Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB03/10/001

Address :
Town Hall Kerr Street Portrush Co. Antrim BT56 8DX

Townland:
Portrush

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
22/06/1977 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Town Hall

Former Use
Town Hall

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
6-09

IG Ref:
C8580 4050

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

A polychromatic two-storey over semi-basement with attic, red-brick town hall in Scots-Baronial style with crow-stepped gables and stair turret; built 1872 to designs by Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon and situated at the junction of Mark Street and Kerr Street in Portrush town centre. Rectangular plan with gabled abutments to northeast, cruciform ridge and bowed southeast end adjoining four-stage stair turret. Pitched natural slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, red-brick chimneystacks with moulded caps and ball finials to crow-stepped gables; bowed end with leaded cap and metal finial to apex; turret topped by metal weathervane. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on scotia moulded eaves course with toothed yellow-brick frieze. Walling is Flemish-bonded red-brick on a chamfered plinth (smooth rendered at gradient to southwest); with black brick string courses at sill and impost level and mid-level decorative toothed yellow-brick string course; decorative raised brickwork to crow-stepped gable at southwest. Windows are replacement timber-framed sash, round-headed 2/2 with margin panes to first floor and smaller segmental-headed 2/2 with horizontal glazing bars to ground floor (unless otherwise stated); all in alternate chamfered brick reveals, with horns, flush black and red-brick voussoirs, logged brick drip mould and projecting moulded sandstone sills. Southeast elevation comprises bowed end bay abutted by the stair turret at right. Bowed end bay is lit by five windows to each floor (diminutive 1/1 window to ground floor left). Right cheek of bowed section is fully abutted by a lean-to two-storey with attic wing, terminated by the stair turret. Turret has two diminutive 1/1 windows to three-stages (irregularly arranged); decorative carved trefoil panel under eaves. The southwest elevation is read as three parts, all flush. Left bay contains stairwell and is lit by a segmental window at first floor, and a double-height window lighting each half landing level directly above, having central timber panelled dividing section inset between levels; ground floor has a service door to either side of a diminutive segmental window. A substantial flush gable is aligned slightly left of centre, above two openings at first and second floor, its right side delineated by a tall clustered chimneystack rising from first floor level on a corbelled base. Ground floor has diminutive paired windows flanking a service door. The right side of the elevation has been described with the bowed southeast elevation (see above). The northwest gable has window to ground floor left. The northeast elevation has, at left, gablet with window to attic and two openings to first and ground floor. Bolection-moulded six-panelled door to ground floor left, flanked by semi-engaged colonettes from mid-level and surmounted by segmental-headed transom light. Abutted at right by two full-height (two storey) gabled abutments. The abutment to left houses a stairwell and has a slender rectangular opening at gable, large 1/1 window to first floor and two 1/1 windows to ground floor. A segmental-headed doorway is located on the southeast check and comprises a double-leaf bolection-moulded six-panel door with Victorian off-set brass pull handles and fixed tympanum having painted lettering reading “PORTRUSH/TOWN HALL, all surmounted by black brick voussoirs and logged brick drip mould. Doorway flanked by sandstone semi-engaged columns from mid-level with decorative carved capitals; 2/2 window over at first floor. Right gable is lower and narrower with two windows at each floor. Setting: Corner-sited and prominently situated at the junction of Mark Street and Kerr Street in Portrush town centre. To front is a Portland stone and bronze and war memorial (HB03/10/048) on a stepped plinth and enclosed by cast-iron arrow head railings. Southwest elevation overlooks sea-front. Excavated building site to rear. Roof: Natural slate Walling: Flemish-bonded red-brick Windows: Replacement timber sash RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Lanyon & Lynn

