[Extracts from An Introduction to Ulster Architecture, by Hugh Dixon, published by the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society in 1975.]
Late Neo-Classical:
Old Museum Building, College Square, Belfast (1831) and The Music
Hall (now Victoria Memorial Hall), May Street, Belfast (1840):
Following the example set by Sir John Soane's designs for the
Belfast Academical Institution which was founded in 1810, the
city of Belfast took on a determined classical aspect which resulted
in it receiving the nickname 'The Athens of the North' in some
contemporary journals. Looking about the City now it is difficult
to believe that such a title could be meant or taken seriously.
Yet that was perhaps the most attractive moment of the City's
development; the two large squares were laid out and not cluttered
with buildings of too large a scale, and the porticos of at least
seven churches showed that the classical revival reigned supreme.
But the style was not confined to churches. The Museum building,
designed by local men Thomas Duff and Thomas Jackson, and opened
in 1831 embodied in both style and function the spirit of the
new enlightenment. The Music Hall in May Street, also designed
by Jackson, opened as late as 1840, proclaims with even more sculptural
facades the same values.
[Note: The Old Museum is now an arts centre; sadly, the
old Music Hall was demolished in 1983, and after some years of
serving as a car park, it is now the site of an office block.]
Both these buildings are covered in more detail in the Society's
book on Central Belfast.
Go to Publications
or to Index