Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/50/102 F

Address :
12 College Square North Belfast Co Antrim BT1 6AS

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
26/06/1979 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130-13

IG Ref:
J3342 7415

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

End-of-terrace four-storey rendered former townhouse, built c.1830, as part of a terrace of five similar houses. Rectangular on plan facing south onto College Square North. Pitched natural slate roof with black clay ridge tiles and a rendered profiled chimneystack to the east party wall with clay pots. Roof set behind parapet wall and eaves cornice returning to the west gable. Painted ruled-and-lined rendered walling with moulded plinth course, channel-rusticated to the ground floor and rusticated quoins to the outer corner. Cement rendered walling to the rear elevation. Cast-iron guttering on iron brackets to rear elevation with cast-iron box hopper and replacement downpipe. Square-headed window openings with sandstone sills and largely original timber sash windows. South front elevation is three windows wide with an entrance to the right and a former railed front area, railing since removed. Window openings comprise; 6/3 to the third floor, 6/6 to the second floor with architrave surrounds, horizontally-glazed 2/2 to the first floor, single-pane to the ground floor. Ground and first floor windows are flanked by slender pilasters and decorative console brackets supporting hood cornices with continuous sill courses. Square-headed door opening has a replacement flat-panelled timber door with a lugged architrave surround and a rectangular overlight having interlacing tracery. Door opening flanked by slender pilasters and foliate console brackets supporting a dentilated cornice and shallow pediment having acroteria and a wreath to the tympanum. Door opens onto replacement paved platform and five concrete steps enclosed by replacement steel railings. Gabled west side elevation has two irregularly spaced window openings to ground and first floors with 6/6 timber sash windows. North rear elevation is two windows wide and abutted by a gable-ended two-storey return fronting onto College Place North and a steel fire escape. Early 6/3 timber sash window to the third floor and a 6/6 timber sash window to the second floor. East side elevation abutted by adjoining house No.11 (HB26/50/102E). Setting Part of a terrace of five similar houses lining the north side of College Square North, facing the Municipal Technical Institute(HB26/50/222). Roof : Slate RWG : cast-iron Walling: Rendered Windows: timber

