Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/50/319 A

Address :
58 Wellington Place Belfast Co Antrim BT1 6GF

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
10/02/1976 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Shop

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 SE

IG Ref:
J3355 7404

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Terraced four-storey rendered former townhouse, built c.1830, with Art Nouveau shopfront and first floor window surround inserted c.1900. Rectangular on plan facing north onto Wellington Place as part of a terrace of former houses. Natural slate roof with cement ridge tiles and replacement profiled red brick chimneystack with clay pots to the west party wall. Roof set behind blocking course and eaves cornice. Painted ruled-and-lined cement rendered walling with painted rusticated quoins. Square-headed window openings with architrave surrounds, concrete sills and timber casement windows (c.1900). Four-storey north elevation is two windows wide with a full-span thermal window to the first floor formed in deeply moulded gauged red brick and decorative panelled sandstone keystones. First floor surmounted by a large modillioned sandstone cornice over pulvinated frieze flanked by a pair of obelisk finials rising from corbelled and fluted shafts and mosaic tiled spandrel panels. Original tripartite fixed-pane timber display window with slender colonettes to the mullions. Advanced glazed timber shopfront with curved corners surmounted by a decorative pulvinated frieze, fluted lead-lined cornice and a central square panel framing a decorative disc depicting musical instruments. To the right is a recessed square-headed door opening providing access to the upper floors having an early twentieth-century timber panelled and glazed door and rectangular overlight, opening onto a terrazzo tiled area. East side elevation abutted by adjoining infill building. Rear elevation not seen. West side elevation abutted by adjoining building No.60-69 (HB26/50/319B). Setting Terminating a terrace houses lining the south side of Wellington Place. Roof: Natural slate RWG: Not seen Walling: render Windows : Timber

