Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/08/005

Address :
Ulster Bank 142-146 Albertbridge Road Belfast County Antrim BT5 4GS

Townland:
Ballymacarrett

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
13/03/1987 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Bank

Former Use
Bank

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
130/14 SW

IG Ref:
J3553 7394

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

A freestanding symmetrical three-storey three-bay red-brick and sandstone former Ulster Bank, built c.1910 to designs by Blackwood & Jury located north of the Albertbridge Road east of Belfast city centre. Square on plan with central canted breakfront and bowed entrance bay to front; projecting porch to east and two-storey extension to rear. Pitched natural slate roof with red-brick chimneystacks having sandstone dressings. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods on ovolo-moulded projecting eaves. Walling is sandstone ashlar to ground floor and Flemish-bonded red-brick to upper floors. Ovolo-moulded cornice between ground and first floor; continuous moulded string-course to sill level at all floors; string-course to lintel level at upper floors; sandstone cornice surmounted by balustraded parapet with sandstone segmental pediment to three sides. Windows are replacement 1/1 timber-framed sliding sash to upper floors in sandstone surrounds with continuous sills, sandstone and brick voussoirs surmounted by segmental-headed hood moulds. Breakfront at upper floors; each has tripartite transomed and mullioned timber casement window with arch details. Tripartite mullioned timber casements flanking entrance to ground floor. The principal elevation faces south. A bowed entrance bay with portico spans almost the entire width of the ground floor; breakfront flanked by paired windows to upper floors; balustraded sandstone parapet with segmental pediment to breakfront having Ulster Bank plaque with sill on corbel brackets. Neo-Baroque portico contains an original raised-and-fielded four-panelled timber door with brass door furniture (letterbox has inscribed lettering reading “Ulster Bank LTD Mountpottinger”); surmounted by segmental-headed transom light with vertical glazing bars; carved sandstone segmental-headed lugged surround surmounted by ornately carved wreath and flanked by black polished granite columns with ionic sandstone capitals; dentilled segmental pediment with egg-and-dart frieze and moulded cornice. The west elevation is two windows wide with two sets of paired windows to ground floor and projecting flue to centre at upper floors. The north (rear) elevation is abutted at second floor by the two-storey extension (of no interest); upper section is blank. The east elevation has three sets of paired windows to ground floor; upper floors have paired windows to left and right of centre framed by cantons and pilasters. Partially abutted at right by the single-storey projecting sandstone porch; opening to south with a six raised-and-fielded panelled timber door, in a carved lugged surround with segmental pediment. Night-safe below window at far left. Setting: Prominently sited at the corner of Cluan Place and the Albertbridge Road. Housing executive development of terraced houses to rear at Cluan Place. Set back from the street with original cast-iron railings having trefoil detail on sandstone plinth to south and east. Roof: Half-hipped natural slate Walling: Sandstone and Flemish-bonded red-brick Windows: Replacement timber-framed sash & timber casements RWG: Cast-iron

