Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB26/30/013

Address :
Ten Square Hotel Yorkshire House 10 Donegall Square South Belfast Northern Ireland BT1 5JD

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B1

Date of Listing:
15/03/1982 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Hotel

Former Use
Warehouse

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:
J3381 7392

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Owner Category

Private

Exterior Description And Setting

An Attached three-storey multi-bay hotel, formerly linen warehouse, built c.1860, located to the south side of Donegal Square South, at the corner of Linenhall Street, directly behind Belfast city hall. L-shaped plan arranged around central courtyard; abutted to re-entrant angle by four-storey stairwell which is further abutted by two-storey toilet block (built c.2000); three-storey return abuts south internal elevation to west, enclosing courtyard (fourth storey added c.2000). Roof is hipped natural slate with blue/black ridge tiles over corbelled sandstone eaves surmounted by cavetto moulded cornice with decorative foliated enrichments. Walls are ashlar sandstone with sandstone quoins over painted sandstone plinth; red brick to courtyard elevations. Ground floor windows are round-arched-headed steel framed casements with margin lights contained within painted carved surrounds; square pilasters with carved capital to reveals supporting arched hood-moulding, over decorative bracketed sill; first and second floor windows are timber framed 2/2 sliding sashes within carved architraves; lugged architraves at first floor surmounted by triangular pediment with foliated relief work; plain architraves at second floor surmounted by segmental arched pediment with foliated relief work; third floor windows (dormers) are steel framed casements; windows to courtyard are timber framed 2/2 sliding sashes with masonry sills. Principal elevation faces north and is nine windows wide about central entrance bay. Entrance set within round-arched-headed opening with chamfered reveals, flanked by columns with carved capitals surmounted by arched hood-moulding; square-headed double-leaf entrance doors with glazed top panels with glazed fanlight; fronted by decorative openwork metal screen and fanlight, embossing reads 'YORKSHIRE HOUSE / 10'; surmounted by painted stone string and sill course to first floor; paired round-arched-headed windows, separated by single column, in shared surround. Eighth opening from left at ground floor contains secondary entrance comprising replacement square-headed entrance door with round-arched-headed fanlight flanked by pilasters with carved capitals supporting arched hood-moulding. Windows separated at ground floor by painted stone roundels containing carved heads depicting, from left, Michelangelo, Columbus, Washington, Mercury, Minerva, Shakespeare, Schiller and Homer. East elevation is nine windows wide about central entrance bay. Entrance as north elevation; surmounted by painted stone string and sill course to first floor; paired round-arched-headed windows, separated by column, in shared surround surmounted by carved cartouche immediately surmounted by second floor window. Opening at left at ground floor contains service entrance comprising replacement square-headed double-leaf entrance doors with louvered fanlight flanked by pilasters with block capitals supporting arched hood-moulding. Windows separated at ground floor by painted stone roundels containing carved heads depicting, from left, Newton, Humboldt, Jacquard, Peace, Flora, Stevenson, Moore and Watt. South elevation is abutted by return at left and adjoining building at right; exposed section to centre in courtyard is abutted at ground floor by plant room; exposed section above contains, at second floor, large timber framed casement window; five window openings at third floor; all with concrete head and sill; surmounted by brackets supporting high level plant installation. Return at left; south and east elevations abutted by adjoining buildings; west elevation abutted at ground floor right by single-storey plant room; exposed section at ground floor contains two square-headed openings containing replacement double-leaf entrance doors (evidence of original segmental headed arched opening); six camber-headed window openings at first floor (three at left now built-up); six window openings at second floor (that to centre and right now built-up); elevation surmounted by metal clad rooftop extension (built c.2000) at third floor. Stairwell to re-entrant angle is abutted to south by two-storey block (built c.2000); exposed section above contains steel framed casement windows containing leaded stained glass with concrete heads and flush sills to half-landings and mid-flights; west elevation abutted at ground floor by plant room; exposed section contains arrangement as south elevation. West elevation is abutted by adjoining building and stairwell at left; two-storey block at centre; exposed section at centre contains two windows at second floor; exposed section at right contains square-headed opening (partially built-up) containing replacement double-leaf doors at ground floor; two windows to each upper floor; at first floor, that to right has been built-up and smaller window inserted; walling at third floor rebuilt in modern brickwork. Building is set back from Donegal Square South bounded to street by modern steel planters and railings enclosing outdoor seating area; entrance accessed via two granite steps within opening. To Linenhall Street at east, building directly fronts onto street; entrance accessed via two granite steps within opening. Roof: Pitched natural slate Walling: Ashlar sandstone voer painted stone plinth Windows: Steel framed casements at ground floor; timber framed 2/2 sliding sashes to upper floors RWG: Cast-iron moulded gutters and square downpipes

