Do you want to learn about developments as they happen? Inevitably this website is to some extent retrospective and archival, but we have the facility to e-mail interested members as we issue press releases or comment on major applications and plans. If you want to become actively involved in campaigns, or simply want to be kept abreast of our activities, please ask to be added to our e-mailing list. You should e-mail us at info@uahs.co.uk if you would like to join it, and if you want to take an active role in planning issues, activities or any other aspect of the Society's work don't forget to let us know.
Return to headlines.
Ten years ago the Church of Ireland Christ Church in College Square North, Belfast, closed its doors for the last time, and the building went on the market. Suffering from extensive dry rot and threatened by road plans, it did not find a buyer and vandals broke in. After a series of attacks the roof was burnt off it leaving a charred brick shell. At that stage the neighbouring Royal Belfast Academic Institution (Inst) acquired it with a view to demolishing it and putting a sports hall on the site. Fortunately it remained listed and their application for LBC was turned down.
The Belfast Building Preservation Trust, fresh from its successful endeavours to rescue the similarly burnt-out and threatened St Patrick's Schools in Donegall Street, started negotiations with the school and eventually agreed a lease arrangement that would allow the trust to restore the building to high standards and ensure public access,while the school's library and computer centre would be the main user.
Once they had obtained Heritage Lottery funding
building work (Martin & Hamilton, main contractors) could
commence, and the restoration has now been completed. A lecture
by the distinguished Scottish conservation architect James Simpson
has been organised jointly by the UAHS and BBPT and is to take
place in the building on 4 April. That will be a chance to enjoy
the church's resurrection, in particular the spectacularly recreated
coffered timber ceiling over what will be the school's library
and the restored marble relief 
of Sir Charles Lanyon's wife
(who worshipped at the church). For more details, click here.
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Malone Place in 1984
Malone Place is a short terrace of mid 19th century houses at the junction of Lisburn and Malone Roads. Much of the terrace changed hands some years ago and has been improved, but the the buildings at the Sandy Row end remained partly derelict. The owners had refused to sell the occupied portion to their tenants and submitted an application for Listed Building Consent to demolish the group.
In November the planners issued approval for the "dismantling and restoration" of the buildings, which was a curious expression for what could only amount to demolition and rebuilding. EHS had expressed the view that the rebuilt structure would remain listed - in contravention to their usual view that unless a building has original interiors and other features it would be de-listed. More crucially, the building had not been offered to other parties on the open market, and the Historic Buildings Council had not been consulted about the proposal.
The Society decided that the process had been incorrectly carried out and applied for a judicial review of it. Application was accordingly made for the review and a detailed affidavit prepared, under the guidance of Nicholas Hanna QC and his assistant barrister John Stewart, who generously provided their services to the Society for no fee.
When the application came to court the DoE decided not to contest it, and the Society won the case by default. This is a very encouraging result, but it has to be borne in mind that judicial reviews look only at procedures, not at outcomes. It is possible that the applicant will seek permission for demolition yet again, and it is possible that the planners will grant such permission. However if the proper procedures are followed and the building is offered on the open market at a fair price it is likely that it will be acquired by a new owner willing to restore it.
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Following the demolition of the Seamus Heaney house last year it was hoped that other buildings with historic connections might have been treated sensitively, and attention had been drawn to the late Victorian house known as Red Hall in East Belfast's Circular Road, where CS Lewis played as a child and later stayed with his lifelong friend Arthur Greeves when he wrote Pilgrim's Regress. It was being sold by the South & East Belfast Health Trust as it was surplus to requirements, but sadly (and quite unnecessarily) when it was not listed they chose to demolish it before selling it. As the house was unlisted and not in a conservation area, the demoilition was legal, but there was considerable outcry about it, and it may have been an anticipation of the demolition control now being introduced for Areas of Townscape Character.
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In January 2002, the Society took part in the
lengthy Inquiry into the proposals for redevelopment of Victoria
Square (See Aug 2000).
