Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/50/278

Address :
Warehouse at 42 Waring Street ('Cotton Court') Belfast BT1 2ED

Townland:
Belfast Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
27/09/2002 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Warehouse

Former Use
Warehouse

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
Yes

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
Partially

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OS Map No:
130/13

IG Ref:
J3406 7458

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Owner Category

Commercial

Exterior Description And Setting

Large four storey gabled warehouse of pre 1830 construction, sandwiched between (and partly internally integrated with) sections of (largely) 1920s warehouses. The building is located to the north side of Waring Street, (east of Hill Street and south of Gordon Street), but, because of the proliferation of the abovementioned later buildings, is now barely visible with only part of the north elevation, the east gable and very small section of the west gable still exposed. These exposed sections of the warehouse are rendered but a large portion of the east gable is in its original brick; the gabled roof is slated. The adjoining warehouses to the south and west are marginally shorter than their older neighbour, largely brick-built with slated (mainly) hipped roofs and large segmental arch headed windows, now all blocked. The original warehouse building was originally entered from a lane to the N side of Waring Street. This lane, originally known as ‘Cotton Court’ was completely open and continued in dog-leg fashion north-eastwards to Gordon Street. Along the way the lane passed a large open yard area to its W side. The warehouse was to the N side of this yard and was undoubtedly entered from here. Cotton Court was closed in the 1880s and much of the open ground within it built over between this date and the 1920s, thus the entrance to the lane is now covered by a plain early to mid 20th century single storey building which follows the line of the lane northwards, and abutting the later hipped roof warehouse range to the S side of the original warehouse. The Waring Street elevation of this single storey structure is rendered with a flat roof, with very large vehicle entrance and large square window facing into the street itself. The entrance has a sturdy metal double door. The W side of the single storey section is now exposed, as the building formerly attached has been demolished. This side is therefore composed of an unsightly mixture of brick and render, typical of wall exposed after demolition. The 1920s range of four storey warehouses to the S of the original building is in brick with a series of hipped slated roofs. The range was originally largely obscured behind related office buildings which stood to the S and faced directly out on to Waring Street and was therefore constructed in a utilitarian fashion as one would expect of an ‘industrial building not exposed public gaze. Thus the S elevation is a wholly plain function affair in red brick with a series of (now blocked) segmental headed windows. Remnants of the buildings which once abutted the range are still discernible to this elevation, notably a tall narrow-ish outline close to the centre which undoubtedly belonged to a return of the now demolished structures and, to the immediate right of this the outline of a large gable. The W (Hill St) elevation of the structures surrounding the original warehouse consists of a plain rendered three-four storey hipped section to the left (without any openings), a plain rendered four storey gabled projection to right of this and a hipped roof section to far right. The hipped roof section to left and the gabled projection to its right probably originally belonged to properties which predated the hipped roof range to S, probably buildings which faced out on to Hill Street; the gable certainly looks as though it once stretched further to the W but has been truncated. The section to right of the gable, which is actually the W face of the hipped roof range, has blocked up ‘windows’ as S elevation, but is faced in a glazed white brick rather than red, suggesting that it once formed one side of a light well. From yards belonging to properties fronting on to Gordon Street much of the N elevation of the original warehouse can be seen. All of the ground floor level of the building to this side (and much of the first floor level) is abutted by neighbouring mid 20th century buildings, however most of the second and third floor levels are visible. This side of the warehouse is plain rendered with a series of relatively small flat arch windows to each floor. Most of these windows has retained their sash frames (vertical glazing bars- 2/2), but behind the frames most of the openings have actually been blocked. The E gable of the original warehouse is wholly exposed. The lower half of the gable is unrendered and shows the buildings brick construction. The bricks themselves are noticeably small and of a brown rather than a red hue- an indication of the buildings considerable age. The upper half of the gable is finished in the same plain render as the N elevation. There is a window to the third floor, as N elevation and now blocked, with a small blocked up window to the loft level. To the left the gable merges with the E elevation of the hipped roof range, which is in brick and without openings. The gabled roof of the original warehouse is slated, with a small skylight to the S side.

