Ross' Auction Rooms

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Attached corner-fronted three-storey (ground floor partially below street level at May Street) former assembly rooms, now auction house, built c.1873, restored following a fire c.1965. Square-on-plan comprising three adjoined east-west aligned blocks; south block attached to adjacent building at west; enclosed yard at north-west. Principal split-level entrance from May Street and secondary entrance at ground floor level on Montgomery Street. Located on a prominent corner city centre site on the north side of May Street, Belfast.

Hipped natural slate roofs to south block, pitched to north block with stone verge at east, (central block not visible) both with blue/black ridge tiles, lead-valleys and cast-iron rainwater goods. South block has projecting eaves supported on moulded stone corbels; two large brick corbelled chimneystacks. Flemish-bonded red brick walling with sandstone stringcourses, projecting cavetto moulded flat sills, chamfered window heads (unless otherwise stated) and projecting sandstone plinth course above ground floor windows. Windows are square headed at basement level, segmental arched at ground floor and round arched at first floor; all 1/1 timber sashes with brick reveals (unless otherwise stated).

Principal symmetrical south elevation comprises breakfront with central entrance portico comprising replacement metal double doors with segmental headed plain fanlight over, flanked by paired and stepped square brick piers supporting paired sandstone Corinthian pilasters. Inner pilasters support a torus-moulded round arch containing a sexfoil leaded stained glass roundel. Outer pilasters support large carved stone console brackets surmounted by projecting canopy comprising piers and pierced balustrade with cavetto coping. Paired windows at centre over portico surmounted by pedimented entablature detailed with the burning bush and the inscription ’ARDENS SED VIRENS’, and cavetto cornice supporting acroter and metal finial. Entrance bay is flanked by two sets of paired windows at each floor. Signage reading ‘JOHN ROSS & CO.- AUCTIONEERS’ is applied to painted brick below second floor windows. Rectangular windows at street level are enclosed by red brick plinth wall with sandstone coping (wall at west of entrance removed, some sections of coping remain); cast-iron metal railings to lower windows.

West elevation of the south block is abutted by a three-storey (slightly lower) building facing May Street. The north block west gable is partially rebuilt at first floor using grey engineering brick, smooth rendered and painted at ground floor, gable is blank. Central block is abutted by single-storey flat-roof extension (of no interest). First contains metal escape door at left, multi-pane timber casement at right; two multi-paned timber casements at second floor.

North elevation has been smooth rendered and painted at ground floor with sandstone plinth, new and original brick at first and second floor, painted. Ground floor from left contains a double arrangement of segmental arches with modern metal roller door and stepped masonry quoins flanked at left by square headed 1/1 timber sashes with original decorative painted cast-iron window grilles and plain sandstone sills. Replacement metal door at right. First and second floor each contain five square headed window openings each containing 9/9 timber sashes (generally replacement). Right window opening at first and second floor is partially blocked with glass blocks. Left of first floor windows the original glazed clay tile street sign reads ‘MUSIC HALL/LANE.’

East elevation reads as three distinct blocks each of which is symmetrical in its own right. South block is similarly detailed to south elevation and contains replacement metal door at centre with stepped sandstone chamfered surround flanked by paired 1/1 timber sashes with original decorative painted cast-iron window grilles and plain sandstone sills, windows surmounted by paired windows at first and second floor. Signage reading ‘ROSS’S AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS’ is applied to painted brick below second floor windows. Left of first floor windows the original glazed clay tile street sign reads ‘MONTGOMERY ST.’ Central block, rising to a flat roofed belfry, contains principal Montgomery Street entrance and comprises a similar arrangement to that at May Street, but plainly detailed, without pilasters. Cast-iron downpipes to either side of entrance gable are recessed into the brick walling. Entrance surmounted by three square headed 1/1 timber sashes with continuous sandstone sill course splayed below each window and continuous header course, each window surmounted by pointed arched brick recess with brick voussoirs. Second floor contains three oculus lights surmounted by three pointed arched louvered openings at former belfry. Gabled north block east elevation contains two sets of paired ground floor windows (windows at right contain original decorative painted cast-iron window grilles). Two sets of paired square headed 1/1 timber sashes at first floor, Two sets of paired square headed 1/1 timber sashes at second floor (diminished) surmounted by pointed-arched brick recess with raised blank oculus at centre of recess. Signage reading ‘FINE ART CONSULTANTS’ is applied to painted brick below second floor windows. Large oculus opening with sandstone surround at apex, now block with grey engineering brick.

Setting:
Street fronted, set on a prominent corner city centre site to the north side of May Street, Belfast. Enclosed at north by Music Hall Lane, east by Montgomery Street and at west by adjoining building and enclosed yard.