The Planning Appeals Commission came out against the proposal,
citing the Society's evidence as contributing substantially to
its decision that wholesale redevelopment of the area was unnecessary
and against the interests of the city centre's conservation. The
Minister for Social Development, Nigel Dodds, promptly announced
that he proposed to ignore the PAC decision and was "minded"
to give the scheme the go-ahead, but allowed a month for further
comments. In the meantime the Assembly was dissolved and the decision
went into limbo. However his direct rule succesor, Des Browne,
has announced that he will allow the development to go ahead.
It seems incredible that the outcome of such a detailed and expensive
public inquiry, carried out by the PAC, should be ignored by the
government, particularly when the question of planning permission
has still to be decided. Does this mean that the planning decision
has already been made behind the scenes, or is it just allowing
the developer to assemble his land so that he has so much muscle
that Planning Service will find it virtually impossible to overrule
him should they wish to do so? And why is the Kitchen Bar and
the adjoining, very early, Telfair's Entry not listed?
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Tillie's in 2002
Londonderry is famous for its enormous Victorian shirt factories,
many of which are now listed and many converted to new uses as
housing or offices. One of the largest is the Tillie & Henderson
factory, which was acquired some years ago by developer Diljit
Rana and his company Andras House. Although there was no planning
application for the building at the time, we joined Foyle Civic
Trust in their concern for the property in the course of 2001.
In July 2002 the planning application was duly lodged by Barrie
Todd Architects and the battle to save one of the city's landmarks
was on.
Built in red brick on the city side of the
Craigavon Bridge, it was the biggest factory of its kind in the
world when it was built, and one of the earliest of the massive
shirt factories which made the city wealthy. Opened in 1857, it
had housed a thousand workers by the time it was mentioned in
Das Kapital, and more than four thousand in its heyday around
1940. Listed B+, its main elevation was built in 1865 by J G Ferguson.
Surely the 120-bedroom hotel proposed by Andras House could be
fitted inside the shell of the old factory? But they maintained
that the property was in poor condition and continued to lobby
the city councillors.
Suddenly, with the Army's Yellow Goddesses struggling to deal
with fires in buildings of any height during the firemen's strike,
a spate of over thirty fires (apparently 37 in total) were set
in the empty factory on successive nights. Most barely damaged
it, but on the night of 3 December (three nights before a similarly
traumatic fire gutted part of Edinburgh's Old Town) several fires
were lit at different locations which succeeded in destroying
the roof of the factory.
The water pumped into the building by six fire
appliances to douse the fire has left a risk of potential dry
rot, but inspection of the factory afterwards showed how local
the actual fire damage had been. Paint on most of the cast iron
columns 
supporting the massive timber beams had not even been blistered
by the heat (the bowing in the photo is due to a wide angle
lens!), while traces of earlier fires which had petered out
after charring the surface of the heavy timber floors can still
be seen. Although parts of the building are up to six stories,
much of it is no more than three stories in height and the compartmented
structure means that instability is localised. Contradictory engineers'
reports have been circulated, but it is obvious that even such
a massive fire has not left the building in much worse structural
condition than it had been before.
The UAHS and Hearth have been involved in discussions with the Foyle Civic Trust and local politicians since immediately after the fire to set up a local building preservation trust that can tackle the restoration in the event of the owners refusing to carry out restoration. Hearth has also offered in the short term to act as a caretaker trust by commissioning feasibility studies into holding repairs and ultimate re-use. Such a trust can do nothing to the building itself without the owner's agreement unless the DoE uses its powers of Repairs Notices or Compulsory Purchase, but the delay before repairs can be carried out would be much reduced if the ground could be prepared by such an initiative. However the chance of such a process working has been much strengthened by the unanimous rejection by Derry City Council of the planners' recommendation to approve demolition. It is rare to get cross-party support for any motion and this is a clear sign that the people of Derry are opposed to the loss of such a significant building. The Historic buildings Council is of the same mind, and in the wake of rumours that bulldozers were being lined up Environment & Heritage Service have taken out an injunction to prevent demolition.
January 2003: The
temporary injunction granted to EHS was lifted by a judge on 20
December because they were unwilling to indemnify Andras against
possible claims arising from the building's condition, and with
several roads around the factory closed, the arguments had become
muddier. Immediately after the Christmas holiday Andras moved
the bulldozers in and has smoothly (and completely without authorisation)
removed Tillies brick by brick to leave a cleared site in readiness
for its new building. No Listed Building Consent for the demolition
has been forthcoming, and the operation is unauthorised, and may
yet become illegal.