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

The site upon which this warehouse complex is located lies within one of the oldest areas of Belfast. Waring Street was largely developed in the 1670s and 80s and is shown on maps dating from 1680 and 1685. By the second half of the 18th century it had become the town’s major financial and commercial centre, running from the Exchange (the business and social focus for the local merchant class) at the Four Corners in the west to the Lime Kiln Dock at the river at the east. The land to the north of Waring Street, like much of Belfast, began to be seriously developed/redeveloped after the large scale granting of new leases by Lord Donegall in 1767. James Williamson’s map of 1791 shows the extent of this development with the area once known as Buller’s Field intersected by Foundry Lane (later Hill St.) and Buller’s Row (Gordon St.). Cotton Court is not shown and presumably did not exist, though this does not prelude the (highly likely) presence of buildings behind those fronting Waring Street. Cotton Court begins to be mentioned in sources from around 1807, when it was home to a small cotton mill (from whence it got its name) owned by John Alexander junior & Co. A building within the court was also home to a Methodist congregation in 1830. When the area was surveyed for valuation purposes in 1837, there no mill, only the ‘old preaching house’ and minster’s office, a grain store, four modest dwelling houses and a forge. The original building at the heart of today’s complex is located on the west side of what was Cotton Court. Physical evidence, including brickwork, roof trusses etc., suggest that it may be quite old, perhaps early 19th century and was built as a complete structure. Its site is shown occupied on the 6in OS map of 1832, with an open yard to the south (where the single storey entrance section now stands) in front of the terrace fronting Waring Street, the entrance to the yard (and thence to Cotton Court) from this street. The larger scale OS town plans of 1858 show the same plan and the 1860 valuation tell us that that the yard and the buildings, (‘42 Waring St.’), belonged to a George Ash and consisted of a ‘shop and stores’. The Ash family appears to have a long association with Waring Street prior to this date. In 1812 a George Ash and his then business partner, William Berwick, obtained a lease of land on the south side of Gordon street, bordering on the site of the present old warehouse. The same lease mentions that Berwick and Ash already had ‘concerns’ in Waring Street and both are listed in a directory of 1824 as ‘General Provision Merchants’ at No.34. By 1832, Ash alone is listed as a ‘Wholesale grocer and general merchant’ at No.36 and at No.40 by 1839 [proper postal number of buildings did not exist at this point- it is possible that the properties in the street were renumbered at some point(s) and that all of these different numbers refer to the same building/s.] The 1837 valuation returns list his properties within the street at this point as consisting of a single storey ‘office store’ and ‘office cooperage’ as well as an another adjoining building measuring 75½ft by 33 and standing 33½ in height. This structure, which is described as ‘office stores crossing yard’, and included a ‘counting room’, matches the dimensions of the older warehouse and a small hand drawn plan on the margins of valuation book indicates that it did indeed stand on the site of the present block. Moreover, the valuers also noted that this building was (in their view or in fact) fairly old, certainly over 20 years and perhaps a good deal older. Thus it appears that the rectangular gabled building we see today was standing in 1837 and was probably thirty years old or more at this point, in other words it could have been built around 1800- or earlier. The George Ash noted in the 1860 valuation appears to been the son of that of 1837, George senior having died around 1854. George junior remained in business at No.40 Waring Street until 1864. After this the site was utilized by William Moreland & Co. ‘Drysalters, Tea & General Merchants’, but is listed as vacant in 1877. By 1883, when its address had changed to No.42 after a period of rebuilding other properties on the front of the street, it had been acquired by cement manufacturers N. McNaughton & Sons in whose hands remained until 1920. McNaughtons sublet part of the premises to the south side of the yard to cork merchant named Kane between 1900 and 1909, and one T. Bride, a painter, between 1910 and 1920. Throughout this period the plan of the site appears to have altered little, with the open yard to the south of the warehouse remaining as well as the open entrance from Waring Street. All around however there was change, for as well was new buildings fronting the street, Cotton Court (which was in ‘ruins’ by the later 1870s) was closed in 1880 and its north end built over. Around 1921/22 No.42 was acquired by wine and spirit dealers Holywood & Donnelly, for use as a bonded warehouse. Judging from the evidence of the valuation notebooks, the new owners appear to have built the large four storey brick range (over the formerly open yard) and the single storey entrance from Waring Street, shortly after they took possession of the site. One assumes that they