Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB03/10/003 A

Address :
Former Railway Station 16 Eglinton Street Portrush Co Antrim BT56 8DX

Townland:
Portrush

---

Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
26/03/1974 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Shop

Former Use
Railway Station Structures

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
Yes

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

---

OS Map No:
6-09

IG Ref:
C8580 4046

---

Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

For descriptive purposes, the station complex has been divided into four units: (1) front section, (2) tower, (3) platform section, and (4) modern extension. 1. Front section A single-storey building aligned E-W across the front of the block. Pitched artificial slate roof with exposed rafter tails. No chimneys (originally three). Plain bargeboard to W gable, but raised ornate boxed one to E gable. Three small dormers to N pitch, each with slated pitch roofs, pair of 4x2-paned windows (possibly dummy), and half-timbered apexes with finials. Half-round plastic gutters and down pipes. Front (N) elevation comprises painted half-timbered rendered panels with frieze, all over low brick wall with slightly advanced base course and moulded brick coping. Gabled open porch to centre, with pitched roof, plain bargeboard and half-timbered apex. Porch has open balustraded timber sides over brick; middle section now enclosed with glazing, with a pair of glass entrance doors to front. Flanked at left by two sets of windows, and at right by three sets. Each window panel is 4x1-paned with four 2x2 square overlights. At right hand end is double-leaf timber door with 8x2-pane overlight. This doorway was inserted in place of a window panel (3x1 with overlights), probably at the same time as the removal of the front wing. W gable is rendered on top of rubble basalt wall brought to courses; the latter was originally a basement wall to the (now removed) front wing. Modern semicircular radial window to gable apex. 2. Tower A two-stage clock tower projects from left end of front section. Lower stage is two-storeys high (to ridge line of front section), and of brick with moulded string course. Shallow segmental timber window with 4x1 fenestration with (2x2 leaded overlights) to GF, with letterbox (Elizabeth II) below. Flat-headed 4x1 window to FF. Both windows have flush dressed sandstone cills. Upper stage advances on brackets beyond brick stage on all sites and has painted half-timbered panels as front section. Two rows of four 2x2-pane windows to each side. Roof is surmounted by clock turret, with dials to all faces and pyramidal slate roof with metal finial and bracketed eaves. E side of first stage of tower is abutted by a lean-to with monopitched artificial slate roof, half-timbered walls over painted and rendered brick wall, with windows to N and E (3x2 and 4x2 respectively). 3. Platform section The platform concourse behind the front section is covered by three felted Belfast truss roofs – two wide ones over the former platform concourse and a narrower one over a corridor on the street side, but which are now only visible on aerial photographs. E elevation, along Eglinton St, has boxed vertically-panelled eaves (with shamrock cut-outs along bottom edge) over white-painted horizontally timber-sheeted walls set on a painted and rendered brick base. Punctuated by black-painted vertical and horizontal frames with decorative timber infill panels. Right-hand end of this elevation is formed by gable of front section. Only one opening to this elevation – a modern metal roller shuttered door. The W elevation of this section was originally abutted at left by the front wing. When removed, this section of the wall was rendered with cement. The exposed section of the wall, where visible, is of rubble basalt, brought to courses, with miscellaneous openings all now infilled. 4. Modern extension A large single-storey extension has been built across the S end of the platform section. Shallow pitched corrugated cement-fibre roof and galvanised steel box gutters. W gable is clad with profiled metal sheeting with and has three small windows. Right-hand end of S elevation is of brick, with painted and rendered blocking wall over. Remained is rendered, but now hidden behind advertising banner. E elevation (to street) is half-timbered to mimic the original platform section. Two roller shutter doors to this elevation. Note that this section does not form part of the proposed listed section. Setting: The station is located at the SW end of the town, at the top of Eglinton Street. In front of it is a paved and landscaped pedestrian area, beyond which is the Town Hall (HB03/10/001). Eglinton Street runs along the E side of the block. At S is the modernised Portrush Railway Station, with single-storey flat-roofed roughcast-rendered block. At S end of platforms is a signal box (HB03/10/003B) and water towers (HB03/10/003C), both still functioning. At W is Barry’s Amusement Arcade. Roof: Pitched artificial slate and felted timber trusses Rainwater goods: Plastic Walls: Timber framed rendered panels over brick Windows: Mostly 4x1 timber