Historical Information

Portrush Town Hall was built in 1872 to designs by Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon and built by contractor Thomas Stewart Dickson, with alterations and additions in 1930 by A J H Clarke, Portrush Town Surveyor (Coleraine Chronicle; Irish Builder). Following the opening of the railway line to Portrush in 1855, the town’s rapid growth as a Victorian bathing resort was assured.Similarly, by constructing a town hall it shows a mark of increasing confidence together with the desire to provide attractive and commodious civic amenities. The Assembly Rooms and Town Hall was formally inaugurated on Monday 12th August 1872 when an amateur concert was given by a ‘number of residents and other friends’, before a ‘large and really brilliant assemblage, including most of the elite of the neighbourhood’. A bazaar was subsequently held to raise money in order to liquidate the debt remaining on the building. (Belfast Newsletter) The ‘Town Hall’ is first shown, captioned, on the large-scale town plan of Portrush dating from 1896. The building provided a reading room, ‘Masonic Room’, a concert hall for 500, basement living accommodation for the caretaker and water closets. Petty sessions and local government functions were carried out in the building and it was also a centre of social activity and entertainment. (McDonald and Anderson) The Belfast Newsletter records that in the 1880s and 90s the Town Hall was the scene of auctions, classes in dancing, calisthenics and deportment, musical concerts, bible society meetings, a fishery enquiry instituted by local fishermen, sermons, meetings of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Society of Ireland, election addresses and lodge meetings of the local Orange Order. Percy French performed at the Assembly Rooms in its heyday. (Belfast Newsletter; McDonald & Anderson) Portrush Assembly Rooms Co Ltd, a committee of local people, including businessmen and clergy, were the initial owners of the building which entered valuation records in 1872 at a valuation of £50. The cost was said to be £2,300. In 1917 ownership passed to Portrush Urban District Council, however no significant alterations in the valuation are recorded. (McDonald and Anderson; Valuation Records) At the time of the 1901 census the caretaker was English-born William E Carter and his Derry wife Matilda who occupied four rooms within the building. Carter was a naval pensioner and remained caretaker at the Town Hall until at least 1911 when he is once again recorded resident there with his wife. (1901 census) In 1930 alterations and additions were made to the Town Hall to designs by A J H Clarke, Portrush Town Surveyor. The building was lengthened by 20 feet to the north and a wing was added to the east side. The new wing and additional length were felt to improve the proportions of the building, while preserving the Scottish baronial style. The approach from the street to the function room on the first floor had been up a narrow winding staircase that created a bottle-neck at the top. Clarke replaced this staircase with a wide fireproof stair of reconstituted granite, with plenty of natural light, contained in a new wing. Nine feet was added to the width of the main hall by taking in a corridor and a former stage. A new stage ‘properly equipped for theatrical performances’ was provided, together with dressing rooms, new council offices and council chamber, cloakroom and lavatory accommodation, a strong room, caretaker’s quarters and in the main hall a fireproof cinema projection room with space for installation of ‘talkie’ apparatus. The cost was approximately £4,000 and the main contractor was Hugh Taggart of Ballymoney. Sub-contractors were, heating Messrs Musgrave & Co, Belfast, electric lighting, Mr Thomas May BA, Londonderry, sanitary fittings, Riddels Ltd Belfast and mosaic, Robert Kirk Ltd, Belfast. (Irish Builder) Valuation records of 1933/4 note that the building was also used a library and a petty sessions court continued to be held here. The concert hall and dressing rooms on the first floor were separately let at £120. Having faced demolition in the late 1990s, the Hall benefitted from an 18 month restoration programme in association with Hearth Revolving Fund and with grant support from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2004-5. Selected brickwork was replaced with reused brick. The old cinema projection room which was housed in concrete in order to render it fireproof was removed. A musician’s gallery was restored along the full length of the hall and layers of paint were removed from the plasterwork. New toilets were installed together with level access and modern theatrical equipment allowing the hall to host plays and pantomimes. (www.colerainebc.gov.uk; HB file) References: Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/2/1 First Edition OS Map 1831-2 2. PRONI OS/6/1/2/2 Second Edition OS map 1853 3. PRONI OS/6/1/2/3 Third Edition OS Map 1906 4. PRONI OS/6/1/2/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1921-31 5. PRONI OS/6/1/2/5 Fifth Edition OS Map 1946-50 6. PRONI OS/8/42/1-2 – Town Plans of Portrush (1895-6) 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/6/2A-E – Annual Revisions (1859-1895) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/4/22A-D Annual Revisions (1895-1930) 9. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/30 First General Revaluation 1933-57 10. PRONI VAL/3/D/1/15/A/27 First General Revaluation 1933-57 11. 1901 census online 12. Irish Builder, Vol 72, 5th July 1930, p595 13. HB File – 03/010/001 14. Belfast Newsletter 20th August 1872 15. Belfast Newsletter, 6th November 1884 16. Belfast Newsletter 15th May 1888 Secondary Sources 1. Girvan, W D “Historic Buildings, Groups of Buildings, Areas of Architectural Importance in North Antrim including the towns of Portrush, Ballymoney and Bushmills” Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1975 2. McDonald, T and Anderson, R “Memories in Focus: NE Ulster from old photographs 1850-1950 Volumes 1 to 4” 1981-83 3. www.colerainebc.gov.uk

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H+. Alterations enhancing the building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance Z. Rarity X. Local Interest V. Authorship

Evaluation

A polychromatic two-storey-over semi-basement with attic red-brick town hall in Scots-Baronial style with crow-stepped gables and stair turret; built 1872 to designs by Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon and prominently situated at the junction of Mark Street and Kerr Street in Portrush town centre. A landmark building in the town and an excellent example of the work of a prominent firm of regional architects, Portrush Town Hall is a superb example of High Victorian municipal architecture in Northern Ireland. Architectural detailing is largely intact and is of high quality and character, displaying proportions and detailing associated with the high Victorian period, but expressed in a lively and distinctive design. Of interest nationally as an example of the work of Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon, the building is also of considerable social importance as a civic landmark.

General Comments

Additional listing criteria apply- R- Age, S- Authenticity, T- Historic Importance.

Date of Survey

08 June 2012