416-428 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 (nos 344-354 Antrim Road were also constructed on this parcel of land in 1877 – see HB26/44/028A-F).

Nos 416-428 Antrim Road was known as ‘Fortwilliam Terrace.’ The Annual Revisions note that the terrace was leased by Samuel Lawther, the manager of Samuel Lawther & Co. (local coal importers, ship and insurance brokers with business premises on Corporation Square) who resided on Duncairn Street (UTD). The terrace was designed by Redfern Kelly (1845-1928), a Belfast-based engineer who predominantly carried out contracts for the Belfast Harbour Commissioners. The Dictionary of Irish Architects notes that Kelly was responsible for the deepening of the Victoria Channel, the reconstruction of the Alexandra Graving Dock (following its collapse in 1905) and the construction of the Thompson Graving Dock. Despite the predominance of industrial contracts, Kelly also designed a Masonic Hall in Larne and the Murlough Cottages in Dundrum (DIA).

The Annual Revisions record that No. 418 Antrim Road was initially valued at £40 and was first occupied by Robert Collins, a civil engineer. The terrace was 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 house had passed to a Ms. Alicia Hennessey by 1901 when the Census of Ireland described No. 418 as a 1st class dwelling that consisted of 17 rooms. Hennessey had vacated the house by the 1930s when the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) increased its value to £48 and noted that a Mr. William Weir had occupied the building. In 1965 ownership of the house passed to a Mr. D. M. Brotherston who converted the building into a number of self-contained apartments. By the end of the Second Revaluation the total rateable value of No. 418 Antrim Road had been further raised to £75 and 5 shillings.

Nos 416-428 Antrim Road were listed in 1987. The NIEA HB Records note that No. 418 Antrim Road underwent an extensive renovation in 1993 that involved the installation of modern dormer windows and the repointing of its brickwork. During the Second Survey the building continued to be used as self-contained apartments (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/7-25 – 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. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
11. First Survey Record – HB26/44/029 (No Date)
12. NIEA HB Records – HB26/44/029B

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

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
H-. Alterations detracting from building
J. Setting
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

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

Evaluation

Mid terrace two-bay three-storey with attic red brick and stucco mid-Victorian house, built in 1872, as one of seven similar houses that were originally known as 'Fortwilliam Terrace' (HB26/44/029A-G) and designed by Redfern Kelly, a prominent engineer known for his work on behalf of Belfast Harbour Commissioners. The slightly elevated terrace is set back on the west side of Antrim Road and screened by a series of mature trees behind a low wall. Although no longer in single occupancy, the exterior of this distinctive mid nineteenth-century house, with its vertical emphasis, graduated fenestration and restrained neo-classical stucco mouldings exemplifies the formal aesthetics popular at the time. Prior to its development, the surrounding area of Skegoneil had been rural but following a period of rapid industrial expansion and population growth, many merchants were persuaded to move out of the overcrowded inner city. A similar terrace, also thought to have been designed by Kelly, formerly known as Castleton Terrace (HB26.46.012 B-F) and built in 1878, sits almost directly opposite on the east side of the Antrim Road. Despite the flat-roofed attic dormers and replacement rear windows, the internal modifications to subdivide the building in to apartments and the external fire escape to the rear, this house presents a largely intact front elevation and has group value with the other listed houses in this terrace. The low plinth stone walls that retain the entrance steps, with carved anthemion panels, have survived and add further interest to the building.