Architects

Historical Information

The former Portrush Station was the northern terminus of the Coleraine-Portrush branch line of the Belfast-Londonderry Railway. This branch was originally the main line between Ballymena and Portrush and was built by William Dargan in 1853-55 for the Ballymena, Ballymoney, Coleraine & Portrush Junction Railway (BBCPJR). A small ‘railway terminus’ is captioned on the 1855 OS map (although it was probably added to the original printing plate sometime later). In 1861, the line was sold to the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway (BNCR). In 1866, a short extension was made from a siding at the station to Portrush Harbour for goods’ traffic. In 1883, a separate narrow-gauge track was opened from the station to Bushmills by the Giant’s Causeway, Portrush & Bush Valley Tramway Co. This line was extended to the Causeway in 1887 and has the distinction of being the world’s first tramway powered by hydro-electricity. Because of the growing popularity of Portrush as a seaside resort, the company rebuilt the station in an enlarged form in half-timbered ‘mock-Tudor’ style under the direction of their Chief Engineer, Berkeley Deane Wise (appointed in 1888). A wing projecting from its W end housed a spacious café. The work was carried out by McLaughlin & Harvey and completed in spring 1893. The rebuilt station is shown on the 1904 OS map and subsequent editions, along with two long, partly-covered platforms and signal box and water tower at their S end. The BNCR was taken over by the Midland Railway (Northern Counties Committee) in 1903. This company was reconstituted as the London, Midland & Scottish Railway (Northern Counties Committee) in 1923. At nationalisation in 1949, the line was taken over by the Ulster Transport Authority, the precursors of Translink, its present operators. The line to the harbour and also the Giant’s Causeway tramway were closed in 1949 and goods services from Coleraine to Portrush were withdrawn in 1954. In the 1970s, the original station building was replaced by a much smaller utilitarian brick structure to its S. The former was apparently the first building to be statutorily listed by the Historic Monuments & Building Branch of the Dept Environment N. Ireland, on 26 March 1974. The defunct station was used for a time as Trax Night Club, and is now occupied by a retail outlet. The café wing on the W side of the station has been demolished, and a new extension built across the back of the canopied platform section of the former station. References – Primary sources: 1. Second edition OS six-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 6 (1855). 2. PRONI OS/10/1/6/2/1. First edition OS 25-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 6-02 (1904). 3. PRONI OS/10/1/6/2/2. Second edition OS 25-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 6-02 (1931). 4. PRONI OS/10/1/6/2/3. Third edition OS 25-inch map, Co Antrim sheet 6-02 (1946). 5. PRONI OS/11/6/9/1. First edition IG 25-inch map, sheet 6-09 (1965). References – Secondary sources: 1. J.R.L. Currie, The Northern Counties Railway, vol.1, pp 88-106, 226-227 (Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1973). 3. W.A. McCutcheon, The Industrial Archaeology of Northern Ireland, pp 130-131 (including measured drawings), 173, and plate 39.6 (Belfast: HMSO, 1980). 4. S. Johnson, Johnson’s Atlas & Gazetteer of the Railways of Ireland, pp 107 and 125 (Leicester: Midland Publishing, 1997). 5. F.G. Watson, Building over the Centuries: a History of McLaughlin & Harvey, pp 40, 52-53 (Belfast: Nicholson & Bass, 2010).

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form F. Structural System H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance V. Authorship R. Age Z. Rarity

Evaluation

Railway terminus of 1893 in mock-Tudor style by Berkeley Deane Wise for the Belfast & Northern Counties Railway. A well-proportioned block in a distinctive half-timbered style, with prominent brick and half-timbered clock tower to front and timber clad platform concourse to rear. Now somewhat disconnected from original setting due to modern addition across back of former platform concourse. Internal character also lost in conversion to other uses. Nevertheless still has group value with signal box and water towers at S end of platforms HB03/10/003B and /003C resp). Wise’s distinctive mock-Tudor style is also evident at Carrickfergus and Whitehead railway stations (HB22/08/004 and HB22/05/008A resp), but this is the arguably the best example and also one of the most distinctive stations in N. Ireland. One of the most prominent and instantly recognisable buildings in Portrush, it is also a tangible reminder of the key role the railway played in the development of town as one of the province’s premier seaside resorts.

General Comments

Listing Criteria R - Age; S - Authenticity and T - Historic Importance also apply.

Date of Survey

29 April 2013