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

No. 12 College Square North, a four-storey three-bay Georgian townhouse, was constructed between 1822 and 1832-33; the terrace of College Square North was not depicted on the 1822 map included in George Benn’s ‘The History of Town of Belfast’ which recorded that the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (HB26/50/023) lay to the western limit of the town and was still not surrounded by many building. The terrace, which included the adjoining nos 9-11 College Square North (HB26/50/102 C-E), the Old Museum (HB26/50/102B) and 1-6 College Square North (5-6 College Sq N- HB26/50/102A), had been completed by the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1832-33. The Townland Valuations (c. 1830) note that the newly completed No. 12 College Square North was valued at £53 and was occupied by a Dr. Forsythe, the first of a number of medical professional to reside at the fashionable address surrounding College Square. Forsythe continued to reside at No. 12 until at least 1843 when he was recorded in the Belfast Street Directories; however by 1852 he had been replaced as occupant by Sir. William G. Johnson, a local magistrate and former mayor of Belfast (Johnston held the position in 1849). Griffith’s Valuation noted that in 1860 Johnston continued to reside at No. 12 College Square North which he leased from a Ms. Elizabeth McCammon; the valuer slightly increased the value of No. 12 to £60 in 1860. Sir. William G. Johnston continued to reside at No. 12 College Square North until c. 1891 when a Dr. Andrew McConnell took possession of the site, purchasing the property outright from the McCammon estate in that year. The Annual Revisions recorded that the value of the building dropped slightly to £55 in 1892; the valuer noting that McConnell purchased No. 12 at auction for £1,000. There was no recorded change to No. 12 College Square North until the Belfast Revaluation in 1900; in that year the value of the Georgian townhouse was returned to £60. The valuer stated that No. 12 was less valuable than the rest of the adjoining terrace due to its proximity to College Place North and Neill’s Flour Mill which was located to the rear of the terrace; the Belfast Revaluation recorded that No. 12 College Square North consisted of 11 rooms (including sitting rooms and bedrooms but excluding kitchens) and was installed with gas fittings. Dr. Andrew McConnell’s family continued to reside at No. 12 College Square North until c. 1915. The 1901 Census records that McConnell (62, Presbyterian) resided at No. 12 with his wife Margaret (60) and their three children; the census building return described their dwelling as a 1st class private dwelling that consisted of 10 inhabited rooms and possessed a coach house as its sole outbuilding. Andrew McConnell died in 1909 leaving possession of No. 12 College Square North to his widow who continued to reside there until c. 1918. In that year the Belfast Street Directory noted that a Dr. James Blewitt had come into possession of the townhouse (which had been reduced in value to £50); Blewitt continued to reside at the address until at least 1935 when he was recorded in the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland. In 1935 Blewitt leased No. 12 College Square North from the widowed Mrs. McConnell; as part of the revaluation the value of Blewitt’s dwelling was increased to £75. College Square North survived the heavy bombardment of Belfast’s city centre during the 1941 Blitz and in the aftermath of the Second World War the terrace was included in the second revaluation of property in Northern Ireland which commenced in 1956. James Blewitt had vacated No. 12 College Square North by 1956 by which time the former dwelling had been converted into offices for J. H. Copper & Co. Ltd.; in 1966 the office passed to A. J. Hurst Ltd., an electrical and lighting firm who converted the site into offices and storage space resulting in the value of the building increasing to £248 at which it remained by the end of the revaluation in 1972. College Square was laid out in the early-19th century as a large open square containing the newly established Royal Belfast Academical Institution; in the mid-to-late-19th century College Square North was one of the most desirable areas in Belfast and attracted many from the professional class, including doctors and businessmen, however when the massive Belfast Technical College was installed at the corner of the square and cut off the pleasant view of the Academy’s lawns in 1900-07, many of the city’s professionals moved to South Belfast to more idyllic surrounds such as University Square beside Queens University (Patton, p. 74). No. 12 College Square North was constructed in c. 1830 as part of the redevelopment of College Square; in his Georgian Belfast: 1750-1850, Brett stated that the ‘imposing Regency terrace’ was developed for John McCammond who originally possessed the lease for nos 1-12, whilst the remainder of the terrace was built for Zachariah Leaf Orrett (Brett, p. 60). Throughout its history No. 12 College Square North was occupied by members of Belfast’s professional elite including a number of medical doctors and a former city mayor. The dwelling is unique amongst the adjoining terrace as it remained in its original use as a private dwelling, after the construction of Belfast Technical College, until the mid-20th century whilst the other properties along the row were converted into other uses (Patton). No. 12 College Square North was converted into office space in c. 1950 and was listed in 1979. Throughout the turbulent period of the 1970s College Square and the surrounding Smithfield area was targeted in frequent bomb and vandalism attacks; in 1977 the adjoining No. 8 College Square North was demolished by a bomb and over the resulting decades all of the remaining terrace (nos 9-11) lay vacant and had fallen into a state of disrepair, however No. 12 remained in ‘poor but complete condition.’ The derelict nos 9-11 College Square North were acquired by Hearth Housing Association who repaired the row in 1998-99; the project converted the buildings into flats and resulted in the restoration of the terraces original character. A replica building, also by Hearth, at No. 8 closes the gap. Hearth was unable to acquire No. 12 and it was later vandalised, however the building was restored in the late-20th century and continues to be utilised as a private dwelling (Hearth Housing Association website). References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1832-33 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02 4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931 5. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938 6. PRONI VAL/720A-B – Townland Valuation c. 1830 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/5D – Griffith’s Valuation 1860 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/E/1-24 – Annual Revisions 1862-1930 9. PRONI VAL/7/B/12/20 – Belfast Revaluation 1900 10. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/18 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 11. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/36 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72 12. George Benn’s The History of the town of Belfast (1823) 13. PRONI Wills Catalogue (16 Nov 1909) 14. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 15. Belfast Street Directories (1843-1943) 16. First Survey Record – HB26/50/113 (1970) 17. First Survey Image – HB26/50/113 (1976) Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Buildings of Belfast: 1700-1914’ Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1985. 2. Brett, C. E. B., ‘Georgian Belfast, 1750-1850: Maps, buildings and trades’ Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 2004. 3. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993. Online Resources 1. Hearth Housing Association website - http://freespace.virgin.net/hearth.nireland/CollSqN.html

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Terraced four-storey rendered former townhouse, built c.1830, as part of a terrace of five similar houses with front railed area. Rectangular on plan facing south onto College Square North. Described as the best surviving example of an 1830s terrace in Belfast, the group were rescued from dereliction after a period of neglect. Despite the loss of much original fabric, the plain Georgian character of the terrace survives and its historic interest is significant as a surviving part of Georgian Belfast, similar to the houses at 7-11 Wellington Place.

General Comments

Record renumbered from HB 26/50/113A to HB 26/50/102F

Date of Survey

02 January 2013