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

No. 58 Wellington Place, a four storey late-Georgian townhouse comprising on Wellington Place is one of a terrace of similar buildings which include nos 60-64 Wellington Place (HB26/50/022B) and nos 14-16 College Square East (HB26/50/022C-E). The row is a rare surviving Georgian terrace of a type once commonly found throughout the centre of Belfast but now quite rare; similar examples include a four-storey terrace on Chichester Street and two three-storey terraces on Joy and Hamilton Street. The terrace on Wellington Place and College Square East was constructed between 1822 and 1832-33 as the row does not appear on a map of Belfast included in George Benn’s ‘The History of the 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 buildings; the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map (1832-33) depicted both the Wellington Place and College Square East terraces. Contemporary to the first edition map, the Townland Valuation of Belfast recorded that No. 58 Wellington Place was occupied by a Mr. James and William Cochrane and was valued at £27. By 1843 No 58 Wellington Place was occupied by a Mr. Thomas Greer of Thomas Greer & Sons, a wholesale woollen, Manchester and printed calico business which operated from premises on Rosemary Street, however Greer only briefly resided at the site and by 1852 the four-storey dwelling was taken over by Dr. William Moffat who operated as a surgeon (Belfast Street Directories). Griffith’s Valuation noted that by 1860 No. 58 Wellington Place, like the majority of the terrace, was leased by the representatives of the estate of a Mr. James Blair, and that the value of the building had increased to £34 since the 1830s. By the 1860s Dr. Moffat had vacated the site when George V. Magenis, a solicitor, was resident at the address. Magenis continued to reside at No. 58 Wellington Place until c. 1872 when Matthew Crymble took over the premises; the Belfast Street Directories described Crymble as a pianoforte and musical instrument seller and in 1872 Crymble converted the former private dwelling into commercial premises, increasing the value of the site to £43. Two decades later Crymble also took over No. 14 College Square East (HB26/50/022C) which backed on to his other property; Crymble utilised this building as a warehouse whilst the main shop remained at No. 58 Wellington Place. Matthew Crymble’s business occupied No. 58 for over a century; in 1900 the Belfast Revaluation noted that ownership of the property had passed to a Ms. Emma White who thereafter was noted as lessor. The valuer recorded that at the time of the revaluation the property was in the process of being improved; it was at this time that the current Art Nouveau shopfront was added, as a result, the value of the building was increased to £120 (Crymble was required to pay annual rent of over £60). Having been converted into commercial premises and no longer utilised as a private dwelling, No. 58 Wellington place was not included in either the 1901 or 1911 Census of Ireland. The value of the site was slightly reduced to £110 at some stage between 1906 and 1914, however aside from this minor adjustment there were no further alterations to the site by the cancellation of the Annual Revisions in 1930. The First General Revaluation of property in Northern Ireland noted that ‘Matthew Crymble Ltd’ had purchased No. 58 Wellington Place outright by 1935 when the shop and showrooms (as well as music studios on the 2nd and 3rd floors) were increased in value to £262. The terrace survived the destruction of Belfast city centre during the 1941 Blitz and in the aftermath of the Second World War was included in the second general revaluation which commenced in 1956. By the 1950s there had been little discernible change to the site in the valuation records, the only alteration being the continuing increase in the value of the building which stood at £400 by the end of the revaluation in 1972. Patton states that Wellington Place was laid out in the 1790s as ‘superior terraces;’ named after the Duke of Wellington who once resided in Belfast during his youth, Wellington Place was, by 1822, the most densely populated residential area of Belfast and was a popular area frequented by Doctors and others of a professional class (Patton, p. 333). Nos 58-64 Wellington Place are surviving remnants of a much longer Georgian terrace which once extended from Donegall Square and formed part of the western expansion of Belfast in the late-Georgian period, originally intended as residential private dwellings lining the road towards the newly laid out College Square and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution (HB26/50/023) (Brett, Georgian Belfast, p. 60). Patton states that No. 58 Wellington place was constructed c. 1825; the building is abutted by the contemporary nos 60-64 on its west side; however the remainder of the Georgian terrace, which formerly extended eastwards from No. 58 to Upper Queen Street, was destroyed in the 1970s as part of the Troubles. No. 58 Wellington Place is best known for its prominent Art Nouveau shopfront which was added to Crymble’s music shop in c. 1900 (most sources state that the shop front was added in 1903, however the Belfast Revaluation shows that improvement work to the shop was underway as early as 1900) (Brett; Dixon; Patton, pp 335-6). The two-storey shopfront was designed by William J. W. Roome (1865-1937); Roome, an English architect, moved to Belfast in 1895 and established an independent practise from 1897. Entering into a partnership with the Belfast developer and philanthropist A. W. Vance, Roome constructed a number of buildings for his patron and served as secretary for Vance’s Homes of Rest organization; in the early 20th century Vance owned the adjoining nos 60-64 Wellington Place making it likely that the alteration work to Crymble’s shop was carried out with Vance’s involvement or financial assistance (despite not owning the property himself) (Dictionary of Irish Architects). Rothery states that Roome’s remarkable shopfront ‘shows many of the influences of Art Nouveau and the search at the turn of the century for novelty and richness in decoration. In particular the indulgence in high quality materials was typical of the time ... [for example] copper on shopfronts was mainly decorative as it was capable of being worked with intricate designs’ as in this case (Rothery, p. 41; 61). Dixon similarly states that with the emergence of the Art Nouveau movement many new stylistic influences began to take root in Belfast, the aesthetic decoration of Crymble’s shopfront combining ‘a range of typically novel features with curving lines, cheerful colour, and clear lettering;’ Patton declared the shopfront ‘the very epitome of aestheticism’ (Dixon, p. 178; Patton, Belfast: An Illustrated Yearbook). Matthew Crymble’s music shop continued to operate until the 1970s; the First Survey Image (1974) depicted the shop still in business, however a second photograph of the site in 1975 shows that the business had closed down after over a century at the site. No. 58 Wellington Place was listed in 1976 and in recent years has been reoccupied, currently utilised as a cafe on the ground floor while the upper floors are occupied by a tattoo studio. The Art Nouveau shopfront has been well maintained; in order to hide the copper lettering which formerly read ‘M. CRYMBLE LTD. MUSIC DEPOT,’ the shop front has been painted over in a colourful and sympathetic style keeping with the aesthetic principals of the Art Nouveau movement. 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/1/B/720A+B – Townland Valuation c. 1837 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/7/4B – Griffith’s Valuation 1860 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/D/1-18 – Annual Revisions 1862-1930 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/E/1-24 – Annual Revisions 1862-1930 10. PRONI VAL/7/B/9/48 – Belfast Revaluation 1900 11. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/14 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 12. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/42 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72 13. George Benn’s The History of the town of Belfast (1823) 14. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 15. Belfast Street Directories (1861-1918) 16. First Survey Record – HB26/50/022 (1971) 17. First Survey Image – HB26/50/022 (1975-78) 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. Dixon, H., ‘An introduction to Ulster Architecture’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 2008. 4. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 5. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993. 6. Patton, M., ‘Belfast: An illustrated yearbook’ Belfast: Appletree Press, 1987. 7. Rothery, S., ‘The shops of Ireland’ London: Francis Lincoln Ltd, 2009. Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

Z. Rarity X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Terraced four-storey rendered former townhouse, built c.1830, with Art Nouveau shopfront and first floor window surround inserted c.1900. This building and its neighbours represent a rare building typology in the heart of the city with the early twentieth-century adornments adding to the overall interest of the structure. The row is a rare surviving Georgian terrace of a type once commonly found throughout the centre of Belfast; similar examples include a four-storey terrace on Chichester Street and two three-storey terraces on Joy and Hamilton Street.

General Comments

Please note this record has been renumbered it was previously recorded as HB26/50/022

Date of Survey

31 January 2013