Architects

Blackwood & Jury

Historical Information

The Irish Builder records that the Ulster Bank on the Albertbridge Road was constructed between 1908 and 1910, and was completed by January of the latter year. The bank was constructed to designs by Blackwood & Jury, a Belfast based Architectural partnership which formed c. 1901 and continued to operate until 1973; Blackwood & Jury were the favoured architects of the Ulster Bank Co. (J. W. Blackwood was the son of one of the Bank’s Directors - Haines, p. 46) and constructed at least 25 branches throughout Ireland (Irish Builder, Vol. 50, 19 Sept; 31 Oct 1908; Vol. 52, 22 Jan 1910, p. 53; Vol. 55, 29 Mar 1913, p. 200; Dictionary of Irish Architects). The Annual Revisions first recorded the bank in 1910 when it was valued at £220. At that time the property was also used as the residence of the Bank Manager; the 1911 Census records that the first manager, Matthew William Blockwood, a 55 year old Presbyterian, resided in the upper floors of the building with his wife Mary (49) and their four children. The Census Building Return described No. 142-146 Albertbridge Road as a 1st class bank and private dwelling which consisted of 14 rooms. The manager continued to occupy the upper floors until the late 1930s; however, William Knox states that with the outbreak of the Second World War he moved to a separate residence (Knox, p. 136). By the First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland in 1935 the value of the bank had increased to £275. With the end of the Second World War the government undertook the second revaluation of property in Northern Ireland; by 1956 the value of the Bank had risen by inflation to £530, but under the 1957 Rent and Valuation Art was reduced to £424. This was still deemed too high and an application was made in 1960 resulting in the bank once again being devalued to £376; by the end of the revaluation in 1972 the value of the Bank stood at £432. The revaluations recorded that the first floor of the building was utilised as a flat in the 1950s and converted into a schoolroom c. 1960. The first branch of the Ulster Bank Co. was opened in Waring Street in 1836 (in offices now occupied by the Merchant Hotel); the first Mounpottinger branch was established in 1898 at No. 150 Albertbridge Road which was shared between the Ulster Bank Co. and Musgrave & Co. Ltd. The first bank was also managed by Matthew William Blockwood who continued to operate the Mounpottinger branch until 1916 when he was transferred to the Head Office and appointed Bank Secretary. In 1908 a site neighbouring the No. 150 was purchased for the construction of the current three storey building; this was formerly the site of a Tobacconist shop and Antiques dealership operated by a Ms. Mary Crean (1901 Census). Larmour states that the builders contracted to undertake the construction were Thornbury Bros., whilst the arms at the top of the building were carved by Samuel Hastings of Downpatrick, who also carried out the stonework for Crossgar’s Catholic Church and later built the Downpatrick War Memorial. Larmour noted that Blackwood & Jury constructed a large number of Ulster Bank branches, ‘almost all of which are in some form of English Classical Style,’ however he described the Mountpottinger bank as ‘a Neo-Georgian branch [which incorporates] an almost incoherent jumble of motifs in Mount Charles Stone and Ruabon bricks’ (Larmour, p. 46). The new branch continued to operate at the premises on the Albertbridge Road until the late 20th century and was listed in 1984. As previously mentioned, after the end of the Second World War the upper floors of the building were let out as flats and also briefly utilised as a schoolroom; in later years the first floor was converted into a number of offices (Knox, p. 136). In the 1970s the branch became the data processing department of the Ulster Bank; however in 1998 Mountpottinger was amalgamated with the Connswater branch (opened in 1918) and was closed (Haines, p. 46). The upper floors are no longer used as offices; after lying vacant for approximately eight years, the property is currently for sale. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/3/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey map 1902 2. PRONI OS/6/3/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1920-21 3. PRONI OS/6/3/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey map 1931 4. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/4 – Annual Revisions 1906-1914 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/L/8 – Annual Revisions 1915-1930 6. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/11 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 7. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/25 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-1972 8. Irish Builder, Vol. 50, 19 Sept; 31 Oct 1908; Vol. 52, 22 Jan 1910; Vol. 55, 29 Mar 1913. 9. Census of Ireland 1901 / 1911 Secondary Sources 1. Haines, K., ‘East Belfast: Paintings and stories from harbour to hills’ Donaghadee: Cottage Publications, 2001. 2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 3. Knox, W. J., ‘Decades of the Ulster Bank, 1836-1964’ Belfast: Ulster Bank Ltd., 1965. 4. First Survey Record – HB26/08/005 (1984) 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 I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

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

Evaluation

A freestanding symmetrical three-storey three-bay red-brick and sandstone former Ulster Bank, built c.1910 to designs by Blackwood & Jury and located north of the Albertbridge Road, east of Belfast city centre. Displaying proportions and detailing typical of the Classical style but with some neo-Georgian elements, much of the architectural fabric is intact. Sympathetically converted into modern offices on the upper floors, the internal layout retains a partially intact early twentieth-century interior. Although no longer functioning as a Bank, number 142-146 makes a significant architectural and historic contribution to the surrounding area.

General Comments

Date of Survey

19 April 2011