PRINCE'S COURT

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A three storey L-shaped warehouse built c.1870 located off Prince’s Street facing on to the car park at the rear of a modern block of flats.

Pitched slate roof, metal ogee gutters and round downpipes. The walls are generally brick in Flemish bond on a stone plinth, corbelled brick eaves, ground floor and quoins are of modern lined render. The window openings to the first and second floor are shallow, segmental arches; to the ground floor they are flat lintelled. The windows are metal framed, door planked timber.

The main north elevation is 5 openings wide; the northern opening is full height, edged with bullnosed brick, housing double doors at each level with timber plank panels with segmental arches between; a door sits in the central bay; the south bay has 3 windows on the first floor.

The side east elevation is a blank brick wall (ground floor not seen).

The south gable is abutted by a modern building (the rear south elevation not seen).

The west gable was not seen.

Setting:
Prince’s Court is enclosed by other buildings to N, S and W, to the E is the Laganside bus station forecourt. It sits on the edge of a car park to the rear of an L-shaped, eight storey block of flats;. The car park is access under the southwest corner of the block of flats which nearly touches the northeast corner of the building, it has electric gates and is inaccessible to the public.

Schedule:
Roof: slate
Walls: brick
Windows: metal
RWGs: metal.

Historical information

A three-storey L-shaped building, the redbrick warehouse on Prince’s Court was constructed in c. 1870, however the exact date of construction is unclear; the building cannot be identified with certainty until 1900 when the Belfast Revaluation recorded that it was occupied by a Mr. John Rogers. The valuer noted that the three-storey building was fitted with gas installations and was valued at £27; Rogers, who was employed as a ‘felt, wire, soap and grease manufacturer,’ operated his business from premises at nos 19-21 Queen’s Square and also owned the Belfast Felt Mills at No. 20 Middlepath Street, but utilised the three-storey building on Prince’s Court as a warehouse and workshop. Rogers leased the building from Peter Milligan, a ‘rope and twine manufacturer and hemp merchant,’ who also operated from premises on Queen’s Square (Belfast Street Directories).

John Rogers continued to operate from Prince’s Court until 1930 when the building was occupied by a Mr. Edward Green who possessed additional stores on Prince’s Street. The building lay vacant during the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland in 1935, however by that time the warehouse had been increased in value to £65. During the Second World War the building was occupied by John Hilland & Co., ‘wholesale tea and sugar merchants’ (Belfast Street Directory – 1943). By the second revaluation (1956-72) John Hilland & Co. had vacated Prince’s Court when a C. V. & F. Edmunds utilised the building as both office and storage space; by the end of the revaluation in 1972 the total rateable value of the late-Victorian warehouse had been increased to £160.

Patton states that Prince’s Court, a short cul-de-sac located off Prince’s Street, was first depicted on the 1791 map of Belfast; prior to 1826 the court was known as Stable Lane and possessed only minor structures until the Victorian period. The three-storey redbrick warehouse, also known by the name Prince’s Court, was constructed in c. 1870 and, due to its proximity to Belfast’s quays, was utilised as a warehouse and store throughout its history. Prince’s Court was listed in 1990; Patton, writing in 1993, described the building as a ‘three-storey redbrick warehouse with segmental-headed doors at ground and first floor under second floor hoist.’ The building, formerly utilised as a store, was converted into offices by Hobart & Heron in 1992. Prince’s Court has since been vacated; the building currently lies derelict and has been dwarfed and hidden by the construction of the modern buildings that now surround it (Patton, p. 266).

File reords indicate that the small SW return had been demolished by 18th July 2005.

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/B/1 – Annual Revisions 1862-1881
6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/B/6 – Annual Revisions 1882-1896
7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/19 – Annual Revisions 1897-1905
8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/33 – Annual Revisions 1906-1914
9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/37 – Annual Revisions 1913-1925
10. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/C/42 – Annual Revisions 1924-1930
11. PRONI VAL/7/B/9/33 – Belfast revaluation 1900
12. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/13 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935
13. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/4 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972
14. Belfast Street Directory (1877-1943)
15. Ordnance Survey Map – 130-13NE (1959-60)
16. First Survey Image – HB26/50/194 (1989)

Secondary Sources

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

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

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

Criteria for listing: historic interest

X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

A three storey L-shaped warehouse built c.1870 located off Prince’s Street. Enclosed by surrounding modern buildings. Although there have been alterations, much historic fabric and detailing survive including the original openings. It is possible that the original timber post and beam structure survives, along with the original roof trusses. This building represents an one of the last remaining links to the original Belfast harbour.