14 May Street

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three storey, mid 19th century Georgian style terraced house, terminating a group of four, with side entrance, sitting directly on the N side of May Street.

Pitched, natural slate roof with modern rooflight; moulded metal gutter on bracketted timber gutter tray; downpipe uPVC. Red Flemish bond brickwork with rusticated stucco quoins to west corner and plinth under ground floor cill, stucco eaves fascia and string course to first floor cill. Window openings with painted stucco reveals and flat brick arches, 6/6 original sashes with horns, (ground floor window openings incorporate steel roll shutters). The entrance doorway, with segmental arch, has a stucco archivolt with inset Ionic doorcase, fascia reads ‘BOYS’ BRIGADE HOUSE’, plain fanlight over and 6 panelled replacement timber door; it is approached by 3 tiled steps.

South, front elevation has entrance to the east side with 2 adjacent windows, first and second floors have 2 windows.

W elevation is abutted by 5 storey modern building.

The original north, rear elevation cannot be seen from lane. The modern two storey extension, with corrugated metal pitched roof and rendered walls, runs north to Music Hall Lane.

E elevation is abutted by adjoining terrace HB26/50/175B

Setting

May Street is part of a busy, central thoroughfare which passes to the rear of the City Hall (HB26/50/001A). No.14 sits opposite May Street Presbyterian church (HB26/30/031A&B). In the same terrace, adjoining the terraced group of four to the east, is John Ross & Co (HB26/30/017), nearby to the west is listed building HB26/50/020.

Roof: natural slate.
Walling: brick.
Windows: timber .
RWG: metal/plastic

Historical information

No. 14 May Street, a three-storey redbrick townhouse, was constructed in c. 1855 first appearing on the second edition of the Ordnance Survey maps for Belfast in 1858; the map depicted No. 14 as part of the adjoining terrace which consists of the similar nos 16-20 May Street (HB26/50/175B-D); however the terrace had not been constructed by the 1852 Belfast Street Directory which noted that the area between a music hall (on the corner of Upper Arthur Street) and Hugh Morrison’s post office (at the corner of Montgomery Street) lay vacant. The newly completed No. 14 May Street was included in Griffith’s Valuation (1859) which noted that the building, which included a stable block to the rear, was leased by Sir. Edward May and was valued at £38. At that time No. 14 was occupied by a Mr. Robert Gaffikin, a carver and gilder who operated from a store on Arthur Square (Belfast Street Directories).

Robert Gaffikin continued to reside at May Street until his death in 1877; in that year Gaffikin’s son Arthur Gaffikin took over possession of the townhouse (PRONI Wills Catalogue). The Annual Revisions for May Street during the period 1897-1905 are missing, however the Belfast Revaluation noted that Samuel Stokesberry, a local flesher and butcher, had taken possession of No. 14 May Street by 1900. The building was increased in value to £50 under the revision and the valuer noted that No. 14 consisted of eight rooms (including living rooms and bedrooms but excluding kitchens) and was fitted with gas installations and plumbing.

The 1911 Census notes that Stokesberry (69, Church of Ireland) resided at No. 14 May Street with his wife Elizabeth (62), two of their six children, and a domestic servant; the census building return described No. 14 as a 1st class private dwelling that consisted of a total of 13 inhabited rooms and possessed the rear stable as its sole outbuilding. Samuel Stokesberry continued to reside at May Street until his death in 1928 at which time he left his dwelling, and effects of £12,610 3s. 8d., to his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth Stokesberry was still recorded as occupant of No. 14 May Street by 1935 when the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland increased the value of her property to £57, however in that same year Elizabeth also died (PRONI Wills).

In 1934, prior to Stokesberry’s death, No. 14 May Street was acquired by the Belfast Battalion of the Boy’s Brigade, a boys Christian youth organisation, who established their headquarters at the site. Nos 14-20 May Street escaped the heavy bombardment of the Markets area of Belfast during the 1941 Blitz; in the aftermath of the Second World No. 14 was included in the second general revaluation which commenced in 1956. By 1956 the former private dwelling had been fully converted into offices for the Boy’s Brigade (including offices for the associated Girl’s Brigade which met in the adjoining building (No. 16)) and had been increased in value to £154; however by the end of the revaluation in 1972 the value had been more than doubled to £396.