The paralysis of the DoE in dealing with this major crisis has
been frustrating. If they were going to oppose the demolition
it needed to be done promptly, and they are now faced with a fait
accompli. If they refuse it now, it will be a meaningless exercise,
while if they grant approval it will be seen as caving in to force
majeure. The new Minister, Angela Smith, at first appeared likely
to take decisive action, but she is now faced with an impossible
situation.
Return to headlines.
The Society was amazed to learn of the delisting
of no less than eighteen buildings in Carnlough during the summer
(announced quietly on the EHS website). Sadly we are becoming
used to the sound of delistings, but to lose so many listings
in a conservation area was unprecedented, the more so since there
had been an agreement with the last Historic Buildings Council
that no buildings would be de-listed in conservation areas until
Article 4 Controls were in place to protect the details on which
so much townscape character depends.
For whatever reason, the EHS decided in June to implement its
Second Survey conclusion that buildings like the Waterfall Bar,
despite having a virtually unaltered 19c elevation, should be
delisted because it had no interior worth recording, and that
the extraordinary butcher's shop converted from a former windmill
at the end of the High Street had "no historical or architectural
interest". Ironically, one of the most altered buildings
in the village, Philip Gibbons' house, which was badly damaged
by badly advised repairs some years ago, remains listed. We are
not suggesting that it be delisted, since it is historically one
of the earliest houses in Carnlough, but we do feel the delisting
of the other buildings is unnecessary and very damaging. In particular,
the group of two-storey terrace houses facing the harbour, none
of which is individually important, have tremendous group value
as the setting of the harbour. As for the delisting of the town
library,
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| The burnt-out Courthouse in 1978 | ... restored as the town Library |
Glenoe at the turn of the
century - with the de-listings marked
The once very pretty village of Glenoe above
Larne has also been a victim of de-listing, with a group of vernacular
buildings below Hearth's hillside terrace now removed from protection
and an unlisted building beyond already the subject of a planning
application for demolition.
Once again, the Second Survey's admirable concentration on the
trees means that it cannot see the wood. Adding to our knowledge
of listed buildings is splendid, but removal of important groups
of buildings because they are not individually listable is extremely
damaging to the character, and indeed the very morale, of our
towns.
Return to headlines.
The College in 2000, before alterations
began
Despite his reputation as the premier architect
of the 19th century in Ulster, Sir Charles Lanyon's firmly attributed
output is quite small, although it does include some of our most
important buildings of the early Victorian period. One such is
the grade A-listed Union Theological College (the Presbyterian
Assemblies College), with an address on Botanic Avenue but most
prominently visible as the eyecatcher at the end of University
Square.
The College is actually a complex of important buildings. Lanyon's
main central wing with its symmetrical facade and Mannerist portico
contains the main rooms and a magnificent dark staircase. While
Stormont was being built, the Northern Ireland Parliament met
in the library of the College. The two side wings are different,
that on College Green leading to the tall-windowed Chapel and
the Principal's House, both designed by John Lanyon. The latter
is probably the least important part of the complex, but even
it is well preserved internally, with most of its original panel
doors, fireplaces and cornices, along with most of its fine staircase.
Trying to monitor planning applications across the province for
both listed and unlisted buildings is not easy, and sometimes
we miss one. This was one such, and we were horrified to see building
work had been authorised (in less than two months from the time
of application) for major works to this building and that work
was already under way. Now some alterations are inevitable to
every building (in this case the work included disabled access),
but there are ways the work can be carried out to minimise the
impact; and there are other alterations which might be allowed
in a B-listed building, but in a building of this importance alterations
should have been minimal and limited to only the essential.