Architects

Not Known

Historical Information

No. 10 Donegall Square South is a three-storey former linen warehouse which was constructed to the south of Belfast’s Linen Hall in 1862. Construction work was completed in December of that year and the building was opened in early 1863. The Annual Revisions record that the warehouse was constructed on land belonging to Adam and Andrew Thomas McClean who owned much of the land south of May Street (reclaimed at the turn of the 19th century). The valuer noted that the ‘front and east flank [of the building is] of beautiful ornamented cutstone work – rear struck – very elegant and well fitted up.’ Initially valued at £373, the warehouse was constructed for Daniel Jaffe of Jaffe Brothers Linen Manufacturers & Merchants who previously had operated out of premises on 7 Bedford Street (Belfast Street Directory 1861). Jaffe Bros occupied the premises until at least the 1930s; however the annual revisions record that the second floor of the building was let out to a Mr. William Robinson as offices and a warehouse between 1906 and 1915 and in 1918 Redford Linen Co. Ltd. also had offices on the site. The Yorkshire Insurance Co. purchased the property outright by 1930 and in that year a number of offices on each floor were let out to other companies. No. 10 Donegall Square South continued to be valued at £373 until the end of the Annual Revisions, however in 1929 considerable alterations were made to the premises when its exterior was reconstructed into its current form. The Irish Builder records that this alteration was carried out by R. H. Gibson who enlarged the premises for the Yorkshire Insurance Co. when it came into ownership (Irish Builder, Vol. 71, 27 Apr 1929, p. 378). In 1935 the first general revaluation of property in Northern Ireland was carried out during which the value of No. 10 Donegall Square South was recalculated; each companies office space (included a post office and commercial shops located at street level) was valued separately, however the total valuation of the building can be calculated at approximately £918. The former warehouse survived the Belfast Blitz in 1941 and after the end of the war was revalued as part of the second general revaluation of property in Belfast; by the end of the project in 1972 the value of No. 10 Donegall Square South stood at approximately £2,648. Heatley states that the area to the south of the Linen Hall, incorporating Bedford Street and Linenhall Street, was known as ‘Linenapolis’ on account of the many linen warehouses established in the area during the linen boom of the Victorian period. Many of these linen warehouses were taken down with the decline of the linen industry in the early 20th century. No. 10 Donegall Square South (which was converted into office space and commercial premises with the decline) and also the former Ewart’s Factory on Bedford Street (HB26/30/055) are surviving examples of this former ‘Linenapolis,’ which was the largest industry, after shipbuilding, in Victorian Belfast (Heatley, p. 8). Larmour states that during the 1929 conversion of the warehouse, a false ceiling and arches were installed in the entrance porch by R. H. Gibson; Larmour included a photograph of the building dated 1911 which shows that No. 10 Donegall Square South originally possessed paired windows in shared arched surrounds, however these are no longer, having also likely been altered during the 1929 conversion. Later changes to the building included the replacement of part of the building (to the rear along Linenhall Street) with a tower block by Gibson & Taylor Architects in 1956 (Larmour, p. 28). No. 10 Donegall Square South is known for the distinctive range of heads which adorn its north-facing facade. Larmour suggests that they were carved by Thomas Fitzpatrick who fashioned similar heads on the (now demolished) Theatre Royal on Arthur Street in 1871. The heads include famous historical, scientific and literary figures including Columbus, Flora, Homer, Humboldt, Jacquard, Mercury, Michelangelo, Moore, Newtown, Peace, Schiller, Shakespeare, Stevenson, Washington and Watt (Larmour, p. 28; Patton, p. 120). No. 10 Donegall Square South was listed in 1982, at which time it continued to house offices. In 2000 the former linen warehouse was reopened as a hotel named Ten Square; the hotel includes a restaurant and bar at ground floor whilst the offices on the upper floors have been converted to provide a function suite at first floor and almost 100 bedrooms (Belfast Telegraph – 25 Jun 2008). Field Research finds that a two-storey block was added to the rear courtyard as part of the conversion of the building into a hotel. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1858 2. PRONI OS/6/1/61/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1901-02 3. PRONI OS/6/1/61/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1931 4. PRONI OS/6/1/61/5 – Fifth Edition Ordnance Survey Map 1938 5. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/1 – Annual Revisions 1863-1881 6. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/24 – Annual Revisions 1882-1896 7. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/A/35 – Annual Revisions 1897-1905 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/P/2 – Annual Revisions 1906-1915 9. PRONI VAL/12/B/43/P/5 – Annual Revisions 1916-1930 10. PRONI VAL/3/B/3/21 – First General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1935 11. PRONI VAL/4/B/7/49 – Second General Revaluation of Northern Ireland 1956-72 12. Belfast Street Directories (1861; 1877; 1880; 1901; 1907; 1910; 1918) 13. Belfast Telegraph (2008) Secondary Sources 1. Heatley, F., ‘Belfast: Paintings and stories from the city’ Donaghadee: Cottage Publications, 1998 2. Larmour, P., ‘Belfast: An illustrated architectural guide’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1987. 3. Patton, M., ‘Central Belfast: An historical gazetteer’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1993 4. First Survey Record – HB26/30/013 (1974) Online Resources 1. Dictionary of Irish Architects - http://www.dia.ie

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity U. Historic Associations X. Local Interest

Evaluation

An attached three-storey multi-bay hotel, formerly linen warehouse, built c.1860, located to the south side of Donegal Square South, at the corner of Linenhall Street, directly behind Belfast city hall. Externally the building has retained much of its historic fabric with appropriate alterations. The building was altered in 1929, producing the current external arrangement. Despite this, many original features of the exterior remain, including carved roundels with sculpted heads depicting a number of notable historic and mythical figures, and ornate foliated cornice and pediments. Internally, the layout has been largely altered over the years, first converted to offices and later to use as a hotel, restaurant and bar. The building makes a significant contribution to the architectural variety and character of the surrounding area.

General Comments

Date of Survey

10 May 2011