McMASTER STREET
22 and 42 McMaster Street, Belfast
Blocked up since 1993
... unlike other houses in the
street
Just as thatched cottages were despised for many years for their
association with poverty, so their urban equivalent, the "two-up,
two-down" terrace house, has been considered for many years
as an indicator of poor housing conditions, and the march of progress
has swept many of these houses away. A visitor to Belfast as late
as 1960 would have found the "wee palaces" of coloured
brickwork, spruce and neatly kept, all over the city, and carried
away that image of tight urban communities which they represented;
now there are very few areas of such housing left. One street,
McMaster Street in East Belfast, has been selected for preservation
as an example of this once common type, and the street was recently
listed and made into a conservation area.
Hearth acquired two houses in the street
for restoration. Sadly, there are no original doors, windows or
chimneys left in the street, and we know of no proper photographs
of the houses before the Housing Executive's enveloping scheme
some fifteen years ago. To some extent, therefore, the restoration
has been conjectural, but we hope it will provide a model for
further restorations of the neighbouring houses.
In the course of the work sash windows
and panel doors were put in, the ground floor rooms were again
separated, the back bedroom was converted into a bathroom, the
kitchen was extended, and some ornamental plasterwork was restored.
When work was nearly complete an open day was held for local schools,
who use McMaster Street as their local "historic building"
for Victorian history projects. This led a former occupant of
one of the houses to come forward with photographs
and stories of her own upbringing in McMaster Street in the
1950s - not so very long ago, but things were very different back
then.
We would be extremely interested
to hear of any further memories of the street, and in particular
would be very keen to borrow and copy any early photographs of
the houses.
Client: Hearth Housing
Association Architect: Hearth
Main Contractor: McNally Contractors (Randalstown) Ltd
Restored: 2000-01
Assisted by Housing Association Grant and own capital.