Roof Natural Slate
RWG Round cast-iron
Walling Flemish bonded red brick/sandstone detailing
Windows Various timber sashes

Historical information

Nos 22-26 May Street, a two-storey redbrick and sandstone building, dates from 1873 when it was first included in the Annual Revisions shortly after being completed in that same year. The building, which has been occupied by Ross’s Auctioneers and Valuers for several decades, was originally constructed to house the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. When originally constructed the two-storey building achieved a rateable value of £200 and was owned outright by the Assembly. The 1877 Belfast Street Directory notes that aside from providing the General Assembly with headquarters, the building also housed other Presbyterian organisations and offices; in that year there were offices for the Bible & Colportage Society, the Presbyterian Orphan Society and the Sabbath School Society in Ireland. Offices in the building were also leased out to private businesses and in 1877 a land and rent agency office operated from the site (Belfast Street Directories).

There was no alteration to the value of the General Assembly headquarters until the 1900 Belfast Revaluation which increased the value of the building to £330; the valuer noted that the General Assembly paid rent of £35 15s. per annum and that the original cost of constructing the building was £6,372. The General Assembly Building was not depicted on the Ordnance Survey maps of Belfast until the third edition (1901-02) which depicted the building as a square-shaped structure possessing the same layout as the current building suggesting that no major alteration to the general appearance of the site has taken place since its construction in 1873.

Much like the construction of Belfast’s Town Hall on Victoria Street (HB26/50/044) which was erected in 1869-71 but was soon replaced after the elevation of Belfast to city status in 1888; the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland found the building on May Street to be too small and inadequate for its needs and, after the town’s promotion in 1888, the Assembly sought a new location for their headquarters. A suitable plot of land was selected on Fisherwick Place (the former site of Fisherwick Presbyterian Church before moving to South Belfast) and in 1899-1900 a competition was held to select a design for the new building. The current Presbyterian Assembly Building was constructed between 1899 and 1905, during which time the offices on May Street continued to be occupied by the various ecclesiastical organisations; however, in 1905 the former headquarters was abandoned (Belfast Street Directory).

The two-storey redbrick building on May Street remained vacant until 1912 when it was occupied by John Wilson & Son Ltd. and was renamed ‘Downshire House;’ the Street Directories note that Wilson & Sons were ‘linen, damask, handkerchief, ladies underclothing, gentlemen’s shirt and collar manufacturer’ (Belfast Street Directory – 1918). Upon being converted into a warehouse, the value of the former Assembly headquarters was decreased to £220; there was no subsequent alteration to the value of the building by the end of the Annual Revisions which were cancelled in 1930.

By the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935, John Wilson & Sons had vacated the site (although Wilson was still recorded as owner); in that year the value of the building was reduced to approximately £111 as a result of falling empty. According to Ross’s website, the current occupants of the former Presbyterian Assembly Building came into possession of the site c. 1937 and have run an auctioneers and valuation business, John Ross & Co. from the premises ever since. Nos 22-26 May Street survived the heavy bombardment of Belfast’s city centre during the 1941 Blitz, and in the aftermath of the conflict the building was included in the second general revaluation which was undertaken in 1956. In that year the ground and first floor of no's 22-26 were occupied by a Mr. (or Mrs.) D. W. Gray who utilised the space as offices, showrooms and stores for John Ross & Co. The total value of the building stood at £844 by the end of the second revaluation in 1972.

The former May Street General Assembly Office was constructed in 1873 and housed the Presbyterian Headquarters in Ireland for over thirty years. The current building still displays certain features that recall its past heritage such as the carving of a burning bush, the symbol of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland which is still in place on the main pediment of the building. Patton described nos 22-26 May Street as a ‘two-storey hipped roof building in red brick and pale red sandstone, with basement. Windows paired with stone heads; central bay slightly set forward with cusped arcaded balcony on heavy corbels supported by on square antae with Venetian capitals; door has segmental headed fanlight below rose window set under balcony (Patton, p. 234).

No's 22-26 May Street was listed in 1988 and underwent restoration work in c. 1965 following a fire at the premises. Since c. 1937 the building has housed John Ross & Co. Auctioneers and Valuers. Furniture and household auctions continue to take place at the site once a week, whilst antique auctions are carried out monthly (Ross’s website).

References

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/A/1-11 – Annual Revisions 1862-1897
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/19-42 - Annual Revisions 1897-1930
7. PRONI VAL/7/B/9/41 – Belfast Revaluation 1900
8. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/13 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935
9. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/40 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972
10. First Survey Record – HB26/50/176 (No Date)
11. First Survey Image – HB26/50/176 (1988)
12. 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. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
D. Plan Form
H-. Alterations detracting from building
I. Quality and survival of Interior
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An attached corner-sited three-storey auction house, built as the Presbyterian Assembly Rooms c.1870 and restored following a fire in 1965. The building is characterised by an unusual plan-form that remains largely intact comprising principal entrances from May Street and Montgomery Street, as well as a ground floor situated partially below street level. Detailed in a loose Venetian Gothic style, of brick and sandstone, with portico, much historic fabric and detailing survive and its character is unusual in the City centre. The varied history of use provides is of interest in the context of Belfast's ecclesiastical and commercial heritage. It is a good example of a small civic structure converted to commercial use as a result of changing times.