In this case however a new lift shaft is being
put in rising above the front elevation, crudely detailed dormer
windows are being inserted along one wing, a new apartment block
is to be erected alongside newly-blocked windows 
at the end of the wing, conversion
of the Principal's house into five flats has been approved with
loss of fireplaces and most of the interior, car parking has been
allowed all round the building in place of the presently mostly
grassy grounds, and worst of all a glass coffee shop is to be
built in the courtyard behind the college with glass links into
the chapel and breaking into the main Victorian staircase of the
College.
Some of this would have been bad for any listed building, but
it should surely not be permitted to a Grade A building. On making
further enquiries we found that the Historic Buildings Council
had not been consulted on the proposals, and that the decision
within EHS had involved only one architect. Procedures for dealing
with buildings of this importance will hopefully now be tightened,
but only after great damage has been done in this instance.
Return to headlines.
Archaeologists are currently excavating the site of the old Annadale Brickworks, whence came the bricks for so many houses in South Belfast and further afield in the latter part of the 19th century. Annadale was particularly famous for its special bricks and terracotta plaques, some examples of which along with their moulds have already been recovered. What is particularly fascinating however is the Byzantine complexity of the works that are being uncovered. It will soon be covered over with new houses, so get a look at our pictures.
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Residents of Holywood have fought a series of battles to save
fine early Victorian buildings in the town from demolition, several
of which (such as Abingdon and Willesden) have been supported
by the Society and featured in our newsletters. Recently the focus
has been shifted to Demesne Road in the town, where an application
from the developer Ravensblack for apartment blocks at nos.1-3
was likely to be blocked by the proposed listing of the present
houses on the site.
Unfortunately EHS procedures for listing no longer involve only
consultation with the local district council (which can be a delaying
factor), or even that and the notification to the owner (which
is as good as a hint that he should organise demolition at once
if he wants to), but also requires access to the interior of the
building, whether or not it is considered likely to be of interest.
This seems totally unnecessary when a building is under threat,
as the owner can delay granting access while he organises demolition,
and in this case demolition is exactly what resulted. If the building
was being listed for the merits of its exterior, then any interior
quality would have been a bonus that has now been lost. Once again
the need for spot listing powers (or building preservation notices,
as they are officially known) has been demonstrated.
Watched helplessly by local residents, the developers moved the residents out of the house and moved bulldozers in. The building was demolished within hours, and residents presented protests to both Dermot Nesbitt and to Rev William McCrae. The UAHS is being represented at the planning appeal (18 July) into the developer's application to replace the buildings, and it will be interesting to see whether the PAC comment on the loss of a building which was under consideration for listing.
Return to headlines.
For some years legislation to strengthen planning legislation has been working its way through the system, and this month it has reached its second reading in the Assembly. The UAHS has been pressing for the new legislation and welcomes it having reached this stage, but was disappointed that the fines proposed for those flouting the law remain pitifully small, and dismayed that the proposal to introduce Third Party Appeals, which had been present in the previous version, had been dropped.
The debate at the second reading on 24 June was lively. Jane Morrice pointed out that "We ask the birds, bees, flowers and trees to see what effect [a development] will have on them, but there is no ... assessment to ensure that the neighbours and the local community are consulted in these stages of the development process." Another member said that "We need a better system [of protecting our historic buildings] than the Minister standing in the street crying, 'Shame!' as the bulldozers do their work." Read more details here.
January 2003: In the wake of the fire and unauthorised demolition at Tillie & Hendersons the government rapidly brought this legislation onto the statute books. As an editorial in the Belfast Telegraph commented on 11 January, "The stable door is being closed, but in many cases the horse has already bolted. Sadly, Northern Ireland has already lost many notable buildings. Seldom have they been replaced by anything that has stood the test of time."
Return to headlines.
It is good to be able to record congratulations to Queen's University
on the handsome restoration of its Great Hall, which was opened
by Prince Charles in February. Sir Charles Lanyon's building (which
is fully described in the Society's List
of Buildings in the Queen's University Area) derived its inspiration
from the great college buildings of Oxford and Cambridge, not
only in the central tower with its echoes of Magdalene College
Oxford, but also in the Great Hall which referred to the dignified
dining halls of the Oxbridge colleges. Over the years it had been
painted unsympathetically and acquired a collection of inappropriate
alterations, and the recently completed restoration by Consarc
Conservation, headed by UAHS committee member Dawson Stelfox has
just been given a prestigious RIBA award.
