Parliamentary boundary post

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A painted cast-iron administrative marker post of 1918 marking the outer extent of the administrative jurisdiction of Belfast Corporation (as Belfast City Council was then known), and of Duncairn District Electoral Division and Clifton Ward within it.
The post lies on the W side of McArt's Fort (a Scheduled Monument SMR Number ANT056:018), on the inside face of the ditch enclosing the earthwork.
Of slightly tapered cylindrical profile, with a banded octagonal base and oversailing flat octagonal top with slightly smaller fluted circular cap. Front elevation (which faces E) bears the shield of Belfast Corporation’s coat of arms, below which is a curved plaque reading “Parliamentary/ and Municipal/ Boundary of/ Belfast/ Duncairn Division/ Clifton Ward/ 1918”. The plaque is secured to the front of the post with four countersunk screws.

Setting:
The invisible boundary on which this post lies ran along the top edge of the basalt escarpment hereabouts. McArt's Fort lies to its immediate E and behind it is an extensive area of undulating heather moorland which is now part of Cavehill Country Park.
The post is located just off the main gavelled footpath around the Country Park from the Upper Hightown Road. A smaller unsurfaced path passes its S side up to the summit of the fort, and another runs by its E side and down a gully in the direction of the caves at the foot of the cliff.

Historical information

The County of the Borough of Belfast was created under the Local Government Act 1898 and enacted the following year. The new borough was divided into four constituencies for the purposes of parliamentary elections to the Westminster House of Commons (this was pre-Partition and creation of Stormont) – North, East, West and South. Each division had its own Member of Parliament.
Under the Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918, the existing four constituencies were abolished and their number increased to nine - Cromac, Duncairn, Falls, Ormeau, Pottinger, St Anne’s, Shankill, Victoria, and Woodvale.
Each new parliamentary division had its own MP and encompassed one or several municipal wards; the latter were used for elections to Belfast Corporation. Duncairn Division encompassed the municipal ward of Duncairn and also the NE part of Clifton ward. As its legend states, this particular post marks the boundary of the parliamentary division of Duncairn, and that part of the municipal ward of Clifton lying within it.
These new constituencies were first used in the General Election of 14 December 1918, just over a month after the cessation of the First World War. This particular election took place under the Representation of the People Act 1918 (also known as the Fourth Reform Act). It is of special significance in that, for the first time, all men over 21 years of age and all women over 30 could vote; it was also the first election to be completed within the one day. Previously, only male property owners but no women could vote, and the election was spread out over several weeks. Sir Edward Carson was the constituent’s first MP.
With the inception of the devolved parliament for Northern Ireland in 1922, the number of Westminster MPs was greatly reduced. The Duncairn parliamentary constituency, created only four years before, was abolished and the previous seat of North Belfast restored (encompassing 14 wards in Belfast and five in Newtownabbey Borough Council). However, the municipal wards continued to be used for local elections, although some, including Duncairn, have since been reconfigured and renamed.
Belfast Corporation was superseded by Belfast City Council in 1973 and its jurisdiction extended beyond its former borough boundary. This post now lies within Cavehill District Electoral Division (as used for Council elections), and within Castle Ward.
The boundary of the County Borough of Belfast is clearly marked on the 1901 OS map and this post is first cited as 'B.P' on the 1920 OS map and subsequent maps.

References – Primary Sources:
1. Local Government Act 1898.
2. PRONI OS/6/1/56/3. OS six-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 56 (1901).
3. Representation of the People Act 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5 c.64).
4. Redistribution of Seats (Ireland) Act 1918 (7 & 8 Geo. 5 c.65).
5. PRONI OS/6/1/56/4. OS six-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 56 (1920-21).
6. PRONI OS/6/1/56/6. OS six-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 56 (1937).
7. PRONI OS/11/130/1/1. OS 25-inch IG map sheet 130-01 (1960).

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
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity

Evaluation

A cast-iron boundary post dated 1918, unaltered and in its original setting. Displaying an ornamental capping and inscribed plaque. Marking the outer extent of the administrative jurisdiction of Belfast Corporation (as Belfast City Council was then known), and of Duncairn District Electoral Division and Clifton Ward within it. It is of historical significance as a remnant of the first election in Britain and Ireland when nearly everyone (bar women under 30) had the right to vote. It also marks a short-lived period in the province’s political development up to the formation of Northern Ireland and the Stormont administration in 1922. It is relatively rare as many of these posts have succumbed to road widening and random removal.It also has group value with a nearby boundary post on the south side of McArt's Fort (HB26/44/072) and two others on the Antrim Road which also marked the same electoral division and ward boundaries (HB26/51/026 and /027). There are a number of other such posts marking different wards elsewhere in Belfast; as a group, they form the most complete group of administrative markers anywhere in the Province.