May Street, a long axial street which runs from Oxford Street to Donegall Street South, was mostly laid out in the early-19th century and was partially constructed over reclaimed land; this land was provided by the construction of Henry Joy’s paper mill over the Blackstaff River which opened up acreage to the south-east of Belfast’s town centre for development. The eastern section of May Street was the first to be developed, however it was not until the mid-19th century that the western stretch of the street was fully built over. Originally, the short section of May Street between Joy Street and Alfred Street (including nos 14-20) was known as Clarendon Place; this name was retained until c. 1860 when the entire length from the square to Oxford Street was permanently designated May Street. May Street was named after the May family; Edward May, an influential figure in Belfast’s development, pioneered the reclamation of the Blackstaff river and acquired a large number of the newly created leases from the Marquis of Donegall (who married his daughter Anna May).

Nos 14-20 May Street were constructed on the newly reclaimed land in c. 1855. Prior to the stylistic eclecticism which characterised the Victorian period, the formal Georgian townhouse was still the most recognisable feature of Belfast’s urban fabric. Few examples of pre-Victorian style housing survive in the city centre; the three-storey terraces on neighbouring Joy Street and Hamilton Street (HB26/30/007A-C; 008A-I; 009A-F), as well as the early-19th century townhouses at nos 18-19 Donegall Square East (HB26/50/172), are the last remnants of the original Georgian character of the May Street area. In the Victorian period the availability of cheap building materials resulted in the construction of the redbrick terraces that now greatly characterise Belfast’s city centre and its environs. Nos 14-20 May Street were constructed during this intermediate phase; the redbrick Flemish-bond buildings were constructed utilising materials and construction techniques of the early Victorian period, however the overall design of the terrace is conservative and resembles the formal townhouses of the Georgian period incorporating pillared doorcases with fanlights above and quoins bookending nos 14 and 16. Patton described nos 14-20 May Street in the following terms: ‘Flemish bond redbrick houses with small-pane sashes and arc-headed doorcases with slender edge mouldings and plain fanlights, and recessed Ionic columns supporting plain entablatures; corbelled gutter on rendered wallhead’ (Patton, p. 234).

No. 14 May Street was utilised as a private dwelling from c. 1855 until 1934 acquisition by the Boy’s Brigade; the Boy’s Brigade was established in Glasgow in 1883 by Sir. William Alexander Smith and the Belfast Battalion was set up in 1887. Since being acquired by the Boy’s Brigade, No. 14 May Street has become known as ‘BB House;’ in addition to being utilised as an administrative centre, the ground floor of the building included a shop called ‘Stedfast Supplies (Belfast Boy’s Brigade website). No. 14 May Street was listed in 1988 and has continued to be utilised as the administrative centre of the Belfast Battalion, however in December 2012 the nationwide headquarters of the Northern Ireland Boy’s Brigade was moved to Antrim; No. 14 May Street continues to be utilised by the Boy’s Brigade as administration offices whilst the shop on the ground floor still operates.

References

Primary Sources

1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1832-33
2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858
3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02
4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931
5. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938
6. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/1A-B - Griffith’s Valuation 1859
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/1-25 – Annual Revisions 1862-1897
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/18-42 - Annual Revisions 1897-1930
9. PRONI VAL/7/B/9/41 – Belfast Revaluation 1900
10. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/13 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935
11. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/40 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972
12. Belfast Street Directories (1861-1918)
13. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911)
14. PRONI Wills Catalogue (21 Aug 1877; 1 Aug 1928; 1 Oct 1935)
15. First Survey Image – HB26/50/172 (1978)
16. Ordnance Survey Map – 130-13SE (1959)

Secondary Sources

1. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993

Online Resources

1. Belfast Boy’s Brigade website - http://belfast.boys-brigade.org.uk/

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
K. Group value

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

A three storey mid 19th century red brick Georgian style terraced house. Although compromised by recent alterations, much historic fabric and detailing survive. This short terrace is as a good example of the type of residence for the professional classes that represents the ongoing growth of Belfast ain the mid 19th century. Its changing history reflects the development of the city centre throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Also of note is the connection of this house with the Boys Brigade movement.