In congratulating Professor Sir George Bain whose vision led to
the realisation of this ambitious project, and Hubert Martin and
Gary Jebb of the University's Estates department, perhaps the
UAHS may be permitted to enjoy a little reflected glory, since
the advisory committee of the University which steered the project
through was almost entirely composed of past and present committee
members of the society, led by Prof Bruce Campbell.
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As the years go by the web becomes an increasingly
useful tool for researchers, and we know from our own site's statistics
that there is a continuous succession of people wanting to learn
more about Ulster buildings. While we hope our own site will remain
essential reading, we are delighted to see that PADDI, the Planning
Architecture Design Database Ireland, which has been largely managed
by UAHS committee member Karen Latimer, is now fully operational
and was launched on 10 June.
This is a comprehensive index to publications and other information
about Irish buildings, and is easy to use and packed with information.
If our own site search fails to throw up the answers you are looking
for (and inevitably that will happen quite often) try PADDI
next.
Return to headlines.
After a period in abeyance while funding was
not available, we were delighted to be able to agree a new package
with Environment & Heritage Service and to appoint a new Heritage
Projects Officer. This change of title reflects the wider brief
that has been agreed, which will include publications and conferences
along with the Buildings at Risk catalogue itself. The sub-committee
on buildings at risk is chaired by Ian McQuiston.
Andrew McClelland, a young building surveyor who recently completed
a conservation course in Slovakia, has been appointed to the post
and started this month. If you know of buildings at risk or have
questions or information about any featured in the previous catalogues
please contact Andrew (barni@uahs.co.uk or at the usual address
and phone number).
Return to headlines.
For some years there has been a low-key campaign for the restoration
of the house at 16 Ashley Avenue where Seamus Heaney lived for
some years while lecturing at Queen's University. Unfortunately
the building went through the hands of a succession of developers
and declined each time as they saw it only as the access to a
landlocked piece of valuable real estate. As the house deteriorated
the campaign gained support and in April the city council came
out in favour of it. It was quite an achievement to get cross-party
agreement on the issue, and remarkable to have DUP councillor
Nelson McCausland stating forcefully that because of the many
fine buildings lost during the Troubles and since then to developers
"We must now ensure that we preserve any building of historical
significance".
Unfortunately the high profile for the building and the growing
feeling that it should be listed led the developers (David Andrew
Creighton, Michael Frederick Head and Patrick Joyce) to demolish
before it became impossible. New Environment minister Dermot Nesbitt
was embarrassed and annoyed to find that his soothing comments
one day that listing was under consideration and the building
was not at risk had to be followed the next day by damage limitation
explaining that the developer had been within his rights to demolish
the unlisted building but that it was the developer and not the
DoE that was at fault in carrying out the demolition.
The UAHS believes that while architectural merit should be the
normal criterion for listing, historic interest should be taken
into account, and that 16 Ashley Avenue could have been listed
as a "typical" house of its period (it had not been
much altered) with the additional historic interest associated
with one of Northern Ireland's most famous writers. A precedent
has been set with the recent listing of Little Lea,
C S Lewis' family home in East Belfast. Although admittedly a
finer building in much better condition, there is no doubt that
its important literary connections, highlighted by Ian Adamson
and others, led to its positive appraisal.
Return to headlines.
The Italianate stucco buildings of Upper and
Lower Crescent together form the finest example of set-piece planning
in Belfast, and have featured regularly among the Society's concerns
in recent years. The buildings are listed as well as being part
of the Queen's conservation area, and it has been galling to watch
the demolition of 4-6 Upper Crescent followed by the facade retention
of nos.1-3 in recent years. Lower Crescent was damaged by the
conversion some years ago of The Fly, where in order to accommodate
a super-pub the entire interior of one building was gutted and
now an application has been submitted for total demolition of
no.7, along with reconstruction of the front elevation.