integrated the original warehouse with their new building at the same time. The small hipped roof section to the west may also have been integrated with property at this date also, however this portion seems to predate the 1920s, map and valuation evidence suggesting that it is a remnant of a once larger neighbouring concern which may have dated from the mid to later 1800s. The site is shown, much as today on the OS map of 1931. The property passed to the Belfast Bonding Co. in 1925 and continued as a bonded warehouse until 1991, by which time it was under the ownership of Edward Dillon Ltd. References- Primary sources 1 Linen Hall Library Map of the Town of Belfast 1757 2 PRONI D.509/363 Donegall Papers Counterpart of a lease from the Marquis of Donegall to Shem Thompson, 1767 3 PRONI D.509/215 Donegall Papers Lease from the Marquis of Donegall to Mrs Margaret Goff, 1767 4 Linen Hall Library Map of Belfast by James Williamson, 1791 5 ‘Smyth & Lyons Belfast directory for 1807’ (Belfast 1807) 6 ‘Smyth & Lyons Belfast directory for 1808’ (Belfast 1808) 7 PRONI T.811/1 p.106 Transcript of a lease from John Ashmore to William Berwick and George Ash, 1812 8 ‘Pigot’s…directory’ (Manchester, 1824), p.554 [‘Berwick & Ash’ are listed at ‘No.34 Waring Street’- this may be the property later associated with Ash prior to a street re-numbering. ‘Official’ street numbering is a later 19th century phenomenon.] 9 PRONI D.1748/B/1/99/1-2 Tennent Papers Letters from John King, Belfast, to Dr Robert Tennent, 1830 [These letters concern the Methodist congregation of Cotton Court.] 10 PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 OS map, Co Antrim sh 61, 1832 11 ‘Martin’s directory’, ‘Henderson’s directory’, ‘Belfast & Province of Ulster directory’ (all Belfast, various dates from 1832 to 1852 and from 1852 onwards) 12 PRONI VAL/1B/71a, p.21 First valuation book, Parish of Shankill, 1837 13 PRONI VAL/2B/7/3a Second valuation notebook, Parish of Shankill, c.1859 14 PRONI VAL/2D/7/30 Second valuation town plan of Belfast sh 30, c.1860-[?with later annotations] 15 PRONI VAL/12B/43c/1 Annual valuation revision notebook, St Anne’s ward, Belfast, 1860-81 [Unfortunately this valuation notebook and those following do not supply the dimensions of buildings.] 16 PRONI OS/8/30/2/30 OS town plan of Belfast sh 30, 1871-73 [This map was consulted by the writer in 1999, but is currently listed as missing (Dec 2001)] 17 L’estrange & Brett Belfast Corporation order closing Cotton Court [This document is contained with a bundle of deeds relating to the property currently held in the office of L’estrange & Brett.] 18 PRONI VAL/12B/43c/8 Annual valuation revision notebook, St Anne’s ward, Belfast, 1882-96 19 PRONI OS/30/3/30 OS town plan of Belfast sh 30, 1883-84 20 PRONI VAL/12E/192j/30/1 Valuation revision town plan of Belfast sh 30, c.1883-4 21 PRONI OS/8/30/4/30 OS town plan of Belfast sh 30, 1894-95 22 PRONI OS/9/50/4/30 OS town plan of Belfast sh 30, 1895-96 23 PRONI VAL/12B/43c/17 Annual valuation revision notebook, St Anne’s ward, Belfast, 1897-1905 24 PRONI OS/8/30/5/57 OS town plan of Belfast sh 57 (30), 1901-02 25 PRONI VAL/12B/43c/32 Annual valuation revision notebook, St Anne’s ward, Belfast, 1906-14 26 PRONI VAL/12B/43c/36 Annual valuation revision notebook, St Anne’s ward, Belfast, 1915-25 27 Linen Hall Library Reprint of an OS map of Belfast, 1921 [PRONI do not appear to hold any of the early to mid 20th century maps of Belfast.] 28 PRONI VAL/12B/43c/40 Annual valuation revision notebook, St Anne’s ward, Belfast, 1924-30 29 OS map of Belfast, 1931, reprinted in the end paper of Marcus Patton’s ‘Central Belfast- A historical gazetteer’ (Belfast 1993) 30 L’estrange & Brett Mid to later 20th century deeds etc relating to no.42 Waring Street Secondary sources 1 Thomas Gaffikin, ‘“Belfast fifty years ago”, A lecture in the Working Men’s’ Institute, April 8th 1875’ (Belfast 1876), pp.16-17 2 Edward Benn, ‘History of the town of Belfast vol.II (London, 1880) 3 Cathal O’Byrne, ‘As I roved out’ (repr. Belfast 1982), p.84

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

D. Plan Form E. Spatial Organisation F. Structural System G. Innovatory Qualities H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior

Historic Interest

Z. Rarity X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Large four storey gabled warehouse of pre 1830 construction, sandwiched between (and partly internally integrated with) sections of (largely) 1920s warehouses. The building is located to the north side of Waring Street, (east of Hill Street and south of Gordon Street), but, because of the proliferation of the abovementioned later buildings, is now barely visible with only part of the north elevation, the east gable and very small section of the west gable still exposed. These exposed sections of the warehouse are rendered but a large portion of the east gable is in its original brick; the gabled roof is slated. The adjoining warehouses to the south and west are marginally shorter than their older neighbour, largely brick-built with slated (mainly) hipped roofs and large segmental arch headed windows, now all blocked. Demolitions have now taken place The building is a very early example in Belfast of this form of timber construction

General Comments

Date of Survey

21 November 2001