The oldest building in Belfast is Clifton House, built in the
early 1770s as the Poorhouse. It was 'healthfully situated' in
open country at the head of the newly laid-out Donegall Street,
then well outside the crowded small streets around the town centre.
Then in the 1790s the ground at the top of Donegall Street was
leased for development as what was to become 201-215 Donegall
Street, whose early residents included merchants, doctors and
'gentlemen'. No 199, now a Parochial House, was originally the
palace of the Catholic Bishop of Down & Connor, and St Patrick's
Church next to it was built in 1874. Beyond it is St Patrick's
Schools of 1828, the earliest surviving Gothic Revival building
in Belfast, which has recently been restored by the Belfast Buildings
Preservation Trust.
Despite the obvious importance of this group of late Georgian
buildings, nos.207-215 were demolished for road widening in 1990,
and nos.201-205 deteriorated considerably. In 1985 Hearth expressed
interest in restoring the houses, and nos.201-205 were listed
as soon as they were officially declared surplus to Roads Service
requirements. Before Hearth was able to acquire these, however,
the back wall of no.201 collapsed due to timber decay in old lintels,
pulling down the staircase and putting the survival of the terrace
at risk. Hearth immediately put up a new temporary back wall,
and replaced joists in the back rooms to stabilise the building.
In the course of the restoration, a new back wall was erected
using modern brick but repeating the old fenestration; the gable
to no.207 had been made good by Roads Service using brick salvaged
in the course of the demolition of nos.207-215; and brick salvaged
from that has been used to make good defective bricks and unsympathetic
alterations on the front elevations. There was some evidence that
the houses had originally had front areas behind railings so these
were opened up, and new railings and stone kerbs provided; and
when the doors were unblocked a small area of festooned plaster
was found on the reveal of the doorcases, which has been restored
along with spiderweb fanlights. Although only three storeys at
the front, there is a basement which is at ground level at the
rear (the terrace is on the line of the prehistoric raised beach,
hence the change in levels), and the houses are really four stories
high.
Client: Hearth Housing
Association
Architect: Hearth
Quantity Surveyor: David Gould
Main Contractor: A M Cole, Carrickfergus
Restored: 1991-93
Funded by Housing Association Grant
Accommodation: Two three-bedroom houses (third house
sold on completion for use as an annex to the adjoining Parochial
House).