The UAHS has objected strongly to this. We believe that for all
the settlement problems the terrace has suffered over the years
(evident in leaning walls and bending string courses), the buildings
are still generally sound, and that the structural problems arise
from the proposed alterations to the buildings rather than from
any inherent instability. In objecting to this application, we
pointed out that the DoE's own structural engineers (who might
be expected to look at ways of strengthening the building and
retaining its quality) took a more depressing view than the engineers
retained by the developers, who recognised that the building could
be kept.
Return to headlines.
Cabin Hill (see April
2001) has now been statutorily listed following the representations
of the UAHS and many local people. The outcome of development
plans for the area will be ascertained in the wake of a planning
appeal to be heard on 17 September 2002.
This appeal has found against the development of the grounds
of Cabin Hill, following its listing.
Queen's University has withdrawn plans to demolish Fitzwilliam Place (see November 2000) following public outcry.
Return to headlines.
After a year enshrouded in scaffolding the tip of the Albert Clock's
spire emerged at Christmas and its appearance has became more
thrilling as each stage was dropped over the course of the last
few months. First the lantern appeared, lit at night, then the
clock face, newly gilt, the ornamental canopy over Prince Albert,
and finally the lions at the base. Belfast City Council's commitment
to seeing the project through, assisted by Heritage Lottery funding,
and the expertise of McConnell's stonemasons under the supervision
of Consarc Conservation have revealed the Albert once again in
all its heartwarming glory.
Return to headlines.
The Society has been pressing for extension of the central conservation
area to include upper North Street, which has some good Victorian
buildings. Sadly a big hole has been put into the area with the
demolition of the Gresham Arcade and one half of the Elephant
Buildings. To add insult to injury, someone has absconded with
the famous Elephant, which had moved from an earlier building
when North Street was widened in the 1880s and had survived until
the demolition of its neighbours.
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| The Elephant Bar in 2001... | The Bar now without the Elephant |
Return to headlines.
The village of Waringstown contains a large proportion of 18th century buildings laid out around an attractive main street. Apart from Waringstown House itself, one of the most prominent is the Grange, a stone building that has been a restaurant in recent years. The Society has opposed plans for a new housing development of its orchard, which would not only reduce the historic setting of the house but would also greatly damage the attractive wooded setting of the village itself.
Return to headlines.
The 19th century estate village of Seaforde, near Newcastle, is
a pleasant and remarkably intact group of almshouses, estate workers
houses, parish church, agents houses and big house, preserved
not through conservation area status (which it does not enjoy)
but through the interest and ongoing concern of the Forde family
who developed it, and in more recent years of Hearth which has
restored a dozen houses in the village.
Unfortunately they do not own every building in the village, and
in recent years only its listed status has prevented the demolition
of nos.2-4 Main Street, a crucially located group of house and
village shop, whose former owner sold the building to a developer,
and whose current owner has applied for permission to develop
apartments and some new houses on the site.
Despite the concerns of the Planning Service, the Society, Hearth,
and many local residents, EHS has made it known that it plans
to de-list the building on the basis that the repair of a structural
crack in its back wall would be so damaging to the original fabric
of the property that it would no longer merit listing. Hearth
has argued that the crack could be repaired quite straightforwardly
and that many features of the building (not least the early shopfront)
make it of great importance to the integrity of the village and
the group value of the terrace of which it forms a part (see Hearth's
website). A decision on the latest planning application is currently
with the planners.
Return to headlines.
At the "back entrance" to Parliament Buildings at Stormont
stand a pair of very grand gate lodges in immaculate beaux art
detailing which sets off the gates and prepares the mind for the
impact of Stormont itself. Local residents have been objecting
strongly to planning applications to develop the lodges and their
grounds. While this has resulted in a reduction of the impact
of the proposals, there is still a new development on the cards,
which will come roughly between the two lodges shown in this photograph.
The Society believes that development should not be permitted
at all in this very sensitive site.
Return to headlines.
Go to News before 2002
Past highlights can still be found here:
Christian Science Church, Rugby Road,
Belfast
Elmwood Church, University Road, Belfast
Drumalis, Larne, Co Antrim
Gosford Castle, Markethill, Co Armagh
Electricity Generating Station,
Albert Bridge, Belfast
Cottage at Trillick, Co Fermanagh
Belfast Harbour Office
Return to headlines.